FILE - Referee Tim Peel is shown during an NHL hockey game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Islanders in Philadelphia, in this Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021, file photo. The league on Wednesday, March 24, 2021, announced that Peel no longer will be working NHL games now or in the future. Every single hockey fan, new and old, probably already knew this was the mentality of NHL officiating, but to hear the proof so loud and clearly was shocking nonetheless. And then, if you think you might actually understand what will be called from game to game, everything will change again in the post season. As a former USA Hockey official, I can tell you NHL games are the farthest thing from what the USA Hockey rulebook and training classes instruct officials to do.

BUFFALO, NY - MARCH 21: referee Tim Peel #20 waves off a goal as the Buffalo Sabres face the the Montreal Canadiens during their NHL game at First Niagara Center on March 21, 2012 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Dave Sandford/Getty Images)The NHL has decided to fire a game official who was caught on audio saying he “wanted to get” a penalty against the Nashville Predators during the team’s game Tuesday night against the Detroit Red Wings. https://t.co/mrnDc61W5P pic.twitter.com/tKsg2SwGh8 — NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 24, 2021The Predators won, 2-0. Both teams received three penalties, then the Predators got a fourth for putting the puck over the glass. Nashville was 1-2 on the power play while Detroit came up empty in three power play opportunities.

Tim Peel's career as an NHL referee is over after his voice was picked up by a TV microphone saying he wanted to call a penalty against the Nashville Predators. The league on Wednesday, March 24, 2021, announced that Peel no longer will be working NHL games now or in the future. Peel will “no longer will be working NHL games now or in the future," the league said. “Watch what happens at the end of games,” said Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour, a former center who played more than 1,600 NHL games. That level of experience made him a “senior-level official” in the terms of the league's collective bargaining agreement with the NHL Officials Association.