Canadiens: Three Jobs Chris Lee is More Suited For Than Officiating

2 of 4

Montreal Canadiens games have been reduced to a joke this week as the story coming out of each game has been officiating.

To be more concise, the story has been how absolutely atrocious the officiating has been in each game of this series.

The first two games were refereed by Francis Charron and Gord Dwyer. They were okay, which we would later find out is 1000 times better than what we would witness at the Bell Centre this week.

When Chris Lee and Dan O’Rourke took control of the series as the two referees for Game 3 and Game 4, the whole series became a joke. Just the missed calls on Corey Perry are enough to get any referee fired. Or, it should be. You could quickly do up a montage of every single minor penalty in the book happening to Perry in the past two games. The problem is, none of them were called by Lee or O’Rourke.

This shouldn’t happen in the preseason, let alone the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The very best officials in the world should be on display with teams just a couple of wins away from the Stanley Cup Final, but that isn’t what we have witnessed.

I’m not usually one to call for people to lose their jobs, but this has gone on long enough. When Perry gets a baseball style swing to the face and is split open there should be a penalty. When Nick Suzuki is punched in the face right in front of Chris Lee while the puck is about 175 feet away, there should be a penalty.

It has become clear that Chris Lee can’t handle the duties of an NHL referee, so what job suits him? Let’s take a look at the three jobs that he is perfectly suited for.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 04: Workers (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) /

Construction Worker

No one in Montreal needs to be reminded about road construction. The city is covered in traffic cones and road signs that make everyone’s commute a nightmare no matter how short the distance between home and work.

Any time you drive through a construction site, you get the feeling that Chris Lee would fit right in. This is not because he would work hard and fill those potholes in record time. It’s not because those orange arm bands look so good on him he needs to get an orange vest.

It is because every time you pass through a construction zone, there are inevitably several workers standings around, drinking coffee and leaning on shovels. That is what Chris Lee would excel at doing.

He does it already during hockey games. No matter what kind of furious action is going on, Lee is standing around doing nothing. When players swing their hockey sticks like baseball bats and hit Corey Perry in the face, what does Lee do? Nothing. When players get run from behind into the boards, does Lee do anything? Of course not.

Take that whistle from him and give him a shovel to lean on. Take the striped jersey and put a fluorescent vest on him. Presto. You have yourself a run of the mill construction guy who stands around watching other people do their jobs.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 25: (L-R) Teacher. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) /

Cool Junior High Vice Principal

There are many different types of educators and administrators in schools. Some try to run their building like it is Guantanamo Bay. Others try to lead by examples and be great role models for the students. Some are firm disciplinarians but treat everyone fair. Others are terrific communicators.

Chris Lee has proven in his time as an NHL official to be none of the above. He has no authority whatsoever on the ice. He can’t control anything. He doesn’t communicate well at all and when he does he doesn’t seem to know what he is talking about.

So, why would he be a good Vice Principal? Well, he would only because he could be that cool Vice Principal at a Junior High that just roamed from class to class making jokes and talking about “the good ol’ days.”

He would show up every day and cash that paycheque. He would be around all of the action and shouting things from the sidelines. But when it comes to an actual altercation where discipline is needed, Vice Principal Lee would look the other way, or just send the troublemakers to see the actual Principal to be disciplined.

Orchestra Conductor

I don’t know what Chris Lee was doing on the ice for most of Game 3 and 4. He seemed surprised to be out there himself at times. There was lots for him to do, but he just chose to ignore pretty much everything.

At the end of the second period there was a scrum going on well behind the play. Nick Suzuki was knocked to the ice by Brayden McNabb. The two continued to battle in front of Vegas goaltender Robin Lehner as the puck went all the way down the ice to the Canadiens zone.

Did Lee call a penalty? No. Did he blow his whistle? No. Did he literally, intentionally look away just after McNabb punched Suzuki in the face to make it look like he didn’t see it? Yeah, he really did.

Then, as another scrum broke out in the slot, did Lee do anything about that? No, not at all. What was he doing? Well, some awkward spinning motion with his two hands to try and get the timekeeper to run the clock down to 0:00.

Chris Lee shouldn't ref another game

He's completely lost control. The players don't know what they can and can't do. pic.twitter.com/pGaJzJZWBL
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) June 21, 2021

Last I checked, it wasn’t the referees responsibility to worry about the time on the clock. He should be looking for penalties, and actually calling them from time to time. When several battles are going on far, far away from the puck, the referee should be focused on that and not motioning to the timekeeper who is over 100 feet away to run the clock.

Is this a game involving 5 year olds? What is he thinking?

Next. What about Jonathan Drouin?. dark

Well, I think he was practicing for his new job as a conductor for an orchestra. There is no way he can be worse at that than he is at reffing hockey games.

Home / Editorials