Former referee fired by the NHL admits he gave star players special treatment
A former referee who spent years in the NHL is confirming what many fans likely already suspected. Tim Peel, who was involved in more than 1300 regular season NHL games, and another 90 in the playoffs, has admitted that star players get preferential treatment from officials.
In an interview with Jeremy Roenick, Peel said people buy tickets to games to see the stars, and that's why they get the calls.
"Did I give Sid Crosby some breaks over the years? Did I give Alexander Ovechkin? Did I give the superstars? Absolutely, because � guess what? � that's what the 18,000 fans are there to see. They're there to see him, not some fourth-line plugger.
Peel did say some things have to called, no matter who the victim of the infraction happened to be.
"[For a cross-check to the head], the refs have to call it. The refs are gonna call it. I don't think Hockey Ops says, 'Well, Buffalo's not very good .We shouldn't suspend the other player because they've got a good team and Buffalo's not very good.' I disagree with that."
Peel was let go from the league in 2021 when a hot mic caught him telling a team he was giving them a penalty as a "make-up call." In other words, he made a bad call against the other team earlier, and decided on a penalty for the opponents to make up for it. Like being softer on star players, it was a thing that many fans had suspected was taking place in the NHL for years, but no one had ever said it out loud.
| POLL | ||
12 OCTOBRE | 84 ANSWERS Former referee fired by the NHL admits he gave star players special treatment Should star players get preferential treatment from officials? | ||
| Yes, the game needs them | 9 | 10.7 % |
| No, a penalty should be a penalty | 74 | 88.1 % |
| I'm not sure | 1 | 1.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
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