Tim Peel, a National Hockey League referee, accidentally landed himself in hot water during the Detroit-Nashville game.
On Tuesday night, Peel expressed that he wanted to call a penalty against the Predators. The statement was overheard on the TV broadcast, and immediately, Peel felt his statement’s consequences.
“It wasn’t much, but I wanted to get a (expletive) penalty against Nashville early in the,” Peel began before his microphone was cut off due to a tripping penalty on Predator’s player Viktor Arvidsson.
NHL fires referee Tim Peel after hot-mic incident. ? https://t.co/3dkDy0PESq pic.twitter.com/XPm4raLvjr
— theScore (@theScore) March 24, 2021
Following the referee’s statement, the NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell came forward with an official comment on Wednesday. Campbell revealed that Peel was indefinitely banned from working NHL games. The NHL Public Relations official Twitter released Campbell’s response. In the caption, they wrote:
“Referee Tim Peel no longer will be working NHL games now or in the future.”
Ultimately, Peel was let go to “protect the integrity” of the game. The NHL strives to keep the game as fair as possible and expects all coaches, players, and referees to uphold the same values.
See the official 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
Listen to Peel’s comments in the following video.