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The Buzz: Who is the BEST ref in the NHL? The worst?

March 11, 2012, 3:03 PM ET [170 Comments]
Eklund
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Being a hockey referee or linesman is a difficult and thankless job. People have complained about the quality of NHL officiating for as long as the league has been around, and every official at times incurs the wrath of both benches during the course of a game. I have not been immune to griping about calls and non-calls myself, whether it's been from the pressbox, at home in front of the TV or on the ice with an amateur ref.

Today there is a heated dispute over whether Evgeni Malkin deserved a five-minute boarding major rather a two-minute penalty in the game against the Bruins. I think it should have been a major.

At any rate, I think it's important to keep in mind that the refs are only human, too. I also think we should give some credit to the NHL officials who get far more calls right than the ones they get wrong. In the recent NHLPA survey, players chose veteran Paul Devorski as the best in the league.

Personally, I would go with the guy who finished second in the poll, both last year (when players had a "none" option -- which won) and this year: Kelly Sutherland. The guy HockeyBuzz's Scoop Cooper calls "Mini Van" both for his compact size and his style and mannerisms modeled on the retired Andy Van Hellemond. Sutherland is almost always in the right position, has a good feel for the game, and usually comes up with the right calls.

I was also glad to see Wes McCauley get recognition as the third-place finisher on the poll. He has always worked in the shadows of his late, highly respected father but he's a quality official in his own right.

I'm not going to pretend that I like the work of every referee in the NHL. I have wondered for years how Dave Jackson has been able to stay in the game, and the likes of Stephane Auger, Chris Lee, and Chris Rooney often seem to find themselves in the middle of controversial calls and non-calls.

But the bottom line is that, just as with players and coaches, not all referees are created equal and some are much better than others.

What's the Buzz?Who is the best referee in the NHL today? Who's the worst?
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