Popular journalist, former NHL referee at each other's throats after a dumb question is asked

Ex-NHL referee Tim Peel and Sportsnet's Mark Spector appear to have no love lost for one another. That much became apparent on Monday night after Spector had asked Oilers superstar Connor McDavid if the Oilers are better off trying to win games 4-1 or 7-5.

Peel fried Spector for the question, as it was quite clear from McDavid's response that even the franchise cornerstone thought that the question was a silly one. Here's McDavid's response to the question:


Spector took exception to Peel's criticism and found the whole thing somewhat hypocritical, Peel criticizing someone for their performance after being fired by the NHL over a hot mic incident a couple of seasons back, wherein Peel accidentally admitted that game management by referees was a real thing.


Spector attempted to keep this spat between the two parties, texting Peel directly about the ordeal. Peel, however, had different ideas, making some of their text stream public on his personal Twitter/X account.



I'm sure that some folks enjoy seeing people air their dirty laundry in public more than others, but it's quite obvious that Peel crossed a line here, not keeping private conversations private. I suppose he could just be trying to get out in front of this thing before Spector writes a hit piece him. Either way, sharing a private conversation publicly is high school drama, which I'm sure Spector was trying to avoid when he reached out to the former official to address the issue one-on-one.