NHL Officiating Integrity Gets A "Black Eye"

Last night, National Hockey League (NHL) referee Tim Peel was caught on a "hot mic" targeting a penalty call against the Nashville Predators in their game against the Detroit Red Wings.  This gives the NHL a serious "black eye" on their officiating integrity.  Here's a link to the story:  https://nypost.com/2021/03/24/nhl-dumps-referee-tim-peel-after-f-king-penalty-hot-mic-debacle/

So, this makes us wonder if this happens in other sports.

Refs are humans too.  They can be influenced.

In 2007, it was revealed that National Basketball Association (NBA) referee Tim Donaghy bet on games that he was officiating and his calls influenced the point spread in his game.  An FBI investigation into Donaghy's actions resulted in him entering a guilty plea to to federal charges.  In July 2008, Donaghy was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison.  He was released in November 2009 and later wrote a book about the scandal.  This led to the NBA revising its behavior guidelines.

At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were favorites to win the free skate event after a flawless performance but were stunned by the judges' scores which had them finishing second to Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia.  It was discovered that French Judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne had been pressured by a top French official to vote for the Russians.  Le Gougne later recanted her confession to the allegations.

Although nothing was ever proven of referee involvement, the National Football League (NFL) had the "Deflategate" scandal which alleged that the New England Patriots used an illegal process for lowering the inflation of footballs at the request of Quarterback Tom Brady.  NFL referees generally inspect game balls and check them throughout the game.

Peel was scheduled to retire next month from the NHL and his final game was scheduled for April 24.  It is a shame that a referee who has worked more than 1,390 NHL games, the 2012 NHL All-Star Game and 2014 Winter Olympics now ends his career under a cloud of questioned integrity. 

So how much do referees make:

• NFL:  $205,000
• NBA: $500,000 
• NHL:  $275,000
• MLB:  $300,000

With referees responsible for ensuring players who make millions to play by the rules and protecting the integrity of the game, there is a huge potential for their calls being influenced.  With the increase of betting companies and mobile apps, this creates a heavy temptation for referees who could be swayed.

Not all referees lack integrity but the bad ones make their jobs much more difficult.