NHL fires referee for comments picked up on hot mic

[Cowtown]

They teach you "game management," but don't let anyone hear you talking about it.

Referee Peel no longer working NHL games | NHL.com

NEW YORK - National Hockey League Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell announced today that Referee Tim Peel, following his comments during the game last night between the Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators, no longer will be working NHL games now or in the...

www.nhl.com

 

[creatorsgam]

"It wasn't much, but I wanted to get a --ing penalty against Nashville early." Incredible to say something like out loud on the ice.

The postgame comments from the Nashville coach were classy... can only imagine if that happened to a Tortorella-coached team, the sound bites would have been gold.

 

[samspann1]

nah, refs do such a great job!

 

[OburgOrange]

One of the worst NHL refs of all time chimes in..

Shut up Kerry

 

[Chip]

One of the worst NHL refs of all time chimes in..

Shut up Kerry

True, but that hair... it's magnificent!

 

[upperdeck]

no different than other sports where refs try to call something early to set the tone.. they do it in soccer they do it in hockey. they do it in bball

 

[Cowtown]

no different than other sports where refs try to call something early to set the tone.. they do it in soccer they do it in hockey. they do it in bball

And if you don't know how to do it, you don't get to audition to work at the next level. And most coaches are okay with it because the calls are then predictable and consistent. They don't want a guy who just comes out and reacts. And neither do the leagues. Especially the NBA.

A friend who reffed university level basketball went to an NBA identification camp. They were all told in the first meeting on the first day that the league is in the entertainment business, and if you don't understand what that means "you should just go home right now."

Seriously, this is bigger than the Tim Donaghy incident. He was fixing games on his own to line his own pocket. Peel was "managing games" because he'd been taught to do it, and had been doing so for a long time, and he's hardly the only one doing it.