Controversy emerges between the Oilers and Canucks ahead of puck drop

We have another referee controversy on our hands tonight as Chris Rooney was selected to be one of the referees for tonight's game between the Canucks and Oilers.

Rooney is a veteran referee with more than 1300 games of regular season experience and more than 150 games in the playoffs. He will be joined by Jean Hebert, who worked game six between the Canucks and Oilers as well.





What makes the selection of Rooney for this game in particular interesting, is the fact that the Canucks have a remarkable record with Rooney in recent history. It is just about the opposite of their history with Kelly Sutherland, who reffed game two, which the Canucks lost. While the Canucks seemingly never win when Sutherland is on the ice, they are 10-0-1 in their last 11 regular season games where Rooney was an official. They are 1-0 in these playoffs with Rooney as well.




The last time the Canucks saw Rooney was game three against the Oilers, which the Canucks won 4-3. That being said, most fans seem to think Rooney did well in that game, and did not influence the outcome of the contest. Rather, the Canucks were simply the better team.




While everyone will certainly have a keen eye on the officials tonight, many Canucks fans are lamenting the fact that the team will be missing Brock Boeser, in addition to Thatcher Demko, who has been out most of the playoffs. Many agree that if the team loses, it will likely be due to these injuries, and not the referees.




That being said, the Oilers have the best powerplay of all time. Hopefully they will earn any powerplay opportunities they get tonight as we do not need the refs helping either team out.

Source: HockeyFeed
Controversy in Game 7 before the puck even drops