NHL removes two of the “worst” referees from Stanley Cup playoffs.

It seems that the National Hockey League may be listening to player feedback, or at least the feedback they are receiving from teams in the league that are likely giving that feedback to the league because of those very same players.

We now have the full list of names of referees who will be participating in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, and notably absent from that list are referees Steve Kozari and Chris Lee. Now in the case of Kozari there is an injury at play, but there is also reason to believe that he may have been excluded even if injury had not been a factor.

In a recent poll conducted by The Athletic, Kozari and Lee were voted as two of the worst referees in the league with the NHL players who responded to the poll giving Kozari the 2nd highest number of votes, behind referee Justin St. Pierre who is no longer in the NHL, and Lee the 7th highest number of votes.

NHL insider Renaud Lavoie, who primarily covers the Montreal Canadiens, reported on Lee's inclusion likely realizing that the news would be well received by fans of the Canadiens who have a long history of disliking Lee's officiating.

That being said the list of referees overseeing this year's Stanley Cup playoffs won't be without some controversy as is always the case when it comes to NHL officials. Wes Mcauley (4th) and Kelly Sutherland (12th) also received votes in that very same poll and will both be working the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, but it's also worth noting that they were also voted the NHL's #1 and #2 best referees by a large majority of players who responded to that very same poll. That indicates that some players feel they do an excellent job, something that can't be said for Kozari or Lee.

Here is a full list of all the referees you will see in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs as per Scouting The Refs:

Jake Brenk, Francis Charron, Gord Dwyer, Eric Furlatt, Trevor Hanson, Jean Hebert, Frederick L’Ecuyer, Pierre Lambert, T.J. Luxmore, Peter MacDougall, Wes McCauley, Jon McIsaac, Kendrick Nicholson, Dan O’Rourke, Brian Pochmara, Garrett Rank, Kyle Rehman, Chris Rooney, Graham Skilliter, Francois St. Laurent, Furman South, and Kelly Sutherland.

On a side note it will be Furman South's first time serving as a referee in the Stanley Cup playoffs and I wish him nothing but the utmost success in his first ever playoff appearance.

Should the NHL have excluded some of the names on this list? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.