from Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province,

However, the real story here shouldn’t be what Peel did, but about the culture around hockey’s referees, how they’re shown respect on the ice and also away from the rink by the people in charge.

Officiating any sport is hard. A game as fast as hockey is very hard.

Mistakes happen, calls get missed — that’s inevitable.

It’s worth noting how rugby union has had mics on its referees for years and doesn’t run into the same problems that the NHL seems to.

“Oh but those mics would pick up a whole lot more,” some have retorted. Yes, that’s the point.

Rugby players are just as capable at cursing as hockey players are.

If you turned the mic on all the time, surely that would have an impact on the culture underneath it all.

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