Referee Chris Lee under fire for horrible officiating in Flames/Oilers series.
Should he be fired?
The Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames played an exciting Game 2 in their second round Stanley Cup playoff series on Friday night but, in spite of the contest being a back and forth affair between two bitter rivals, all the talk following the game is being focused on someone that doesn't play for either of these teams.
That's because once again National Hockey League official Chris Lee has finds himself at the center of the spotlight, and unfortunately for Lee he finds himself there once again for all of the wrong reasons. On Friday night, Lee had a horrible performance in which he twice blew the play dead on what would have otherwise been a good goal. In fact you could argue that the only saving grace for Lee in this game was the fact that he waved off a good goal for both the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers, effectively evening things out in the grand scheme of things.
The Oilers were the first to end up on the wrong side of a Chris Lee whistle, after Lee blew the whistle early on what would have been a game tying goal for the Oilers earlier in Game 2.
That might have been somewhat enjoyable for fans of the Calgary Flames at the time, but that enjoyment quickly dissipated when Lee made the same mistake in the third period of Game 2. This time it would be the Flames who would lose out on a chance at a game tying goal, and with less than half of the period left to play at the time it was a huge shift in momentum.
Perhaps the most surprising part of this story though is the fact that Chris Lee is even in a position to make these mistakes. Although it was never officially confirmed, many believe that both Lee and Dan O'Rourke were pulled from the series contested between the Montreal Canadiens and the Las Vegas Golden Knights during the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs after horrible officiating in that series.
I'm sure many of you will remember the now infamous incident in which Montreal Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki was punched in the face, right in front of Chris Lee, only for Lee to turn his head and pretend he never saw it. This was of course just one incident among many in that series:
The reaction from fans has been predictable:
No word yet on whether or not Lee will be allowed to continue officiating in this series.
