Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca! Hey Kerry, Question for you from Monday nights Rangers-Kings game. In the second period, Derek Stepan beat Drew Doughty to the puck at the red line. Doughty hooked Stepan at the blue line (before Stepan had a clear path to the net) and the Refs hand went up for a hooking minor. Stepan maintained control of the puck and Doughty - after regaining control of his stick - hooked Stepan again from the other side, but after Stepan had a clear path to the net and the hook negated a shot on goal/scoring chance. The call was two minutes for hooking. What was the correct call? a) Two minutes for the original hook (as was called)b) Two minutes for the original hook and a penalty shot for the second hookc) Penalty shot for the second hook/combination which prevented a scoring chance It seems the by-the-book interpretation would be two plus a penalty shot. How would you see it by-the-book or on-the-ice? Thanks!DaveJacksonville, FL Dave, The Referee must patrol the ice with the book in his hip pocket at all times. Sound judgment is always required to enforce the rules and penalize violations as they occur. Whenever the Referee signals a delayed penalty, the meter continues to run and any subsequent infractions committed by that player or one of his teammates need to be assessed. On this play Dave, my call is to award Derek Stepan with a penalty shot and also assess the first hooking minor penalty to Doughty as per Rule 24: "If the offence for which the penalty shot was awarded was such as to incur a double-minor penalty, or where the offending team is assessed an additional minor penalty on the same play in which a penalty shot was awarded, the first minor penalty is not assessed since the penalty shot was awarded to restore the lost scoring opportunity. The second minor penalty would be assessed and served regardless of whether the penalty shot results in a goal." In review, the first hook/interference by Doughty, while perhaps seemingly minor and did little to impede the forward progress of Stepan, it is nonetheless an infraction that the Officials have been instructed to call. Doughty was in poor position and beaten on the play and attempted to contain, or at the very least detain, Stepan. I fully support the Ref in making this call. Once Stepan took off in full flight and gained puck possession at the Kings blue line with no other player to pass but the goalkeeper, the Refs mindset and conscious awareness must shift to the potential of a penalty shot should a foul from behind occur. (We also know from Rule 24.8 (iii) that Derek Stepan did not require possession and control of the puck for a penalty shot to result from his position in the neutral/attacking zone if, in the judgment of the Referee, Stepan clearly would have obtained possession and control of the puck prior to being fouled from behind.) In fairness to the Referee, once Stepan gained full possession and control, he exposed the puck to his left side while cutting toward the goal. Just as Stepan was about to pull the puck to his right and make a play on net, Doughty was able to make stick-to-stick contact which aided in propelling the puck off Stepans stick just in front and to the right of the Ranger shooter. Doughty continued his stick motion into the hands and across the midsection of Stepan, thereby preventing Derek from regaining the puck which was, in my opinion, well within his reach. The Referee however may have deemed that the active and legal stick by Doughty prior to the second hook eliminated Stepans scoring opportunity. Regardless of any hair splitting as to whether Stepan was denied a scoring opportunity on this play, a double minor penalty should have been assessed to Doughty for the two separate infractions he committed. If you care to read on, I have a personal example to share. One night in the Calgary Saddledome, the Vancouver Canucks went on the power play. I had previously warned big Todd Bertuzzi about clearing space for himself in front of the Flames goal by shoving defenders from behind and to the ice. This was interference and my warning came with the promise of a penalty being called should it continue. Well you can guess what happened next. Big Bert knocked a defenceman to the ice as a shot was taken from the point and I immediately raised my arm for a delayed penalty. Bertuzzi saw my arm in the air, rolled his eyes and then slashed the ankles of another Flame. I pointed at Bert with my free hand, signaling a second infraction. Once play finally stopped, Bertuzzi punched another Flame player in the face with his glove, either in frustration or defiance. I assessed three minor penalties plus a misconduct to Bert in that sequence. Coach Marc Crawford gave his power forward some considerable bench time once he returned from serving 16 minutes in the penalty box! The next night, I was assigned to the Canucks against the Oilers in Northlands Coliseum. As I walked into the rink past Bert and his Canuck teammates, their friendly warm-up with a soccer ball came to a screeching halt as Bertuzzi gave me the icy stare. As I passed by, I offered a nod of my head and courteous "Good evening, Bert!" The stare intensified and no immediate response was forthcoming. When I was a good 15 feet past the Canucks gathering, Bertuzzi called out, "Hey Kerry, are you going for the quad tonight?" I turned, looked directly at big Todd and replied, "Thats entirely up to you, Bert!" Bertuzzi didnt take a penalty in that game as he played with self-control and discipline. I can tell you that from that moment on, I enjoyed a terrific working relationship with Bert throughout the remainder of my career. I believe it was a relationship built on mutual respect but also with the knowledge that the once the flag went up, the "meter continued to run." Custom Nike Los Angeles Angels Jerseys .The team had a meeting prior to facing Russia at the world junior hockey championship and got the effort theyve been looking for by defeating the Russians 4-1 to advance to the quarter-finals. Custom Nike Cleveland Indians Jerseys . -- The Grand Rapids Griffins scored three goals in 33 seconds of the second period en route to defeating the Hamilton Bulldogs 6-1 in American Hockey League action on Friday. https://www.customjerseysnikebaseball.co...odgers-jerseys/. “The shootout, theres nothing wrong with it, I think its an exciting part of the game but its just one small aspect,” said Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman. “Its a skill exhibition. If you can get it back closer to regular hockey and have it decided that way; that would be my preference.” “I dont think its a knock on the shootout, I think more of the managers would like to see it end in overtime,” added Washington Capitals GM George McPhee. Custom Nike New York Yankees Jerseys . Of all the names out there who could realistically be dealt by Wednesdays deadline, Ryan Kesler remains No. 1 on the most desired list. And while were not sure if theyre any closer to a deal, we now have a defined price. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys China . -- Sami Salo joked that as the shootout went on and on, one thing went through his mind: "Youve got to tie up your skates. ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Jordan Morgan isnt going to be a high NBA draft pick and hell certainly never have his number raised to the Crisler Center rafters. On Saturday, however, Morgan showed one more time why hell always be remembered fondly at Michigan. Playing his final home game, Morgan had his first double-double of the season, putting up 15 points and 10 rebounds to help No. 12 Michigan cap a night-long celebration with an 84-80 victory over Indiana. "We werent ecstatic in the locker room, but we were pretty happy," Morgan said. "This was a unforgettable night." Morgan came to Michigan in 2009, and was a redshirt on a team led by Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims. They went 15-17, missed out on post-season play and didnt look anything like a basketball power. Five years later, the Wolverines have won two Big Ten titles, gone to a national championship and head into next weeks Big Ten tournament as the top seed and unquestioned favourite. "It has been an incredible five years," Morgan said. "I cant begin to tell you how much hard work and sweat went into getting this program where it is now, and putting those banners in the rafters." Michigan (23-7 15-3) avenged last years defeat in the last game of the regular season. In that game, Morgans tap-in rolled off the rim as time expired, giving the Hoosiers the victory and costing the Wolverines a share of the conference title. This time, Michigan was playing for pride already having clinched the outright title Tuesday in Illinois. "Our motto since we came here has always been finish it strong," Michigan coach John Beilein said. "We wanted to do that for the regular season, but we also wanted to win this for Jordan and we wanted to win it for our fans, who came out every night during a horrible winter to support us." Glenn Robinson III had 20 points for Michigan, including a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 1:10 to play, while Nik Stauskas scored 21, furthering his case for Big Ten Player of the Year. "No one believed in this team, not after we lost Trey (Burke) and Timmy (Hardaway), and then had Mitch (McGary) go down with his back injury," Robinson said during a postgame celebration on the court. "We wanted to win this for J-Mo, and most of us had never beaten Indiana, so we wanted to take care of that." Will Sheehey led Indiana (17-14, 7-11) with 17 points, while Troy Williams and Yogi Ferrell added 16 apiece. "This is really disappointing -- no one is happy about this," Williams said. "Weve just got to learn from this and get better down the road." The Wolverines were sluggish in the early going, looking like a teamm that had already clinched everything important.ddddddddddddIf not for Morgan, who had shed a few tears during the Senior Day ceremony, Michigan might have been run off the floor by the Hoosiers. "I was trying to separate the emotions from my focus on the game," he said. "It was tough -- you didnt see all of the tears -- but it helped a lot to get really involved in our offence right from the start." Things got worse for the Wolverines late in the half, when a technical foul on Beilein resulted in two free throws by Ferrell. Indiana led 42-36 at the half, thanks to 13 points by Sheehey and 10 by Ferrell. "We fully expected to win this game, and we were ready to go," Indiana coach Tom Crean said. Stauskas, however, took over at the beginning of the second half, scoring six quick points to help Michigan tie the game at 48. The sophomore eschewed his normal 3-pointers to attack the rim, scoring three baskets. "I knew I needed to stay aggressive, even though my shot wasnt falling," Stauskas said. "That means trying to get to the rim." Indiana struggled with turnovers in the second half, giving the ball away 11 times in the first 13 minutes, leading to 16 Michigan points that helped the Wolverines build their lead. "It was just trash at that point," Sheehey said. "I think I had four turnovers in there and Yogi had four. Thats just unacceptable for two guys that have been playing this game for a while. I was just trying to make passes that werent there." An already fired-up Crisler Center crowd became louder as Charles Woodson was shown sitting courtside -- he even busted out the Heisman Trophy pose -- and a video from Morgan thanking the fans for the support during his career. "I never played football, but I was a Michigan fan, so Charles was one of my idols," Morgan said. "I couldnt believe it when I saw him here tonight." Caris LeVerts dunk made it 69-60 with 5:39 left, but Indiana tied the game at 75 with 90 seconds left. Robinson answered with a baseline 3-pointer, then grabbed the rebound when Stanford Robinson missed a 3 at the other end. "Glenn practices that shot all the time," Beilein said. "You expect him to drive from there, but he works and works on that shot, and I knew it was going in as soon as it left his hand." The Wolverines were able to clinch the game from the free throw line, despite Noah Vonlehs 3-pointer with 4.2 seconds left. "That 3 really sticks out for me, because we had come so far back," Crean said. "We overcame the mistakes and overcame the turnovers, but they got it done at the end." ' ' '