The NHL has fired the ref caught on a hot mic admitting to making up a call.
During the Tuesday night matchup between the Red Wings and Predators, ref Tim Peel was caught on a mic saying, “It wasn’t much but I wanted to get a f**king penalty against Nashville early in the…” (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
You can hear the comment in the video below.
Maybe if you’re a mic’d up ref, you shouldn’t express how you wanted to call a penalty against a team earlier in the game, changing how you ref the rest of the game.
“It wasn’t much but I wanted to get a fuckin’ penalty against Nashville early in the…”#Preds #LGRW pic.twitter.com/6fZImkdqLr
— Matt Best (@bestofmatt) March 24, 2021
Wednesday morning, the NHL announced that Peel “no longer will be working NHL games now or in the future.” You can read the full statement below.
Referee Tim Peel no longer will be working NHL games now or in the future. https://t.co/mrnDc61W5P pic.twitter.com/tKsg2SwGh8
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 24, 2021
I’m sure Peel is a nice guy, but the NHL had no choice in this situation. The league’s hands were tied. As soon as you have a ref who admits to faking a call on a hot mic, he has to go.
You can never trust him again and given how much money is on the line every night, the NHL had to act quickly.
NHL director of hockey operations Colin Campbell would not comment on one of the referees appearing to admit to an even-up call in the Nashville-Detroit game tonight, but did acknowledge, “Investigating this incident.”
— Ken Campbell (@THNKenCampbell) March 24, 2021
I hate seeing people lose their jobs, but I really don’t know what the NHL could have done here. Once the trust is gone in sports, it’s gone for good.