Former NHL referee: 'makeup calls are not a thing'

In a bit of an odd exchange on Twitter, former NHL referee Tim Peel, who was banned from officiating after a hit mic caught him talking about a makeup call against the Nashville Predators, says makeup calls are not a thing. Peel was responding to a question on Twitter that asked about the controversial move reportedly widely used among referees in the NHL to keep penalties called as balanced as possible.

"That's a great question and a very fair question. Make up calls are not a thing," said Peel, who then went on to explain that they actually are a thing...sort of.

"What happens is if we have so many penalties against one team our antennas are up to make sure we do not miss a penalty against the other team," said Peel, which essentially describes the process of makeup calls.

This issue has been contentious for some time, but really blew up during Peel's hot mic incident. In March of 2021, the NHL said Peel would no longer officiate any games after his mic caught him saying "It wasn't much, but I wanted to get a (expletive) penalty against Nashville early in the..." during a game between the Preds and Detroit Red Wings. At that point, the majority of calls were in Nashville's favour.

That's a great question and a very fair question. Make up calls are not a thing. What happens is if we have so many penalties against one team our antennas are up to make sure we do not miss a penalty against the other team.— Tim Peel (@TimCPeel20) September 15, 2022

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