Teams have faced injury problems from the very first game of the 4 Nations Face-Off. Team Canada’s Shea Theodore was the first player to bow out of the tournament with a wrist injury. “It’s heartbreaking for the kid,” said coach Jon Cooper. However, the saga of injuries has reached its peak as Team USA takes on Sweden. And now, even the referee has mysteriously vanished.

53-year-old veteran referee Wes McCauley was there to oversee the game during the first period. However, everyone soon noticed that the referee didn’t return from the locker rooms when the second period commenced. While it took a while for things to sink in, news surfaced that McCauley was out for the rest of the game. Sportsnet writer Luke Fox shed light on the situation.

“Referee Wes McCauley will not return to the USA-Sweden game. Referee Pierre Lambert will finish the game in his place,” disclosed Fox. While it’s still unclear what exactly happened to McCauley, many are already speculating if the referee fell victim to an injury at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Veteran NHL columnist Bruce Garrioch hinted the same. “Even the officials are hurting,” wrote Garrioch.

However, speculation is the best hockey fans will get, as neither McCauley nor the organizers have made any announcements. The reason for the lack of confirmation could be because of the myriad of troubles at Team USA’s camp, which even eclipsed Sweden’s 3-1 win in the headlines. That’s because the 53-year-old referee was far from the only causality of the game.

Team USA was already making headlines for the wrong reasons ahead of the final round-robin clash at the 4 Nations Face-Off. With Auston Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk, and Charlie McAvoy out for the night, Jake Oettinger, Chris Kreider, and Jake Sanderson filed in. Unfortunately, Brady Tkachuk was added to USA’s woes around the same time Wes McCauley left the ice.

Is team USA’s 4 Nations Face-Off future in jeopardy?

While Wes McCauley’s mysteriously vanishing mid-game piqued hockey fans’ curiosity, Brady Tkachuk and Vincent Trocheck’s injuries became the highlights of the match apart from the goals. The unforeseen injury further degraded the USA’s offense. While the team still controlled portions of the game, they failed to equalize as Sweden widened their lead to 2 goals.

Reporter Chris Johnston summarized the true extent of Team USA’s woes at the 4 Nations Face-Off. “So, to recap the Team USA injury situation right now… Matthew Tkachuk out as a precaution, Auston Matthews out as a precaution, Brady Tkachuk crashes into post, goes to room and returns, plays 1 shift. Vincent Trocheck down the tunnel before period end,” wrote Johnston.

After the match, Coach Sullivan didn’t have encouraging news regarding Brady Tkachuk. “Brady obviously had a lower-body injury. We held him out more for precautionary reasons at that point,” explained Sullivan. While the U.S. coach seemed hopeful that Tkachuck would return, he also explained that they must wait to see how the 25-year-old responds.

Meanwhile, the puck hit Trocheck’s seemed to have suffered a wrist injury. “Vincent Trocheck had the puck hit him in the hand seconds before Jesper Bratt’s goal,” wrote Dan Rosen. While Trocheck continued to play, he repeatedly nursed his wrist, indicating that something was wrong. None of this bodes well for Team USA, who’ll take on Team Canada in a rematch in two days.