Controversial referee set to call game two between Canucks and Oilers

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Graham Montgomery
May 10, 2024 (9:34 PM)

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The Vancouver Canucks are playing the Edmonton Oilers tonight for game two of their second round series. Unfortunately, they may be fighting the referees as controversial ref Kelly Sutherland is working the game.

Sutherland has a long history of making questionable calls to say the least. Things have been particularly bad with the Vancouver Canucks in the past, as the veteran official seems to have a personal vendetta against the team. One fan brought up a specific incident from years ago involving Daniel Sedin.

Kelly Sutherland being assigned this game is an absolute joke. Guy legit gets ready for Canucks games with clown makeup. He is the meme.

Reffing at @NEWWrestlingInc tonight gonna be less biased.

There have been a long history of questionable calls Sutherland has made involving the Canucks, including this hit on JT Miller from the regular season, which was called a minor penalty, much to the chagrin of Canucks fans.

By the way, Kelly Sutherland is the same ref who called this a 2 minute penalty. WITH NO REVIEW.

Absolute clown #Canucks

Its not just Canucks fans that have a problem with Sutherland though. Other fanbases have pointed out terrible calls the referee has made. One fan noted this incident in game two between the Rangers and Hurricanes this year that involved Matt Rempe, who got a stern talking to from Sutherland after doing literally nothing wrong.

Everything you need to know about Kelly Sutherland. Rempe the one that gets knocked down, Kelly Sutherland give Rempe the lecture. #NYR

One fan went so far as to call Sutherland the 'league's ref.' This suggests that the NHL is deliberately assigning Sutherland to games where the league wants a specific result, hoping that he can help them achieve that goal with specific calls in the game.

Oilers are down 1-0 and Kelly Sutherland gets the call. I don't think it's a coincidence. He is the NHL's Scott Foster (the league's ref). League wants McDavid to win and I would bet anything oilers get a lot of calls tonight.

Hopefully, Sutherland's shenanigans won't have an impact on tonight's game, but we will just have to see how it unfolds.

Source: Markerzone
NHL referee Kelly Sutherland accused of possibly fixing games