As the NHL regular season is done, now the picture is set for the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs. With 16 teams standing to fight for it, fans will soon find out who lifts Lord Stanley’s Cup in June. Yesterday, with the Stanley Cup Playoffs in full swing, the ice was buzzing with intensity, and bam!—a linesman goes down. It’s not just the players feeling the heat this postseason; NHL officials are taking hits, too, and it’s raising eyebrows across the league. Just a few games into the 2025 playoffs, three linemen have already been sidelined, leaving fans and analysts wondering. Are the stripes cursed this year?
The first incident occurred during Game 1 between the Minnesota Wild and the Vegas Golden Knights. Linesman Bryan Pancich was caught in a brutal collision with Vegas forward Brett Howden just 3:37 into the second period. Howden, trying to glove down the puck near the blue line, skated toward the boards and accidentally slammed into Pancich. The official crashed hard into the glass and crumpled to the ice. Then, as if the hockey gods hadn’t had enough, another linesman went down the very next day.
In Game 2 between the St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets, veteran linesman Andrew Smith was forced to exit for a medical evaluation. Details on his injury or illness remain scarce, leaving fans in the dark about his status.
And with the third linesman down with an injury in the past few days, the official X handle of Spittin’ Chiclets, tweeted this, “Stripes are dropping like flies! That’s the THIRD liney down these playoffs .” This time, Scott Cherry got injured when he got hit by a puck as Kucherov was looking one way during the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning match yesterday. The puck hit him on the back and made him the third referee to be injured during the playoffs.
Stripes are dropping like flies!
That’s the THIRD liney down these playoffs pic.twitter.com/QUJLAcQcmQ
— Spittin’ Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) April 23, 2025
The story is developing…
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