Every game is do or die for the New York Rangers right now. That is, if they want any shot at the playoffs. And in what was a crucial encounter against the Minnesota Wild for the Rangers to keep their Stanley Cup Playoffs chances alive, the last thing that they could have hoped for was errors from the referees. However, it wasn’t the first time the Rangers took the hit due to refereeing errors. Although the New York outfit managed to sneak out a 3-2 win, NHL insider Larry Brooks made a massive revelation about this controversy.
The moment occurred in the third period when Matt Rempe was involved in a controversial incident with the Wild’s veteran forward Devin Shore. The officials felt that Rempe had interfered with Shore, and the Wild were awarded a penalty. However, the replays clearly showed that it was Shore who ran into Rempe and took a tumble subsequently. This blunder didn’t go down well with Larry Brooks of the New York Post, who made his displeasure felt on his official Twitter handle.
He wrote, “A scandal of the NHL’s own making. The league, Stephen Walkom and the entire officiating department have acted out of bias against Rempe for more than a year. Two outrageous calls in consecutive games. Each cost the Rangers a goal. Mickey Mouse League.”
A scandal of the NHL’s own making. The league, Stephen Walkom and the entire officiating department have acted out of bias against Rempe for more than a year. Two outrageous calls in consecutive games. Each cost the Rangers a goal. Mickey Mouse League. https://t.co/2oxiubBC2R
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) March 14, 2025
Brooks took no prisoners, going as far as to label the whole situation a scandal, in part created by the NHL’s Director of Officiating, Stephen Walkom. Additionally, there have also been calls regarding the suspension of referees for making such blunders. Many renowned names in the NHL world along with the fans have come forward as the controversy refuses to settle down. However, the NHL is no stranger to referee controversies. This Matt Rempe incident isn’t an isolated one after all, as Brooks pointed out.
A series of refereeing mistakes in the NHL
That’s right, the incident with Shore, in fact, marks the second incident where Rempe was incorrectly penalized. The first incident occurred in the Rangers’ previous game against the Winnipeg Jets. The Rangers center was called out for goaltender interference on Connor Hellebuyck despite a video of the incident showing that Rempe was in fact pushed by Morgan Barron of the Jets first.
“I didn’t agree with the call,” stated head coach Peter Laviolette after the game. With Rempe getting penalized in two consecutive games for violations he didn’t commit, it’s hard not to wonder if referees let their biases about who Rempe is as a player cloud their judgment, as Brooks suggests.
But the divisive refereeing decisions are not exclusive to Matt Rempe. In fact, the Chicago Blackhawks’ Connor Bedard found himself subjected to one recently too. In an incident that confused many, Bedard was handed a 10-minute penalty for goalie abuse, with no explanation from referee Chris Rooney. What’s even worse? He missed all 10 of the final minutes of the game, and the Hawks proceeded to lose 4-2.
It was an incident so egregious that it prompted Hawks beat reporter, Mark Lazerus of the Athletic, to tweet, “Tonight’s a good example of why referees should be made available to reporters. We should be able to get Chris Rooney’s explanation for why Bedard got the 10-minute misconduct. But this being the NHL, we never will.”
The fans want recourse, but will they get it? The way things stand, it looks unlikely, with the referees sharing no burden of public accountability. In fact, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly explicitly shot down the idea of referees defending their decisions. “I don’t think there’s any appetite to change our current policies with respect to our officials and their talking to the media.”
So with the status quo looking to remain, well, the status quo for the foreseeable future, it looks like fans haven’t seen the end of arbitrary, frustrating refereeing decisions in the NHL.
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