A fair game is one with an equal number of penalties. To reiterate: They just had a ref get busted admitting, on television, that he made something up for … reasons. But it’s the job, and the responsibility, of league executives to recognize how embarrassing all this is - or should be. Figuring out how and why this issue became normalized, less so. Sending Peel to an early retirement is simple. Tim Peel did what Tim Peel did - making a bogus call against the Predators because he wanted to even up the number of penalties - because he felt comfortable doing it. It could be a first step toward something better, but only if the league is willing to see the current system for what it is: Tim Peel said what Tim Peel said because he felt comfortable saying it. He was still working games, because … who knows, really?įiring him now, though, or whatever we’re supposed to say the NHL did, fixes nothing. The fact that it was, in fact, Peel is almost too good to be true chronicling his mistakes was a hockey-blogging cottage industry for years, and he’d already been suspended for having drinks with Greg Wyshynski, one of his biggest, most correct critics. There are always things that it can’t get right, or won’t, and the sentiment of Peel’s mini-soliloquy isn’t at the top of the list, but it’s close. For every effort the league has made to drag itself out of the primordial goo, there’s always a clear, 100-decibel counterbalance. There’s every reason to think that’s where it ends - a home-run trot after a belt-high meatball - because the NHL has never given us a reason to think otherwise. Blame the hot mic you can bet that’s what plenty of other folks are doing. The gold watch is just coming a little earlier than he’d have liked. Peel was already due to retire this year. In a hurry.Ĭall it for what it is: The NHL taking a previous subject of public scorn and league discipline and shoving his second foot out the door. In the light of day, though - after coffee and next-level thought, or whatever - it got less impressive. I’ve always been frustrated when I see even-up calls.Swift action against officiating malfeasance? Any action against officiating malfeasance? It seemed too good to be true, and borderline disorienting. I don’t think there’s a place in hockey for that. That can happen, right? That can happen based on - that’s not out of the realm of possibility. “Imagine the scenario where they score on that power play, we lose the game and we miss the playoffs by a point. I just think it can’t happen,” Duchene said. “He told our bench that, so I mean, really bizarre. Predators forward Matt Duchene spoke about the incident on the “Robby & Rexrode” ESPN radio show on Wednesday. Peel has worked more than 1,300 regular-season games and 90 playoff games, according to the NHL Officials Association website. 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.” “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. “Nothing is more important than ensuring the integrity of our game,” Colin Campbell, the NHL’s senior vice president of hockey operations, said. On Wednesday, the league said Peel would no longer be working NHL games. You can hear it for yourself in the player above.Īlso Read: Reunion Between NHL and ESPN Fixes a 17-Year-Old Mistake “It wasn’t much, but I wanted to get a f-ing penalty against Nashville early in the …” he was heard saying before the audio cut out. NHL referee Tim Peel got an early start on his retirement after his comments about a penalty he called on the Nashville Predators were caught on a hot mic and were heard on the TV broadcast.ĭuring Nashville’s game Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings, Peel was overheard discussing a penalty he called against the Predators.
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