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NHL Referee accused of game Rigging and favoritism

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Elias Edmonson
May 13, 2024  (3:43 PM)
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Montreal Canadiens fans are very familiar with referee Chris Lee, an official who many accuse of bringing bad luck to the Canadiens.

Let's just put it simply.

In short, another official is now the target of severe accusations, but this time from Vancouver Canucks fans.

Canucks fans accuse Kelly Sutherland of favoring their opponents

Some allegations go very far, but let's just say they're tired of seeing their Canucks on the wrong side of Sutherland's calls.

The same official was also on duty during game number 7, between the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs, and is causing a lot of buzz today.

«Everyone has heard stories about Sutherland, everyone knows his opinion towards the Vancouver Canucks because he doesn't hide it during the offseason.»

«Draisaitl is injured, McDavid is not himself so magically Sutherland is sent into the game.»

«The Canucks have a record of 0-7-1 in their last 8 games refereed by Sutherland.»

In short, Vancouver fans are compiling quite a file on Sutherland, and it's starting to get out of hand online, but let's just say we don't really believe in such theories.

I absolutely cannot imagine a referee being biased towards one team or another.

That would be far too serious.

It's true that sometimes you might get the impression that a referee is tougher on your team, but I guess that's just a coincidence.

In the case of Chris Lee and the Montreal Canadiens, the numbers were even more striking.

«His alleged bias against the Canadiens is well documented. A user did some research two years ago and found that the Canadiens suffer a 13% increase in penalty minutes per game when he referees. Their win percentage over 100 games decreased by 8.22% while Lee was on the ice.» - Matt Drake

These are the kind of statistics involving Sutherland and the Canucks that are currently infuriating Vancouver fans.

Let's remember that the Canucks won last night by a score of 4 to 3 against the Edmonton Oilers, to take the lead in their second-round series.

The referees for that match were Chris Rooney and Graham Skilliter.

Credit: Maple Leafs Daily - Referee who officiated Leafs/Bruins Game 7 facing serious allegations

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