NHL players name the Top 5 “worst referees in the league.”

Who are the worst officials in the game?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
NHL players name the Top 5 “worst referees in the league.”
Keystone Press

Every fan and pundit around the National Hockey League has an opinion on just about everything that is hockey related, but one group that we do not often get to hear from on interesting topics surrounding the game are the players themselves. Thankfully The Athletic has started an annual tradition in which they survey hundreds of players from around the National Hockey League and get some feedback on some of those very same topics, all the while allowing the players to maintain their anonymity. 

One of the most interesting questions posed to players this year was one regarding who the "worst referee in the league" currently is, and the response from the players provided some very interesting insights indeed. Fans of course have been frustrated with the officiating around the National Hockey League for years now, but to hear directly from the players regarding who they think is the worst of the worst paints things in a new light. PErhaps the most interesting aspect of the responses to this question however was the fact that one official won by a landslide. 

Admittedly most of the players surveyed refused to answer this question at all so that may skew some of the percentages here, however it was referee Justin St. Pierre who took this one, winning with a whopping 42% of the votes from the players who did in fact chose to answer this question. It seems there is a genuine hatred for St. Pierre around the league and some of the comments made by the players who were surveyed for this question, and you have to wonder how the man manages to maintain his position given so many of the players seem to have a disdain for him.

"St. Pierre may be the most arrogant human being I’ve ever seen. It’s honestly like he hates the players. He treats everybody like shit,” said an unnamed Central Division player as per The Athletic.

Another player however hesitated to pick the aforementioned St. Pierre. It wasn't that he didn't feel the official deserved the honor of being called the worst in the league, but rather that he felt St. Pierre would relish in it.

"I hate picking (St. Pierre) because he’ll probably be happy if he wins it," said an unnamed player from the Metropolitan Division.

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