Referee directs profanities at Nashville's James Neal ahead of embellishment call

By foxsports
Published

Nashville Predators forward James Neal has made a name for himself in the NHL as a player who embellishes hits, and it seems NHL referee Tim Peel is not a fan of Neal. 

Midway through the second period of Monday's game between the Bruins and Predators, Neal greatly exaggerated a play in which he might have possibly been tapped by Bruins goaltender Jonas Gustavsson's stick. As a result, Neal flailed and wobbled his way to the corner in one of the most obvious embellishment actions possible. 

Peel didn't fall for it, audibly yelling "[Expletive] you, you're getting a [expletive] embellishment," so loudly that the broadcast cameras picked it up. You can view video of the entire exchange here (the profanities are included).

The Bruins cashed in quickly on the power play, as Loui Eriksson scored nine seconds into the man-advantage to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead at the time. The Predators got the better of Boston by the end of the night, however, topping Boston by a 3-2 score.

Neal was fined by the NHL last season for repeated instances of embellishments, and former referee Paul Stewart once wrote that "James Neal could be the poster child for what is wrong with the NHL discipline system."

(h/t YouTube, Hockey Buzz)