#Tim peel full
#Tim peel professional

Too often, parents tend to live vicariously through their pre-teen children, and engage in embarrassing levels of harassment toward officials who are neither paid nor supported enough to tolerate it.Ī parent who remembers being on the other side of those interactions should be able to empathize, and even explain to other parents what it’s like to officiate a game. You hear a lot about problems with hockey culture, and issues with how officials are treated in grassroots hockey are absolutely an example of that. If this continues, we may hit a critical point where minor leagues won’t be able to find officials to make their games possible. Young officials leave the role in droves every year, many due to situations exactly like the one Peel forced on those two teenagers.

That toxicity is most pronounced at some of the youngest levels of hockey, which spells disaster for the future of the officiating profession. The compensation just isn’t worth being assaulted, or catching an assault charge in the process of defending yourself. The toxicity I experienced simply trying to earn some extra money drove me right out of the role.

I’ve had parents follow me to the room over calls they disagree with, nearly come to blows with some of those parents. I’m a little close to this issue, as I spent nearly 10 years officiating minor and Junior hockey. An overbearing parent who just so happens to be a former NHL official is a new level of castigation. Dealing with the politics of being an official is hard enough, but you also have to deal with overbearing parents who are all over you at every turn. Getting ahead is difficult, and getting to the pinnacle of hockey as Peel did is a massive hill to climb.

Officiating tends to be a bit of an old boy’s club.

#Tim peel professional

This incident represents everything wrong with officiating in hockey a former professional pretending he’s above reproach, and acting like a complete buffoon at a game where children are supposed to be having fun. He was notoriously bad at his job, yet was paid far more handsomely than the officials he was berating.Įven if he was the best official to ever step foot on NHL ice, there is no excuse for using your former career as a badge with which to intimidate young refs. Ask almost any hockey fan about Peel, and you’re likely to hear a story about him ruining a game they were trying to enjoy. Louis area, so much so that the two young officials knew he was on his way, and unsuccessfully tried to stop him from getting into their dressing room.įor those unfamiliar with Peel, he was a long tenured - and controversial - NHL official who was drummed out of the league after being caught vocalizing his intent to conduct some “game management” on a hot mic. Part of his retirement hobbies, aside from being a wannabe NHL insider and game-management denier on Twitter, has been causing trouble for minor hockey officials. This is but the latest, and the most pronounced event with Peel rocking up to his 10-year-old’s hockey games and looking to big-time young officials trying to make a buck. This is patently ridiculous behaviour from someone old and experienced enough to know better.Īpparently, it isn’t the first such incident. Peel proceeded to berate the two officials for around 20 minutes, questioning them about their calls in the game, and threatening their jobs, all while invoking his status as a former NHL official to intimidate them. I have a couple questions.’ And he just berated us.” “And he goes, ‘Do you know who the f- I am? You sit down and respect me.

It was a game involving mostly 10-year-old players, which is important to keep in mind here for context. In short, Peel followed the two 17-year-old officials into their dressing room to express his discontent with their performance.

#Tim peel full

I don’t want to borrow too liberally from Gentille’s piece, and I’d recommend everyone give that a read to get the full story. Louis Sting, and apparently the former NHL referee took issue with some of the officiating in said game. Peel’s son was involved in a game between the St. A stunning report from Sean Gentille of The Athletic came out on Friday evening, telling the story of former NHL referee Tim Peel’s behaviour at a minor hockey game in St.