I have watched alot of Hab games and without doubt the best ref for the Habs... not best ref... but best for our Habs is Kerry Fraser.
I am sure some of you are aghast - yes this little Napoleon is wildly inconsistant and most likely ref to lose control of a game. And yes Hab fans may want to kill him in the first and second periods BUT our Habs don't complain, ref bait or whine... and by the 3rd period Kerry is usually stickin' it to the Habs' opponent.
I believe he appreciates the way the Habs generally behave as he pulls penalty calls from his butt... and by the 3rd the Habs are benefitting from 5 on 3s.... and if the other team doesn't like that... maybe Kerry will give 'em another penalty to make his point.
I'd love to see the Habs record with Kerry at the helm vs. another ref... I don't know... MAROUELLI!!!!!....maybe.
Note that there are no responses to this thread....
Thing is, it's hard to love refs. I learned my lesson reffing regularly for the first time in my life last year, and suddenly woke up to the fact that I had been a guy who whined about calls for a decade. Not a particularly bad one, but still...a whiner. Every team has a few. Now I'm a saint, because I know how hard it is to be the ref.
So while that was the worst reffing I've ever encountered EVER in any playoff game involving the Habs, I don't think it's fair to judge the refs as a whole on that basis.
As for Kerry Fraser...really? I wonder who's secretly compiling those kinds of stats.
Frasier is the last ref i want to see at our games. Give me McCleary, or St-Laurent (whom I refereed with and is still living a few houses away from me). there are a few others, but I'll leave it at that
Everyone hates them for making bad calls or not making the calls..... The ones I respect the most are, Bill McCreary, Don Van Massenhoven lol not too many I could name ...
MC Girl wrote: Do you know if any of the refs from last game are returning tonight?
No none of the refs are returning, we will be getting Van Masenhoven (Sp??) and Tim Peel. Peel is a younger ref, don't know too much about him. Not sure on the linesmen.
Thanks beaker I couldn't handle another game like Wednesdays.