NHL’s officiating problems-After the Rangers debacle, former Habs Chris Nilan and Rick Green weigh in on the state of NHL refereeing.
The officiating during the Canadiens’ 4-3 loss to the Rangers last Saturday in New York was questionable at best and downright poor at worst.
There were several missed penalty calls and some dubious calls, including referee Kelly Sutherland penalizing the Canadiens’ Josh Anderson for “roughing” in the second period. This appeared to be Sutherland’s way of retaliating against Anderson for complaining about a missed call earlier in the game when Anderson was leveled by the Rangers’ Chris Kreider while not in possession of the puck, yet no penalty was given. The Rangers scored the winning goal after Canadiens’ Joel Armia was tripped without a penalty being assessed.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has previously claimed that the NHL has the best referees in the world, making it difficult to address issues if one does not acknowledge they exist.
In this bonus episode of Hockey Inside/Out, former Canadiens teammates and 1986 Stanley Cup champions Chris Nilan and Rick Green join The Gazette’s Stu Cowan to discuss the current state of NHL officiating.
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