The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has officially dismissed veteran referee Francois St. Laurent following an explosive internal investigation tied to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers.

According to sources close to the situation, surveillance footage revealed St. Laurent allegedly sharing access to a sports betting account with a known professional poker player — during the very game he was officiating. The footage reportedly shows behavior suggesting a possible intent to influence the game in favor of the Panthers.

The incident has prompted widespread outrage from fans, players, and officials across the NHL and international hockey communities. Many are calling for a full audit of all officiating decisions made during the series and a broader inquiry into the potential for corruption within elite-level hockey officiating.

The IIHF issued a brief but firm statement:

“The integrity of our sport is non-negotiable. Based on verified evidence, Francois St. Laurent has been relieved of all IIHF duties effective immediately.”

The NHL has not yet commented on whether it will launch its own investigation into the matter, but sources say league officials are monitoring the situation closely.

This incident marks one of the most serious integrity breaches in recent hockey history and raises difficult questions about oversight, accountability, and transparency in officiating at the sport’s highest levels.

More details are expected to emerge in the coming days.

Panthers preparing for another summer with Stanley Cup

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The Stanley Cup will soon be making its way back south of the border.

When it returns, there will be some slight differences.

For the third summer in a row, the winners of the Stanley Cup will be able to enjoy their hard-earned personal time with the historic trophy while seeing their names engraved into the silver.

It’s a tradition that started back in 2023.

That year, before the Vegas Golden Knights had their time with the Stanley Cup, it was brought up to Montreal where the special engraving is done.

Last July it was the same for the Florida Panthers.

One very cool visual reminder of what that could mean to all the Panthers – everyone whose name is on the cup – played out on the ice a few weeks ago, after Game 6 against the Edmonton Oilers.

After they had been awarded the Cup and taken their time skating around the Amerant Bank Arena ice with it, a few players huddled around the cup.

They began pointing to their names, which for most of the team had been added last year, or in the case of Brad Marchand, 14 years prior.

But for the first-time winners, nothing will prepare them for the feeling of seeing their name on the Cup.

Florida’s leadership, consisting of Panthers captain Sasha Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and other veterans, wanted to make sure the players who had never won the cup were the ones who got to lift it on the ice first.

It went from Barkov to Nate Schmidt to Seth Jones to Tomas Nosek to Vitek Vanecek, to A.J. Greer to Jesper Boqvist to Mackie Samoskevich to Uvis Balinskis to Jaycob Megna to Evan Cormier.

The exceptional and heartwarming moments should start coming in fast and furious once the Stanley Cup starts making its way around the world with all of Florida’s players, coaches and executives.

What are some of your favorite moments from last summer, when the Panthers each received a day with the Stanley Cup to do whatever they wanted?

Leave them in the comments section below!

Photo caption: Jun 22, 2025; Fort Lauderdale, Florida, UNITED STATES; Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand (63) celebrates with the Stanley Cup during the Stanley Cup championship parade and rally. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)