WATCH: NHL Ref Gets Busted on a Hot Mic Admitting He Wanted to Call a Bogus Penalty Against the Nashville Predators

An NHL referee has been fired after admitting he intentionally made a trumped-up penalty call against a specific team during a game he was officiating.

It happened during Tuesday night’s Nashville Predators-Detroit Red Wings game. Roughly midway through the second period, a hot mic — which could be heard on Fox Sports Tennessee’s broadcast of the game — caught referee Tim Peel saying he purposefully called a penalty on the Predators.

Peel made the call early in the second period of the contest. Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson was given two minutes in the penalty box for tripping Red Wings defenseman Jon Merrill. The referee owned up to the fact that Arvidsson hadn’t necessarily deserved the call, and that he made the call against Nashville by design.

“It wasn’t much, but I wanted to get a fucking penalty against Nashville early,” Peel said.

The NHL acted swiftly, firing Peel on Wednesday afternoon.

“Nothing is more important than ensuring the integrity of our game,” NHL senior executive vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell said in a statement. “Tim Peel’s conduct is in direct contradiction to the adherence to that cornerstone principle that we demand of our officials and that our fans, players, coaches and all those associated with our game expect and deserve. There is no justification for his comments, no matter the context or his intention, and the National Hockey League will take any and all steps necessary to protect the integrity of our game.”

Watch above, via Canada’s Sportsnet and Fox Sports Tennessee.