Out of Town Thread - New Year’s 2025 Edition

[dcyhabs]

There is an article in the Gazette today bitching about Chris Lee from an Edmonton perspective after he lost control of a game and McDavid got suspended. I'm a little shocked Lee is still in the league, as games he refs have a completely different vibe from most NHL games. It's to the point where I'll tune in, think, "hmm, something is off here" and be completely unsurprised that he is reffing. He rarely has control of the game, players rarely know what he will call, and he often appears to massively favour one team over the other.

I really don't get this with any ref other than Chris Lee. There are other refs I have disliked (does anyone ever like refs, other than Philly and their pets?), but none where I could tell they were reffing just by watching the players. I really don't like refs being the center of attention, the game is better if they can keep it under control without messing around, but that is relatively minor. Lee succeeds in really damaging the games he calls just by calling them badly. He doesn't stand out or showboat, he's just really, really bad.

I'd worry about offending him but the habs are already at a documented disadvantage when he refs.

 

[habbubba]

There is an article in the Gazette today bitching about Chris Lee from an Edmonton perspective after he lost control of a game and McDavid got suspended. I'm a little shocked Lee is still in the league, as games he refs have a completely different vibe from most NHL games. It's to the point where I'll tune in, think, "hmm, something is off here" and be completely unsurprised that he is reffing. He rarely has control of the game, players rarely know what he will call, and he often appears to massively favour one team over the other.

I really don't get this with any ref other than Chris Lee. There are other refs I have disliked (does anyone ever like refs, other than Philly and their pets?), but none where I could tell they were reffing just by watching the players. I really don't like refs being the center of attention, the game is better if they can keep it under control without messing around, but that is relatively minor. Lee succeeds in really damaging the games he calls just by calling them badly. He doesn't stand out or showboat, he's just really, really bad.

I'd worry about offending him but the habs are already at a documented disadvantage when he refs.

Wes McCauley was the other ref that could have and should have called a call on Garland.

 

[Andy]

There is an article in the Gazette today bitching about Chris Lee from an Edmonton perspective after he lost control of a game and McDavid got suspended. I'm a little shocked Lee is still in the league, as games he refs have a completely different vibe from most NHL games. It's to the point where I'll tune in, think, "hmm, something is off here" and be completely unsurprised that he is reffing. He rarely has control of the game, players rarely know what he will call, and he often appears to massively favour one team over the other.

I really don't get this with any ref other than Chris Lee. There are other refs I have disliked (does anyone ever like refs, other than Philly and their pets?), but none where I could tell they were reffing just by watching the players. I really don't like refs being the center of attention, the game is better if they can keep it under control without messing around, but that is relatively minor. Lee succeeds in really damaging the games he calls just by calling them badly. He doesn't stand out or showboat, he's just really, really bad.

I'd worry about offending him but the habs are already at a documented disadvantage when he refs.

Yup. I never pay attention to who is reffing a game, as in, I legit do not know. But then I'll watch a game, and say to myself "is Chris Lee reffing this shit?", and when I actually pay attention, it's always 10/10 times him.