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NHL referee caught covering mic while explaining non-call one day after Tim Peel firing

After veteran NHL official Tim Peel was fired for his recent
After veteran NHL official Tim Peel was fired for his recent "hot mic" moment, fellow refs are taking precautions to avoid a similar fate. (Screen grab via NHL Live)

Tim Peel's hot-mic legacy will live on forever.

The veteran NHL official was fired Wednesday morning after he was caught during a live broadcast explaining his decision to blow down a "make-up call" against the Nashville Predators during their contest versus Detroit last Tuesday. The incident put NHL officiating tactics under a microscope from the top down, and fellow referees have surely been watching, taking notes, and learning all they can from Peel's misfortune so to avoid the same career-ending fate.

Of course, I'm not talking about NHL refs actually trying to get better at their jobs while the league overhauls how it directs officials to call games, I'm referring to Peel's fatal mistake: Getting caught.

It took exactly one (1!) day, but Thursday night's Sens-Leafs matchup gave us our first look at the key lesson these refs have learned over these perilous past few days, which is to wrap your hand around your mic as tightly as possible while "explaining" why you just straight up decided not to call (or even worse, missed) a blatant tripping penalty just moments before.

What an absolute veteran move from Eric Furlatt here to make sure there's zero chance of us hearing whatever garbage explanation he's giving to Wayne Simmonds. Chess, not checkers, folks.

Why change how you do your job and start calling games how they're supposed to be called when you can simply drape your sweaty mitt all over your microphone so no one can hear what your saying?

Industry innovation at its finest.

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