I'm a little miffed that I was slow on the uptake about game management. Nobody's fault but my own, I can be naive. Believe me from today on I'll watch a game if there is nothing else to do but I will never cancel or change an activity because of a hockey game. It's on the level of WWE now. Still fun but a kid's houseleague game is more genuine in my opinion.
How do you feel about the firing of Tim Peel?
- Thread starter The Hanging Jowl
- Start date
ACC1224
Super Elite, Passing ALL Tests since 2002
- Aug 19, 2002
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You have to feel for the guy not getting to go out in a last game. Buddy of mine had to retire as a player because of COVID. No last game, farewell videos or any appreciation. It hit him hard I know. Timmy is probably feeling the same way.
NHL is Covering their A in the firing - Peel is a sacrificial lamb for the exposure that Referees at every level are corrupt by nature .
This may even make it harder for you but it is hockey at virtually every competitive level ... I have even seen it at house league ... if we are gonna change officiating it is gonna be next to impossible as where are we gonna get guys who can skate but never went thru da system????????????????????????????????? maybe figure skaters i guess ... man it is hard to even contemplate how it changes ...
This highlights the reality of the jobbing Leafs are often on the raw end of.
You know the missed slash, where Rielly had his stick broken. I was po'd the refs missed that. But then I started reading here that no no that was game management. So I guess we weren't meant to win that game and that was a total fluke how it worked out (Hockey Gods anyone lol)
I used to tell my father inlaw WWF wasn't real he would get all upset. What goes around comes around lol!
Menzinger
Kessel4LadyByng
Don't really have an opinion on the guy one way or the other. All I hope is this incident leads to wider league changes in how the game is officiated.
AngryScotsman
Registered User
Scapegoat for what we know already goes on in the NHL. The NHL's need for parity is ruining the game for me.
IceNeophyte
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- Nov 14, 2017
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Of course it's about the Leafs. The Leafs are the only team in the NHL who have calls not go their way.
Leafsfan74
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- Jul 2, 2018
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A PR move by the league. It's a business. One that seems hellbent on hurting their own product too often, but I digress...
Bottom line for me is that the league, after watching the horrific mid-'90s hockey, takes small steps forward and then plateau until they take a small step back. The league should be promoting and rewarding talent and skill, and those with the ambition to apply themselves (will) to succeed decides the Cup winner each year.
Call the game as it should be called. Anything at any time, when warranted. In the 2005 season I believe, they decided to overhaul the reffing, calling it by the books, they were extremely strict early on and stated that they were committed to that. Then, as always, they slowly revert back. If refs can't be consistent, develop A.I and get it right.
If anyone believes the league is interested in being straight, wait until the playoffs roll around. I'm all for a hard checking hockey game that is intense and a battle to the end, I'm not into watching players play in mud because they are held up, interfferred with or purposely hit in vulnerable positions. That's not exciting to me.
In my opinion, the fact that Tchachuk wasn't suspended let alone penalized for kneeing a goalies head, or, a can opener with a stick by Ovechkin is only worthy of a $5000 fine, speaks volumes about the character of the league.
Bottom line for me is that the league, after watching the horrific mid-'90s hockey, takes small steps forward and then plateau until they take a small step back. The league should be promoting and rewarding talent and skill, and those with the ambition to apply themselves (will) to succeed decides the Cup winner each year.
Call the game as it should be called. Anything at any time, when warranted. In the 2005 season I believe, they decided to overhaul the reffing, calling it by the books, they were extremely strict early on and stated that they were committed to that. Then, as always, they slowly revert back. If refs can't be consistent, develop A.I and get it right.
If anyone believes the league is interested in being straight, wait until the playoffs roll around. I'm all for a hard checking hockey game that is intense and a battle to the end, I'm not into watching players play in mud because they are held up, interfferred with or purposely hit in vulnerable positions. That's not exciting to me.
In my opinion, the fact that Tchachuk wasn't suspended let alone penalized for kneeing a goalies head, or, a can opener with a stick by Ovechkin is only worthy of a $5000 fine, speaks volumes about the character of the league.
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Captain14
Registered User
I agree that the NHL officiating is terrible, but it’s also prevalent in the MLB and NFL.
Just look at balls and strikes, every umpire has a different strike zone and even that can change from inning to inning. If a player complains, he is screwed, he’ll never get a call again.
The NFL with offensive holding and defensive pass interference, it’s all bad.
All officials in every sport can hold grudges against teams or players
It’s at the point where you should be able to review every infraction, but then you’ll have 4 hours games.
I don’t remember it being this bad in the old school 70’s NHL, but back then, you had a rule book that allowed just about anything, short of clubbing a player unconscious.
The big difference that I see is the game management in the NHL vs. others.
You can have inconsistency night to night, official to official, but it's rare these other leagues fluctuate based on score and time in game.
123offtheglass
Registered User
Should become mandatory that everything the refs say is monitored & if in the case they're caught withholding any evidence of match-fixing then there will be criminal charges against the league. Teams should be able to request investigations when reasonable without getting fined by this bs league; the refs & league's upper management need some accountability. It's ridiculous coaches get hefty fines for speaking out because the NHL clearly wants them to keep their mouth shut about the corrupt integrity of the league. I hope to see some change because now there's is evidence out there and nobody believes for a second that it's just that one ref; I really hope there is backlash and he speaks out against the league.
As a fan firing that one ref isn't enough for me, their system is corrupt & I've always been skeptical but now you really can trust anything. What about that 5min major against Vegas in the Vegas-San Jose series; was that really necessary or just another case of this game manipulation by either trying to get a makeup call or even the playing field and making the game closer and more interesting for their benefit of entertainment purposes? I've thought for a while that the NHL at times can be too much like the WWE & professional teams just had to deal with the crap. Rivalry series like Leafs Bruins they purposely let things go because they want an aggressive entertaining game so maybe they hire refs who are more relaxed with the rulebook for that series; they want the cheapshots & Kadri incidents to happen.
As a fan firing that one ref isn't enough for me, their system is corrupt & I've always been skeptical but now you really can trust anything. What about that 5min major against Vegas in the Vegas-San Jose series; was that really necessary or just another case of this game manipulation by either trying to get a makeup call or even the playing field and making the game closer and more interesting for their benefit of entertainment purposes? I've thought for a while that the NHL at times can be too much like the WWE & professional teams just had to deal with the crap. Rivalry series like Leafs Bruins they purposely let things go because they want an aggressive entertaining game so maybe they hire refs who are more relaxed with the rulebook for that series; they want the cheapshots & Kadri incidents to happen.
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saffronleaf
Registered User
Good but it means nothing if they don't actually address the game management that is pervasive. Peel was just too obvious about it.
cannucky
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- Aug 18, 2011
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He'll just have more time and fewer eyes on him to gamble on the games . The league has been real good at concealing it's problems with refs betting on games they are officiating but theres been a couple of major east coast bookies busted over the years that had just as many NHL refs tangled up as they did NBA and MLB officials . We don't hear about it in the sports pages but it comes out in other areas . There was guy who had probably the most valuable Classic Mopar collection on the planet when he got busted by the FBI for operations in a dozen states on the east coast , no mention in the sports pages but the collector car world heard all about his connections to pro sports officials .
The Blueprint
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- Dec 4, 2018
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There's nothing exciting about blatant missed calls and refs pulling other calls out of their ass for the sake of keeping shitty teams in games though.
If anything it deters people from watching the game because it's more of a WWE event that's scripted instead of a legit competition.
likecheese
The Goats of November
- Oct 21, 2019
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Who didn't know loooooooooong before this that this league was corrupt anyway?
They police themselves though. That always works.
They police themselves though. That always works.
What the Tim Peel incident says about the role of 'game management' - Sportsnet.ca
EDMONTON — In the wake of the Tim Peel clip that shook the hockey world Wednesday, we ask the rhetorical question: From the standpoint of a National Hockey League referee, what exactly is game management?
Was Peel simply “managing the game” when he spoke of wanting to penalize Nashville “early in the” period, as he chatted with fellow referee Kelly Sutherland while standing too close to an ice effects microphone?
Or was he really trying to justify a poor call to his colleague, the way a player casts a look of blame at a perfectly good stick after he misses an open net? “It was a lousy call, but this is why I made it…”
“The guy had a brain cramp,” former NHL referee Paul Stewart said of Peel, with whom he once worked. “Maybe he looked at the penalty, or he thought about it, and he said, ‘That wasn’t so good.’ So maybe he was trying to give himself a little ‘atta boy’ to buck up his spirit.”
Maybe Peel was simply executing one of the commonly held definitions of “game management” by handing a minor to Nashville early in the second period, because Detroit had the only minor in the first period. That didn’t fly with former NHL Director of Officiating Bryan Lewis, who spoke to “The Writers Block” Wednesday.
“There was no need to overwork that game,” Lewis said.
Translation: It was a calm, low-event game that did not need over managing by the zebras.
So why was Peel managing this game? Perhaps he was executing the old “make-up call” after missing something earlier.
“There are screens and replays,” offered Oilers winger Tyler Ennis. “Maybe they’ll catch something that they missed.”
Perhaps, but if so Peel should have kept his mouth shut about it.
Peel’s comments cost him his final month on the job after nearly 1,500 games, and the chance to retire with dignity in a referee’s traditional final game later this season. A league that has fostered game management, condoned game management — and quite possibly taught game management to its officials — for decades, disciplined Peel Wednesday for verbalizing his own attempt at game management.
EDMONTON — In the wake of the Tim Peel clip that shook the hockey world Wednesday, we ask the rhetorical question: From the standpoint of a National Hockey League referee, what exactly is game management?
Was Peel simply “managing the game” when he spoke of wanting to penalize Nashville “early in the” period, as he chatted with fellow referee Kelly Sutherland while standing too close to an ice effects microphone?
Or was he really trying to justify a poor call to his colleague, the way a player casts a look of blame at a perfectly good stick after he misses an open net? “It was a lousy call, but this is why I made it…”
“The guy had a brain cramp,” former NHL referee Paul Stewart said of Peel, with whom he once worked. “Maybe he looked at the penalty, or he thought about it, and he said, ‘That wasn’t so good.’ So maybe he was trying to give himself a little ‘atta boy’ to buck up his spirit.”
Maybe Peel was simply executing one of the commonly held definitions of “game management” by handing a minor to Nashville early in the second period, because Detroit had the only minor in the first period. That didn’t fly with former NHL Director of Officiating Bryan Lewis, who spoke to “The Writers Block” Wednesday.
“There was no need to overwork that game,” Lewis said.
Translation: It was a calm, low-event game that did not need over managing by the zebras.
So why was Peel managing this game? Perhaps he was executing the old “make-up call” after missing something earlier.
“There are screens and replays,” offered Oilers winger Tyler Ennis. “Maybe they’ll catch something that they missed.”
Perhaps, but if so Peel should have kept his mouth shut about it.
Peel’s comments cost him his final month on the job after nearly 1,500 games, and the chance to retire with dignity in a referee’s traditional final game later this season. A league that has fostered game management, condoned game management — and quite possibly taught game management to its officials — for decades, disciplined Peel Wednesday for verbalizing his own attempt at game management.
DarenX
Registered User
- Sep 21, 2019
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I think you are definitely mixing up game management... games are not managed at every level to keep them close. Refs definitely manage the players, like you have mentioned, "one more time and your getting two"... "next x check, I'm calling"... " move the puck or I'm calling a delay". That's all fine and dandy, and it is a form of game management but not in the same context everyone is going on about, at least not me anyways.
Warning, letting the boys know what your gonna be calling today, etc... I'm OK with. As long as both teams know, that's fair.
It's complicated man. I am also OK when a ref misses an obvious call and makes up with a softy. I'm not OK with missing Riley's stick being broke in half, clear as fkin day and not making the call as to keep the game even. I'm not OK with one team committing multiple soft penalties and being able to play through and the other team getting called for same soft penalties, all cause other team is down 1,2 or 3 goals.
SpongeJim
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- Mar 8, 2015
- 11
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Eh, the problem is you're taking at face value the implicit idea the league is presenting here that Peel is some "rogue referee". He was punished for leaving his mic on - Campbell making his public statement is just theatre.
Everyone who regularly watches hockey knows (or should know) that game management has been around forever. You have variations from ref to ref on how much they *make* calls versus *ignore* calls, how often they power-trip, how often they "punish" a chirpy team, etc. I'm not defending it, I wish all sport was called straight. Why? - because you simply get a better product, I don't get why the NHL at least doesn't understand this.
If you call the rules straight, teams have to play hockey rather than rely on dirt, dives, "daring the ref to call another one" and so on. Anyone remember those Lindy Ruff Sabres teams that would just commit infraction after infraction, take their up to 3-5 penalties in a row, then enjoy the rest of the game committing infractions for free? It's a strategy for some of these coaches, and it's anti-sport as far as I'm concerned.
Some will argue (refs especially) that if they were to call every little thing the game would be unwatchable. This I agree with. The problem is consistency. Refs need to be able to call a game without "thinking it over" when they see an infraction - ever. If a ref sets a very simple set of rules for himself, *communicates those rules* to the benches, then sticks to them - the game will be fine. A simple set I always offer is - anything obvious? Called. Anything dangerous? Called. You warn a player they're getting close to either of those, and they do the same thing again? Called.
That's a brave reporter right there, we all know there's no pro-Leaf commentary allowed on twitter
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Seems folks are debating many diferent aspects. The game is either being run by game management or it isn't. Quality of refs have nothing to do with it, if the game is being purposely managed for entertainment value.
I wonder if the league makes a comment about the incident or just sweeps it under the carpet, with no comment.
I wonder if the league makes a comment about the incident or just sweeps it under the carpet, with no comment.
Fogelhund
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- Sep 15, 2007
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NHL finally finds the one bad referee causing officiating problems in all games
TORONTO – The NHL has announced that referee Tim Peel will no longer be working NHL games after being caught on mic saying that he wanted to give a penalty to one team regardless of infraction. After long-suspecting that one referee was the source of all bad ref calls across all NHL games, Commissioner Gary Bettman considers the problem solved.
“We’ve fixed hockey once and for all,” said Bettman. “To all those nay-sayers who said that there’s a whole series of pervasive and systemic officiating problems, just wait. All games will be wonderfully officiated now, no more ‘game management’. Now that we’ve removed Tim Peel, no further action is necessary. And if it was, we certainly wouldn’t tell you.”
Fans have long complained about a variety of officiating issues including arbitrary goaltender interference, off-sides, hits to the head, the last few minutes of play and playoff “rules.” While Tim Peel has long been noted as an egregiously uneven referee, it is only with this audio evidence that action has been taken.
“I knew it was him,” said long-time fan Ally Chin. “I’ve watched so many games and yelled at Peel for so long. Even games where he wasn’t reffing and I saw even-out penalties being called, I suspected it was because Tim Peel was telling them to do so. I’m so glad he, and consequently all other problems, are out of the game.”
Despite reports that Peel was due to retire in one month and that this punishment doesn’t effectively change the culture of officiating or actually punish the offender, NHL insiders report that the order for Peel’s retirement cake has been canceled.
After the announcement, Hockey Operations VP Colin Campbell spoke from a darkened alley behind NHL HQ.
“Nothing is more important than the integrity of the game. Which is why I watch every minute of every game. I lurk in the parking lots outside of arenas after games. I hunt when the sun sets and the puck drops. My nightmares are haunted by what we’ve been calling The Wild Zebra, a referee gone rogue. Finally, finally, we’ve got him. Tim Peel will never referee again as long as I walk the Earth and NHL games can finally be as fair as possible.”
He then disappeared in a puff of smoke.
{It's a satire site, in case you missed it}
TORONTO – The NHL has announced that referee Tim Peel will no longer be working NHL games after being caught on mic saying that he wanted to give a penalty to one team regardless of infraction. After long-suspecting that one referee was the source of all bad ref calls across all NHL games, Commissioner Gary Bettman considers the problem solved.
“We’ve fixed hockey once and for all,” said Bettman. “To all those nay-sayers who said that there’s a whole series of pervasive and systemic officiating problems, just wait. All games will be wonderfully officiated now, no more ‘game management’. Now that we’ve removed Tim Peel, no further action is necessary. And if it was, we certainly wouldn’t tell you.”
Fans have long complained about a variety of officiating issues including arbitrary goaltender interference, off-sides, hits to the head, the last few minutes of play and playoff “rules.” While Tim Peel has long been noted as an egregiously uneven referee, it is only with this audio evidence that action has been taken.
“I knew it was him,” said long-time fan Ally Chin. “I’ve watched so many games and yelled at Peel for so long. Even games where he wasn’t reffing and I saw even-out penalties being called, I suspected it was because Tim Peel was telling them to do so. I’m so glad he, and consequently all other problems, are out of the game.”
Despite reports that Peel was due to retire in one month and that this punishment doesn’t effectively change the culture of officiating or actually punish the offender, NHL insiders report that the order for Peel’s retirement cake has been canceled.
After the announcement, Hockey Operations VP Colin Campbell spoke from a darkened alley behind NHL HQ.
“Nothing is more important than the integrity of the game. Which is why I watch every minute of every game. I lurk in the parking lots outside of arenas after games. I hunt when the sun sets and the puck drops. My nightmares are haunted by what we’ve been calling The Wild Zebra, a referee gone rogue. Finally, finally, we’ve got him. Tim Peel will never referee again as long as I walk the Earth and NHL games can finally be as fair as possible.”
He then disappeared in a puff of smoke.
{It's a satire site, in case you missed it}
123offtheglass
Registered User
Definitely need more consistency; teams go into each game wondering what the rules are going to be that night... it starts or at least partially stems from the nhl rulebook bring written so poorly; too many rules written badly or resulting in a grey area... maybe intentionally so that they can be bent to better manage the game by the refs.
Game management is somewhat fine, but it depends on the motive... how much is for the good of the game (making a fair sum of calls to either team based on a sum of penalties, missed penalties, & numerous borderline penalties) and how much of it is for entertainment value??? I'd say it's a bit of both which is the problem.
Ever notice how they seem to let things go much more in rivalry games? It's great for entertainment, bad for the integrity of the game.
Leafs are a pretty clean, disciplined puck possession team; I wonder if we had a Tom Wilson or Brad Marchand if they'd be the unicorn of the team that would get called for everything (or the majority of the penalties), or if they'd just raise the bar for what they Leafs can get away with in a game.
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Maple Leaf
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