If players in the NHL want to fight, referees rarely get in the way. If they’re going to fight, it’s up to them and nobody else, and often, the fans love it and want to see it.
But sometimes, referees take another decision and just like the game to go on. And last night, veteran referee Dan O’Rourke took that decision.
Two minutes remained during the game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Winnipeg Jets when the referee suddenly held up the play ahead of a faceoff. O’Rourke had figured out that Leafs’ veteran Wayne Simmonds was about to drop the gloves against Adam Lowry and suddenly interfered.
He sent them off the ice and into the dressing room. TV cameras caught Lowry saying to the referee that” they didn’t do anything,” but O’Rourke didn’t care.
The referee’s move could be described as the opposite of old-school hockey when everything was allowed, and like the hockey equivalent of” Kids, go to your room!”
