Tim Peel’s career as an NHL referee ended after his voice was heard over a TV microphone saying he wanted to score a penalty against the Nashville Predators.
The league announced on Wednesday that Peel “will no longer work on NHL games now or in the future”. Peel, 54, already had plans to retire next month.
“Nothing is more important than ensuring the integrity of our game,” said NHL vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell. “Tim Peel’s conduct is in direct contradiction to adherence to this fundamental principle that we demand from our managers and our fans, players, coaches and all those associated with our game, they hope and deserve.”
The NHL determined that it was Peel’s voice that was heard on the TV broadcast of the Predators’ home game against the Detroit Red Wings after Nashville striker Viktor Arvidsson received a minor stumble penalty five minutes after the second period .
“It wasn’t much, but I wanted to get a penalty (bad word) against Nashville earlier in the year,” the unidentified officer was heard saying before the microphone was cut. Peel worked the game with referee Kelly Sutherland.
“There is no justification for your comments, no matter the context or intention,” said Campbell.
The Predators won 2-0 and were called for four penalties, compared to three of the Red Wings. Matt Duchene, from Nashville, in a local radio appearance on Wednesday wondered aloud what would have happened if Detroit had scored in power play, won the game and the Predators missed the playoffs by one point.
“The crazy part is that he was talking to (teammate Filip) Forsberg in that clip, and he said that to our bank. Really bizarre, ” Duchene said. “I don’t think there is a place in hockey for that. you have to call the game. I always get frustrated when I see regular calls or things like that. If one team is winning power games, you cannot punish them because the other team is not. “
Duchene and other players around the league voiced doubts about “spare calls” being a regular part of hockey, although he acknowledged “there are definitely nights when you’re skeptical about it”.
“Some of the good referees definitely know the game and know the ups and downs and know how to try to keep the game as uniform as possible, unless the game indicates otherwise,” said New York Rangers striker Ryan Strome. “But as players, all you can ask for is that they try to consider it as fair as possible.”
Nicklas Backstrom, of central Washington, a 14-year-old veteran, said the incident was a first for him.
“I’ve never heard anything like it,” said Backstrom. “I think it might be a shame that it happened and came out that way, but at the same time, the league had to do what it had to do.”
Most players and coaches expressed respect for the officials on the ice and regretted the difficulty of their work in keeping up with the pace of the game.. Buffalo interim coach Don Granato said he has “total faith” in the people who work for the NHL.
“(Peel) made a mistake, but unfortunately you don’t want spare calls to be part of the game,” said Adam Larsson of Edmonton. “I don’t think it is right. I think that if it’s obvious, I don’t think it should be compensated. “
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AP freelance reporter Jim Diamond in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed.
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