Former referee Tim Peel speaks out on his termination from the NHL
PUBLICATION
S. HarperMarch 24, 2022 (7:02 PM)
We always hoped that NHL referees wouldn't play a role in the outcome if a hockey game, but sometimes it seemed they were the sole reason for a team's victory. One year ago today a hot mic caught NHL official, Tim Peel, explaining he was calling an even up call during the game.
During a game between the Nashville Predators and Detroit Red Wings, Peel gave the Predators' Viktor Arvidsson a penalty for tripping Detroit Red Wings' defenceman Jon Merrill. The penalty wasn't the issue, it was Peel's comments he accidentally shared via his mic.
During the game on Fox Sports Peel was caught saying:
It wasn't much but I wanted to get a fuckin penalty against Nashville early in the...
At which point the audio was cut out once Peel realized his mistake. But by then it was too late. Peel was fired by the NHL, about a month before his planned retirement.
Tim Peel shared the following statement he presented after the incident with the Daily Face-Off Podcast:
For people to understand as a referee, normally if you've called five or six penalties against one team, I think everybody knows �if you can find one against the other team to keep them happy then that's what we do.
But in this case, there had only been one penalty called in the game and it was against Detroit. When I called that penalty, I think it was Arvidsson that tripped the Detroit player and when I threw my arm up, I was in the neutral zone and I honestly thought Arvidsson tripped him. But as soon as I throw my arm up, I'm like �jeez, I didn't think he pushed him down.' I didn't see it the way I thought that I saw it.
I was working with a veteran referee in Kelly Sutherland, who is one of the best in the NHL, and I think it was more my defence mechanism when I went over to the box. We take a lot of pride in the penalties that we call to make sure we call good NHL penalties and there's nothing worse than calling a weak penalty against a team and the other team scores on the power-play.
So I think it was my defence mechanism kicking in, more of an embarrassment thing to a guy that I really respected a lot in Kelly Sutherland and I said �yeah it wasn't much, I wanted to get a penalty � which wasn't the case at all. I didn't want to get a penalty against Nashville, and I just made a mistake. I made a tremendous error in judgement by choosing the words that I did.
But in this case, there had only been one penalty called in the game and it was against Detroit. When I called that penalty, I think it was Arvidsson that tripped the Detroit player and when I threw my arm up, I was in the neutral zone and I honestly thought Arvidsson tripped him. But as soon as I throw my arm up, I'm like �jeez, I didn't think he pushed him down.' I didn't see it the way I thought that I saw it.
I was working with a veteran referee in Kelly Sutherland, who is one of the best in the NHL, and I think it was more my defence mechanism when I went over to the box. We take a lot of pride in the penalties that we call to make sure we call good NHL penalties and there's nothing worse than calling a weak penalty against a team and the other team scores on the power-play.
So I think it was my defence mechanism kicking in, more of an embarrassment thing to a guy that I really respected a lot in Kelly Sutherland and I said �yeah it wasn't much, I wanted to get a penalty � which wasn't the case at all. I didn't want to get a penalty against Nashville, and I just made a mistake. I made a tremendous error in judgement by choosing the words that I did.
Tim Peel obviously regretted his mistake, he'd been an NHL official since 1995. He officiated 1362 regular season games and 90 playoff games. Today marks one year after the incident and Peel released this tweet showing his remorse:
One year ago today I made a major mistake. I chose the wrong words and paid a severe price. Everything I have is because of the National Hockey League. Gary Bettman and Bill Daly were incredible to me over my career. #nhl #hockeytwitter
We hope that this is the last will ever hear of something like this. We hope the referees let the teams decide who wins and losses. Ultimately a decision to not call something is just as impactful as calling something.
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