The NHL has fined NJDevils head coach Sheldon Keefe $25,000 for "unprofessional conduct directed at the officials" late in Sunday's game at Vegas.

[HockeyVirus]

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[AvroArrow]

What a joke

They should be fining the officials for being incompetent at their jobs

 

[HockeyVirus]

What a joke

They should be fining the officials for being incompetent at their jobs

A Keefe coached team has Wes Mccauley gets blatantly easy calls wrong, ejects the coach and gets them fined for calling him out. Feels like I've seen that one before...

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Well, get refs who don't suck

 

[Filthy Dangles]

What a joke

They should be fining the officials for being incompetent at their jobs

Fuh you talking bout, players got tangled up, clearly no penalty on the play.

 

[ZacUSNYR]

I heard he hurt the refs feelings.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Keefe had the right message, but wrong incident to express it.

Gary doesn't want coaches hurting the integrity of the league by questioning the officiating.

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[Devilsfan118]

League is a joke. Remember that they continue to prop up incompetent officials and fine those that point out their failures.

 

[AvroArrow]

Fuh you talking bout, players got tangled up, clearly no penalty on the play.

Who got tangled up ? Did you even see the sequence. Accidental or not it was a clear trip that sent Hughes into the boards. That's not guys getting tangled up.

He made no effort to slow down, he was watching the puck. Accident sure, penalty absolutely.

A Keefe coached team has Wes Mccauley gets blatantly easy calls wrong, ejects the coach and gets them fined for calling him out. Feels like I've seen that one before...

Holy shit, was it actually Wes again ? Not even surprised that it went the way it did. It's actually beyond ridiculous that he's still allowed to officiate his games.

 

[Byron Bitz]

What if anything did Keefe say that went beyond the usual coaches yelling at refs to get a game misconduct?

 

[Summer Rose]

Well, get refs who don't suck

From where, exactly?

 

[AvroArrow]

From where, exactly?

A beer league ref would be better than Wes

All he does is make dramatic calls and casual fans like the entertainment of it

As fans we probably shouldn't even know the names of the referees. I only really know 2, it's Wes McCauley and Chris Lee. And the only reason I know them is because of how disgustingly bad they are at their jobs. It's so bad that I have a difficult time believing it's accidental. Because even a legitimate beer league ref can make those calls.

 

[Victor Z]

Wes McCauley and Chris Lee. And the only reason I know them is because of how disgustingly bad they are at their jobs.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

From where, exactly?

Anywhere else from where they're hand picked by the NHL.

Or just tell the NHL to hold refs accountable for when they suck.

 

[thebestnic]

A beer league ref would be better than Wes

All he does is make dramatic calls and casual fans like the entertainment of it

As fans we probably shouldn't even know the names of the referees. I only really know 2, it's Wes McCauley and Chris Lee. And the only reason I know them is because of how disgustingly bad they are at their jobs. It's so bad that I have a difficult time believing it's accidental. Because even a legitimate beer league ref can make those calls.

Agreed. Both guys have huge ego. It feels like they want the games to be about them

 

[uncleben]

What a joke

They should be fining the officials for being incompetent at their jobs

The NHL should be fined for allowing the clear conflict of interest to continue


Maybe there were specific words Keefe used that were cause for this discipline, but that was the softest coach "outburst" I've seen.
Ejection was weak already. $25k fine is just clear biased decision making.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

It's funny not because he did it... But because he did it over something that was a clear accident and also not a penalty.

 

[Summer Rose]

A beer league ref would be better than Wes

All he does is make dramatic calls and casual fans like the entertainment of it

As fans we probably shouldn't even know the names of the referees. I only really know 2, it's Wes McCauley and Chris Lee. And the only reason I know them is because of how disgustingly bad they are at their jobs. It's so bad that I have a difficult time believing it's accidental. Because even a legitimate beer league ref can make those calls.

If you think a beer league referee would be better than an actual NHL referee, I don’t know what to tell you.

On the other hand, if your point was about the way officiating is taught all the way from the beginning (with NHL officiating being the end product of the way officials are taught), then I’d be inclined to agree. Year one we were taught the two-official system to work kids games. Game management, which is a huge criticism from NHL fans, came up in the second year in the officiating manual. That’s where it begins in the USA Hockey ranks. I don’t imagine Hockey Canada teaches it much differently.

 

[AvroArrow]

If you think a beer league referee would be better than an actual NHL referee, I don’t know what to tell you.

On the other hand, if your point was that the way officiating is taught all the way from the beginning (with NHL officiating being the end product of the way officials are taught), then I’d be inclined to agree. Year one we were taught the two-official system to work kids games. Game management, which is a huge criticism from NHL fans, came up in the second year in the officiating manual. That’s where it begins in the USA Hockey ranks. I don’t imagine Hockey Canada teaches it much differently.

No, I think a beer league ref would be a better ref than Wes McCauley in particular. Not any NHL ref.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

From where, exactly?

Lots of incompetents in the AHL too. There may be a few worth promoting.

 

[thebestnic]

If you think a beer league referee would be better than an actual NHL referee, I don’t know what to tell you.

On the other hand, if your point was about the way officiating is taught all the way from the beginning (with NHL officiating being the end product of the way officials are taught), then I’d be inclined to agree. Year one we were taught the two-official system to work kids games. Game management, which is a huge criticism from NHL fans, came up in the second year in the officiating manual. That’s where it begins in the USA Hockey ranks. I don’t imagine Hockey Canada teaches it much differently.

Some of these officials have reputation that pre-date their NHL career. Chris Lee for example. Beer league is an hyperbole but you can find guys in pro/junior leagues that are better than some NHL officials

 

[VeteranPresence]

Wes is a loser but Gary will always stick up for his #1 game management official. No has been more instrumental to tilting results over the last 20 years than him.

Extra-fun fact for those at home: McCauley's dad was Director of Officiating which means there is nepotism at work here on top of cronyism.

 

[Commander Clueless]

Really not sure why the NHL still allows Wes McCauley to ref games where Keefe is coaching.

Seems like a fairly easy "hey maybe avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest" situation.

 

[Hodes42]

Makes me think of my favorite, from Schonfeld to Koharski years ago. "Have another donut!"

 

[Victor Z]

Really not sure why the NHL still allows Wes McCauley to ref games

Could have stopped there.

Back when the Penguins were good, I wished that the NHL would recognize his obvious anti-Pens bias and have him work other games instead. But even if that happened we'd just have gotten Dean Morton (thankfully gone now) who was #2 on the list of haters. Now that the Pens suck and (if they're smart) are trying to improve their lottery chances rather than contend -- by all means send Wes over; we'll be glad to see him.