Former NHL referee Tim Peel scored an "unofficial" goal over seven years ago in December 2018.
Then-St. Louis' defenceman Robert Bortuzzo shot the puck, which ricocheted off Peel's lower body, then hit former Florida Panthers' goalie Roberto Luongo's skate, and went into the net.
"For the rest of my career, I'm going to be able to say I scored on Roberto Luongo," Peel recalled on The SportsCage.
According to the NHL rule book, that goal did not count. The rule book states: "a goal is disallowed when the puck has deflected directly into the net off an official."
"I'm working a game in my now adopted hometown of St. Louis and Robert Bortuzzo skate across the red line and snaps it in," Peel said. "Usually they either snap it closer to the goal or rim it around the boards. He took a different angle, I saw it coming towards me, I couldn't jump up cause it was waist high, and I couldn't duck."
"I let it hit me, and it hit me in the left hip, then goes to the right across the goal line and beat Luongo," Peel reminisced.
Peel took a while to gather his thoughts, but he never realized how viral this moment would become when he talked with his wife afterwards.
"All of a sudden, my phone is blowing up. I can't keep up with the texts and the phone calls," Peel said. "I have finally arrived and she goes: 'What do you mean?' Wayne Gretzky texted me: 'Timmy says, you only need 744 more goals before you catch Hully.'"
Hockey fans are passionate and Peel talked about a particular fan in Philly known as the 'Sign Guy.'
"There was a guy in Philadelphia; he's called the 'Sign Guy.' He still sits there behind the visiting goaltender and he's been a season ticket holder for over 40 years. He's got a stack of 20-30 signs. He's got it for every play, different scenarios. When we skated on the ice in Philly, he'd always hold up the sign: 'Ref, you suck," Peel said.
"One night, we're at a local establishment close to where the Flyers play, having some beers and a bite to eat after the game. And he came over and introduced himself. I said: 'Oh, you're the sign guy.'"
"Fast forward a couple of months later and for the rest of my career, every time I'd skate on the ice, I'd always go to the guys in the room beforehand and say go watch the 'Sign Guy," Peel said.
“I'd skate on the ice and he'd hold a sign that said: 'Welcome back.' I'd give him a fist bump, we weren't friends, but we were friends through hockey that way.”
Peel refereed his first NHL game on October 21, 1999, when the Colorado Avalanche battled the Ottawa Senators. Since that game, he has refereed over 1,300 games, including 90 playoff games, and was a referee in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. His final year as a ref in the NHL was the 2021 season.
