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Longtime NHL referee Tim Peel will not be allowed to officiate an NHL game for the rest of his life. In a Tuesday night game between the Nashville Predators and Detroit Red Wings, Peel was caught on the hot mic saying that he wanted to "get a f'ing penalty to Nashville early" in the second period. After the league got their hands on the audio, it wasn't long until they sent Peel packing. In a move that happened seemingly overnight, Tim Peel was banned for life from the NHL.
Nashville forward Viktor Arvidsson served the intentional penalty, when he was called for tripping and served two minutes in the penalty box. At the time of the call, Nashville was up 1-0 on Detroit. The Predators would go on to win the game 2-0.
Nashville's Matt Duchene appeared on ESPN's Robby & Rexrode show on Wednesday, where he disclosed that Peel told the Predator's bench about his plan to penalize the team.
"Imagine the scenario where they score on that power play, we lose the game and we miss the playoffs by a point"
Many fans and even some ex-NHL'ers came to the defense of Peel, stating that make up calls are just apart of the game.
Hockey is one of the most fast paced sports in the world, there are many moving parts on the ice at once, and rarely are players ever standing still. NHL referees are also tasked with having to be peace keepers by breaking up fights between players, something that the referees/umpires in the NBA, NFL, and MLB don't have to worry about as much, so naturally, there are going to be missed calls from time to time. NHL referees make up for the missed calls by, well, "make up calls."
It's a highly debated point of contention amongst fans and players, but it's just something that happens and has always happened whether we like it or not.
Tim Peel officiated his first NHL game in 1999, reaching many milestones such as officiating his 1,000th game in 2015, 90 Stanley Cup playoff games, and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Peel was set to retire at the end of the 2020-21 NHL season.
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-Chris