“Mom and dad suggested that since I was at the rink everyday, I should referee the guys below me, 5-6-7 years old,” Peel said. “I knew I was an average hockey player at best, but I loved officiating, loved being a part of the game.”

After college, Peel worked at a bank in New Brunswick and was transferred back to Toronto, where he caught his “big break.” He was refereeing games in the Ontario Hockey League, where officials are scouted just like players, and his performance earned him a part-time job as an NHL “trainee” in 1996.

He worked two years in the International Hockey League and two in the American Hockey League before being promoted to the NHL in 2000.

“The first exhibition game I ever did in the NHL, I had to give a penalty to Mark Messier,” Peel said. “He was such an intimidating presence, I gave him the penalty and he yelled at me the whole way to the penalty box. But then when the penalty was over, he came out and tapped me on the pants and said, ‘Welcome to the league.’”

A year later, Peel decided that he wanted to move to the U.S. He loved Canada, but enjoyed the lifestyle south of the border, so he hand-picked St. Louis based on word of mouth and moved to the Midwest.