I am not one to cry over spilled milk; however, since the topic came up I have decided to weigh in on one of the most overrated referees in professional sports today.
Kerry Fraser is the longest serving NHL referee, and according to TSN, he is also the most consistent according to NHL players.
My beef with Fraser has less to do with his experience, and more about how he helped hand the Tampa Bay Lightning the Stanley Cup in 2004.
Kerry Fraser was a referee in a few Calgary Flames playoff games in 2004, and for whatever reason, Kerry Fraser made one bad call after another.
His efforts to prevent the success of this young club did not have effect until Game 4 of the 2004 playoffs vs. Tampa Bay, when he called two penalties against Chris Clark and Mike Commodore. This led to a win by the Lightning, and brought the best-of-seven series back to Tampa tied at 2 games a piece.
I attended this game, and the calls were ridiculous. Anyone who got to experience the Red Mile in 2004, also got to hear the famous chants of Fraser sucks.
Kerry Fraser may be respected by most of the league, but as for the Flames, the players and their fans remember 2004. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Flames faithful greet him with the common phrase of "Fraser sucks" whenever he referees in the Saddledome.
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4 months ago
Oh Jesus Christ, get over it Flames fan.
4 months ago
I too was at the game and remember quite well how he reffed. Between him and Mick McGeough(spelling) Anytime those two ref a Calgary game you can bet that Calgary will have way more penalties against then than the other team. There have been nights where I will shut the TV off if Mick is reffing cause you know that there is a 75% probability that Calgary is going to lose. What these two refs have against Calgary is anyone's guess. But did you notice that Kerry Fraser was kept away from Calgary for the next few seasons? Maybe teh NHL understood how Fraser handed the cup to Tampa? The NHL's will to have US teams win the cup seems to be quite prevalent nowadays. You watch any Canadian team play against an American opponent and you will witness this biased reffing system they have going on. The Joe Thornton's the Neidermeyer's, they get away with the clutch and grab, the hooking etc, but lord forbid if the Igilna's or the Spezza's try it. They will be blown down right away.
4 months ago
Is this the same biased ref who gave Brad Ference a two-minute minor for "charging" after he used his stick to open up an enormous gash across the eye and nose of Martin St. Louis in the final minutes of Game 7? The same one who whistled Dave Andreychuk for tripping, away from the puck--with 30 seconds left in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final with the score 2-1 and an empty net? The same one who let Calgary get away with murder in terms of violent brutality for 7 straight games? The same one who looked the other way when Iginla was spewing obscenities at him while masturbating his hockey stick?
With an enemy like that, who needs friends.
Flames fans have a lot to cry about all right: their boy Iginla disappeared after Game 4, never to be seen again. His mysterious vanishing, no one stepping up to fill in, and the hard work of the Lightning, are why the Flames didn't win the Cup. Plus Nikolai Khabibulin just absolutely ate Jordan Leopold's lunch with a wide open net with under 4 minutes left.
Best. Stick. Save. Ever.
from 4 months ago
I agree that was a good save by Habibulin. Tampa worked the Flames in game 7, and maybe Fraser wanted a few calls to go our way since he realized that the series shouldn't have gone that far in the first place had he fairly officiated game 4.
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