![]() ![]() ![]() Why? The fact we still don’t know that invites wild speculation, none of it pleasant for a major pro sports league. Why would Peel have wanted to penalize the Predators? Was it was just a make-up call? Maybe it was more sinister in terms of dictating the direction – or even the outcome – of a game. He brought up the "context" and "intention" of Peel's words without detailing what those were. Worst of all, it sounded routine, like it was nothing out of the ordinary in hockey.Īs such, Campbell's virtuously vague statement on behalf of the NHL was insufficent and actually raised questions. Tempting as it might be to shrug off Peel's captured thoughts as no more than an embarrassingly human flub, too many hockey fans are going to remember his ridiculing tone, how he boasted about his desire to disadvantage the Preds for what he even admitted wasn't much of a penalty. It was a necessary first step, but we can't let the league off the hook so easily. All this did was move his retirement up about a month.ĭistancing itself from Peel publicly as a lone bad actor was an effortless move for the NHL. Peel was essentially fired, yes, but he was already set to retire this season anyway. Good on the NHL for moving quickly to try to defuse an explosive controversy – this took less than 12 hours to play out – but let's not make the punishment out to be more than it was. MATT DUCHENE: Referee Tim Peel 'told our bench' the same thing There is no justification for his comments, no matter the context or his intention." “Tim Peel’s conduct is in direct contradiction to the adherence to that cornerstone principle that we demand of our officials and that our fans, players, coaches and all those associated with our game expect and deserve. “Nothing is more important than ensuring the integrity of our game,” NHL vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell said in a statement Wednesday morning. On Wednesday morning, the NHL confirmed the speaker as referee Tim Peel and said that Peel "no longer will be working NHL games now or in the future" as a result of those comments made during the Preds game. RELATED: What to know about Tim Peel, NHL referee fired for Nashville Predators hot mic incident Someone was heard making candid, explicit comments that were captured by a live microphone as the Predators’ television broadcast was going into a commercial.Ī couple of minutes after the Predators’ Viktor Arvidsson was whistled for a rather soft tripping penalty, these words made it anonymously onto the air before being cut off: “It wasn’t much, but I wanted to get a (expletive) penalty against Nashville early in the …” Juuse Saros’ shutout definitely wasn’t the most memorable part of the Nashville Predators’ 2-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena. "I think from our perspective, it probably doesn't matter how I feel about it, in general, but the referees are employees of the league, and rather than me comment, I think it's an issue that the league will have to take care of.View Gallery: Photos: Nashville Predators vs. "I think the situation is what it is," Nashville head coach John Hynes said when asked about the incident after the game. ESPN reported Tuesday night that the NHL was "taking a look at" the incident. The Predators went on to win the game, 2-0. About two minutes later, as the Nashville broadcast was heading into a commercial break, its audio captured an official saying, "It wasn't much, but I wanted to get a f-ing penalty against Nashville early." The clip quickly went viral, racking up more than 500,000 views on Twitter within 12 hours. Peel, who was officiating the game with Kelly Sutherland, called the penalty from center ice. ![]() In replays of the penalty, it appeared that Merrill flopped to draw the call. With just over 15 minutes remaining in the second period of Tuesday's match between the Predators and the Detroit Red Wings, Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson was called for tripping Red Wings defenseman Jon Merrill in the offensive zone. ![]()
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