Nashville won at home to Detroit 2-0.
But it was the referee Tim Peel who was in the center of the match.
Early in the second period, at the score 1-0 to the home team, Swedish Nashville player Viktor Arvidsson went on an expulsion.
Then you hear Peel say:
- It was not much, but I wanted to give Nashville a fucking expulsion early in ..., the judge said before moving on to advertising.
The referee is fired
The NHL management looked at the matter directly and made the decision: Peel may not referee more in the league.
- Tim Peel's behavior is diametrically opposed in relation to the basic principles that our functionaries must follow.
His comments are in no way justified, regardless of the context or his intentions.
The NHL does what it takes to protect privacy, says Colin Campbell, NHL manager, to the league's website.
In April, the idea was that the 53-year-old head referee, who has refereed over 1,300 base game games in the NHL, would referee his last game when Peel retires.
But there will be no more matches for the 53-year-old.
A decision that not everyone was happy with.
- Peel is fired for having done what judges always do, said what judges always say, but got stuck.
No suspension, warning, training.
Without being kicked - straight off, writes Darryl Dobbs, who runs the NHL site Dobber, on Twitter.