It was an enthralling fixture between the Florida Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs yesterday that had it all. While the action on the ice was tough to miss for the NHL fans, there was also a shocking incident that left the hockey world stunned. One of the top referees in the league, Chris Rooney, was left bloodied and had to leave the game midway. Hours after the accident, a major update dropped on him.

The incident occurred at the start of the second period, when the Panthers’ Niko Mikkola was vying for the puck. Unfortunately, his stick hit Rooney on the face, and he took a nasty blow. The hit struck Rooney just below his visor, causing his helmet to move up and cut into his skin just below the eye. Subsequently, the game had to be stopped for a few minutes as blood dripped down his face, and he received medical attention before being escorted off the ice.

According to the latest update, he has a black eye, but to the relief of the hockey world, he has no eye damage. As reported by TSN’s Pierre LeBrun: “Update on veteran ref Chris Rooney who left Game 7 last night in Toronto after taking a stick on a follow through. Scary incident. Has a black eye but luckily no eye damage. Hopes to be back working later this round. Good news it wasn’t worse.“

After skating off the ice, Rooney was brought into the locker room for further checking and evaluation. Although the initial scenes looked terrifying, Rooney received timely treatment to avoid any further damage. He even got stitches and was ruled out for the remainder of the game. Standby NHL referee, Garrett Rank, replaced Rooney, with more than half of the game yet to be played.

Even though the incident threatened to cast a dark cloud over the game, the Florida Panthers’ coach, Paul Maurice, was happy to see his team cross the finish line. After the game, he had some kind words for his team.

Paul Maurice is all praise for his Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers made a wonderful comeback in the series after being 2-0 down. Not only did they win the series, but they also outplayed their opponents in their wins. As a result, Maurice was elated with his team’s performance and celebrated it with words of praise.

He said, “This is a much better team than we played two years ago. Much better. This team is in that group of teams like ours, there’s maybe 11 this year, then there’s eight that have a chance. They’re one of those teams. You’re going to assign a whole bunch of character flaws that just aren’t true.” 

With the win over the Maple Leafs, the Florida Panthers are in the semifinals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The task only gets tougher from here as they’ll face the Hurricanes in the last four clash. The latter is coming off a confident win over one of the league’s most consistent teams this season, the Capitals. Thus, it’ll be interesting to see how the Panthers fare against the Hurricanes.