NHL referee admits he wants to call Nashville penalty at Hot Mic

NHL referee Tim Peel was heard on a microphone admitting that he intended to score a penalty against the Nashville Predators in the second period against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.

The penalty came just under five minutes into the second period when Peel whistled Viktor Arvidsson of Nashville for taking Jon Merrill down from Detroit. It was the second penalty in the game, but the first in Nashville. Detroit was called in for interference with 6:19 remaining in the opening period.

Below is the stumbling penalty:

After taking the penalty, an official’s voice can be heard in the microphone, which was later determined to be that of Peel.

Note that the clip below includes mature language.

NHL hockey operations director Colin Campbell said the league was “investigating the incident”.

It is not uncommon for officials to target teams that may be complaining, and replacement calls have always been an unspoken part of sports. However, listening is really saying the silent part aloud. With the expansion of legal sports betting, leagues need to be proactive in dealing with these issues.

A 2015 study by FiveThiryEight.com showed that hockey referees tend to be influenced by previous calls, meaning that officials tend to balance things out when penalties are one-sided.

The Predators won the game 2-0 as a favorite at -160 bets, despite being called for four penalties against three from Detroit. Nashville eliminated all four power moves in the night to change to 15-17-1 in the year.

Action Network contacted the NHL for further comments. This story will be updated as further developments.