A short time ago, there was a serious injury reported during the Bruins Oilers game where linesperson Travis Toomey left the game suffering from a broken hand which occurred in the first period.

It was also reported that the game will continue, and it will have two referees and one linesperson. This setup may prove difficult for the on-ice officials as the game usually calls for two linesmen especially when it comes to offsides and icings.

Unlike the Ebug who is an emergency goaltender who waits in the stands in case both goaltenders are injured on one team there does not appear to be an emergency referee or linesperson available. During some games, the linesperson can be injured usually by an errant puck that would strike them.

This is not the first time that Toomey has faced a hand injuryduring an Oilers game when he suffered a cut to his hand on January 20th, 2023, when they played the Tampa Bay Lightning. During a scuffle between Evander Kane and Nikita Kucherov, Toomey was trying to land his hand on the ice but ended up catching his hand on Kucherov’s skate.

He suffered a severe laceration to the base of his thumb and required boat 12 stitches. During that game they also only had two referees and one linesman but managed to complete the game without issue.

We all hope that he is okay, and it’ll likely mean he’ll miss some time as a broken hand will take several weeks to heal unless there is surgery to fix the break. Perhaps there’s a possibility that the NHL may look at these injuries and potentially add an emergency linesperson or referee to their roster much like the E bug.