Tim Peel no longer to ref NHL games after hot-mic incident

A referee’s career for the National Hockey League is over after he was caught saying he wanted to call a penalty on the Nashville Predators by a TV microphone.

On Tuesday, the league announced that Tim Peel would “no longer will be working NHL games now or in the future.”

“Tim Peel’s conduct is in direct contraction to the adherence to that cornerstone principle that we demand from our officials and that of our fans, players coaches and all those associated with our game expect and deserve,” the league said in a statement. “There is no justification for his comments no matter the context or intension.”

According to The Associated Press, the incident occurred five minutes into the second period when Peel’s voice is overheard over the TV broadcast after Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson was called for tripping a Detroit Red Wings player.

“It wasn’t much, but I wanted to get an (expletive) penalty against Nashville early,” the microphones caught Peel saying, which the NHL determined was his voice.

The AP reported Peel officiated the game with Kelly Sutherland.

Peel, 54, had already made plans to retire next month, The AP reported.