An NHL official has been dismissed by the league following a controversial incident in which he seemingly admitted to calling a bogus penalty.
During Tuesday night’s game between the Nashville Predators and Detroit Red Wings, referee Tim Peel was caught on a hot mic discussing a tripping penalty he called with a fellow official. Peel admitted that the action he called a penalty for “wasn’t much” but said he “wanted to get a f—ing penalty against Nashville.”
You can hear the clip below, but beware that it contains inappropriate language.
Maybe if you're a mic'd up ref, you shouldn't express how you wanted to call a penalty against a team earlier in the game, changing how you ref the rest of the game.
"It wasn't much but I wanted to get a fuckin' penalty against Nashville early in the…"#Preds #LGRW pic.twitter.com/6fZImkdqLr
— Matt Best (@bestofmatt) March 24, 2021
The trip was called against Predators winger Viktor Arvidsson. One of the announcers felt it was “such a dive” from Detroit’s John Merrill. Here’s the video:
— Big T Screenshots (@bigtscreenshots) March 24, 2021
Nashville won the game 2-0. Four penalties were called against the Predators and three against the Red Wings. The NHL announced immediately after the game that it was investigating Peel’s remarks. On Wednesday, the league said in a press release that Peel will not be working games “now or in the future.”
“Nothing is more important than ensuring the integrity of our game,” NHL senior executive vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell said. “Tim Peel’s conduct is in direct contradiction to the adherence to that cornerstone principle that we demand of our officials and that our fans, players, coaches and all those associated with our game expect and deserve. There is no justification for his comments, no matter the context or his intention, and the National Hockey League will take any and all steps necessary to protect the integrity our game.”
We have seen the NHL defend officials in the past for controversial calls, but there was no spinning what Peel said. Regardless of the intention, he openly admitted he called a penalty for reasons other than it being a clear penalty.
Peel, 53, has worked more than 1,300 regular season NHL games and 90 playoff games. He had been a referee in the league since 1999.
