Kerry Fraser worked as an NHL referee for 37 years before retiring in 2010. During that time he became widely known for two things: his amazingly coiffed and gelled hair, and missing Wayne Gretzky's high stick on Doug Gilmour in Game 6 of the 1993 Campbell Conference Finals. Fraser has continuously expressed his regret for missing the call, and his name is still cursed by Toronto Maple Leafs fans to this very day.
Fraser has since moved on to work for TSN in Canada, making controversial pronouncements on TV and online instead of in a referee's uniform. His latest ruling: that Joel Ward's series-winning goal for the Washington Capitals Wednesday night should not have counted.
Here's what Fraser had to say.
Mike Knuble was not pushed, shoved or fouled by a defending player so as to cause him to come into contact with Thomas. It matters not if the contact on Thomas by Knuble was deemed to be deliberate or incidental other than a minor penalty that might result. What matters most is that all the elements of rule 69.1 were violated and the goal should have been waved off.
Decisions of this magnitude are never popular but sometimes they just have to be made.
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