NHL refuses to change ways games are officiated after Tim Peel incident

The Tim Peel incident is on everyone’s lips and you’ve believe this would be the right time to clean up the officiating in the National Hockey League.

On Wednesday morning, the NHL announced 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 future.

This is because of what took place in last night's game between the Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators. Comments made by Peel were caught on a hot mic and it was determined that it was Peel. After Viktor Arvidsson was called for tripping Jon Merrill, Peel was heard on the FOX broadcast saying, “It wasn’t much, but I wanted to get a fuckin’ penalty against Nashville early in the …” before the audio cut out.

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

The NHL reacted very swiftly to the controversial situation. Questionable calls are not uncommon in any sport, but rarely are referees heard admitting to making them, as Tim Peel was Tuesday. And the league was not going to mess around with that.

However, TSN’s Frank Seravalli and Darren Dreger have pointed out that fans should not expect major changes to come to the games’ officiating.

“There’s no indication that this incident will lead to an audit of the way games are officiated. The league doesn’t appear to have an appetite, in this 56-game shortened season amid a global pandemic, to overhaul its officiating process,” Seravalli writes on TSN.

Caretakers (GM’s/NHL brass) don’t want a game where judgment in officiating isn’t part of it. This has always been the pushback used against more video review. Tim Peel made a mistake, but an overhaul of the officiating standard because of a mic mishap is an overreaction.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) March 24, 2021

However, there is no doubt, even if it refuses to admit it, that the NHL will need to take this time to self-reflect.

On top of that, the NHL made the right call, sure, but let’s not forget that Peel was set to retire this year : his last game was scheduled for April 24.

“ It’s great that the NHL acted with expediency, but with Peel so close to the finish line in a pockmarked career, what would the penalty have been for a 32-year-old official with more runway left in the game?” asks Seravalli.

We wonder too…