Former NHL referee calls out an NHL star publicly, says he has no respect for him
A former NHL referee took to social media on Thursday to voice his distaste for a member of the Winnipeg Jets, following an 8-4 Jets victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday and some disrespectful behaviour towards the Habs.
After coming out hot and building a 4-0 lead in the game, the Jets watched that lead melt away as the Canadiens rallied to score 4 straight to tie the game. The Jets did answer back, scoring 4 more of their own to win the game, but center Mark Scheifele decided to rub some salt on the wounds and engage in a bit of a wrestling match masquerading as a fight against Montreal's Chris Wideman.
This created quite the stir on social media, as Scheifele had essentially challenged Jake Evans to a fight via the media ahead of the game. The two teams have not met since round one of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when Scheifele took a run at Evans, knocking him out of the series with a nasty, blatant head shot. Something Tim Peel did not liked.
Peel has become famous for the "hot mic" incident last season where he revealed publicly (by accident) that he was actively trying to find something to penalize the Nashville Predators for in a game against the Detroit Red Wings last season. There was nothing accidental about his comments about Scheifele on Thursday morning.
Habs winger Josh Anderson also chimed in about Scheifele's actions during Tuesday's game. The gritty forward wasn't happy with how Scheifele acted, firing a warning shot across the bow directed at Scheifele ahead of their next meeting in April.
Tough crowd.
Scheifele is not exactly well-liked around the league outside of Winnipeg, and to an extent, even in Winnipeg. Perhaps you'll recall Patrik Laine's stories of how Scheifele and captain Blake Wheeler treated him and a few other players in the locker room.
The first time Peel said the quiet part out loud, it was an accident. This time it was deliberate. Scheifele has yet to respond.
