South Boston-born NHL ref avoids major injury after taking stick to face

Rooney suffered an injury after Florida's Niko Mikkola caught him in the face with his stick on Sunday night.

Chris Rooney suffered a scary injury during Sunday's Game 7 between Toronto and Florida. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

By Conor Ryan

May 19, 2025

1 minute to read

South Boston-born NHL referee Chris Rooney is officially on the mend after suffering a scary injury during Game 7 of the second-round series between the Panthers and Maple Leafs on Sunday night.

Just 13 seconds into the second period of Sunday’s game at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, Rooney was left bloodied after Florida’s Niko Mikkola caught him in the face with the blade of his stick — nearly striking him in the eye.

Rooney, doubled over on the ice with his hands covering his face, was treated by both team’s training staff while a stretcher was brought over.

After several minutes of stoppage time, Rooney — with a towel covering his bloody face — eventually made his way off the ice under his own power and was brought to the locker room for further evaluation and treatment. TNT’s broadcast noted that Rooney received stitches right after leaving the ice.

Referee Chris Rooney gets a stick up high and has left the game, as Garrett Rank replaces him pic.twitter.com/Pey6iFAxad
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 19, 2025

Rooney did not return to Sunday’s game, which ended with Brad Marchand and the Florida Panthers skating off the ice with a decisive 6-1 win over Toronto. Rooney was replaced by Garrett Rank as one of the two refs during Sunday’s game — with the NHL having stand-by officials in place for Stanley Cup Playoffs games.

Despite the concerns of Rooney suffering a serious eye injury, the longtime ref seems to have dodged a bullet.

“Update on veteran ref Chris Rooney who left Game 7 last night in Toronto after taking a stick on a follow through. Scary incident,” The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun posted on X Monday morning. “Has a black eye but luckily no eye damage. Hopes to be back working later this round. Good news it wasn’t worse.”

Rooney — who reffed his first NHL game in 2000 — became the first American to officiate 1,500 career NHL games when he worked a game between the Bruins and Oilers on Jan. 7, 2025 at TD Garden.