Tim Peel | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1966-04-27)April 27, 1966 (age 59)[1] Hampton, New Brunswick, Canada |
| Occupation | Ice hockey official |
| Years active | 1999–2021 |
Tim Peel is a Canadian former professionalhockey referee for theNational Hockey League from 1999 to 2021. During his career, Peel officiated 1,362 regular season games and 90 playoff games, as well asinternational hockey at the Olympics in 2014. Peel's career ended in controversy following ahot mic incident.
Peel joined the National Hockey League Officials' Association (NHLOA) in 1995 and officiated his first NHL game four years later in1999 between theColorado Avalanche and theOttawa Senators. Peel's first playoff game occurred in the2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs where he officiated theArizona Coyotes and theSan Jose Sharks on April 17. Peel officiated his 1,000th game on November 14, 2015.[2]
Peel was one of 13 NHL referees who officiated in the2014 Winter Olympics inSochi. In addition, he also officiated the2012 All-Star Game and the2009 and2017 NHL Winter Classic.[2]
During his NHL career, Peel was the subject of controversy as early as 2013 following controversial calls inregular season games.[3][4] In 2015, Peel was suspended one game for meeting hockey bloggerGreg Wyshynski at a bar to discuss his work and appearing in a photo next to Wyshynski, holding ashot glass oftequila in the air.[5] In the meeting, Peel acknowledged to Wyshynski that he erred on some of his calls, and suggested that the NHL expects officials to manage games in a particular way.[6][7]
Peel was fired from the NHL in March 2021 following ahot mic incident, where he was overheard saying "it wasn't much, but I wanted to get a fucking penalty against Nashville early"[8] after penalizingNashville Predators forwardViktor Arvidsson fortripping.[8] The incident occurred in a conversation between Peel and Arvidsson's teammateFilip Forsberg.[9]
Peel left the NHL having officiated 1,362 regular season games and 90 playoff games.[10]
Peel was born inHampton, New Brunswick, and had adoptive parents. He was raised in atrailer park where he was bullied as a child.[11] He is married and has two children.[12] Peel started to work inIT staffing for Genoa Employment Solutions after his officiating career ended.[7][13]
Peel started a hockey camp to prepare young referees for professional work as adults, including in the NHL.[14]
In 2023, after an under-10 hockey game, Peel allegedly followed two 17-year-old officials into a dressing room and berated them.[15] His lawyer said that Peel "did nothing improper". Peel was suspended from coaching for 30 days, barred from the referees' room for two years, and placed on probation for two years following the incident. Peel's partnership between his referee camp and the McKenna Scholarship, announced in 2019,[16] was terminated.[14]