Gästeboard » bounced over Zepp. Callahan scored 80 seconds in

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! Kerry, In the Canadiens/Oilers game Thursday night - third period - Lars Eller crosschecked Taylor Hall directly from behind, face first into the boards. And it was face first - Halls face was the first part of his body to make contact with the boards. He did not get his hands up in time to protect himself (and I watched it several times, frame by frame). But no major penalty? Seriously? In minor hockey that is at least a major and a game, and if you assessed a match, you would be justified. Whats the rationale? Because there was no blood or teeth lost? The non-call is particularly frustrating in comparison to the Mike Fisher hit on Cody Franson on Thursday night, which was not as bad but resulted in a major penalty and a game misconduct because Franson was bleeding all over the place - but only because his visor cut him (and if we want to get into players being driven into stanchions - Chara on Pacioretty is the standard, and there was no penalty on that one). Whats the explanation and wheres the consistency? Cole MacKay Cole: I totally concur with your assessment on this play and the resulting penalty should have been a major and game misconduct (rule 43—Checking from Behind) to Lars Eller for this dangerous hit. A check from behind is a check delivered on a player who is not aware of the impending hit, therefore unable to protect himself, and contact is made on the back part of the body. Any player who cross-checks, pushes or charges from behind an opponent who is unable to protect or defend himself shall be assessed a major penalty and game misconduct. Note also that when a player intentionally turns his body to create contact with his back, no penalty shall be assessed. While Taylor Hall did turn slightly toward the side boards after gaining possession of the puck it would be unreasonable to suggest that Hall did so intentionally to expose his back for the purpose of creating contact as described in rule 43.1. Lars Eller on the other hand travelled from his location in front of the Montreal goal and had sufficient time to alter both his approach and method of contact (cross-check directly from behind to opponents back) once Taylor Hall faced the boards and was placed in a vulnerable position. The visual picture presented by Taylor Halls snap/arch of his back and face-plant into the boards following the cross-check by Eller clearly fall within the language and application of rule 43—Check from Behind and should have been penalized as such. I am not suggesting that there should be any further discipline to Lars Eller since we should recognize that while the hit was illegal Eller didnt utilize "excessive force" through the hit worthy of a suspension. The correct call (major and game misconduct boarding) was made last night when Mike Fisher pushed Cody Franson from behind creating some additional velocity at the last instance and causing Franson to contact the curved glass/stanchion at the end of the players bench. While Fransons visible injury most definitely had relevance to the application of a major penalty and game misconduct as prescribed in the boarding rule, the fact remains that a dangerous situation resulted from the unexpected push from behind by Fisher. Your call for "consistency" is well taken, Cole. It is imperative that the Referees differentiate between varying degrees of boarding, checks from behind and illegal checks to the head but more importantly not have any reluctance in assessing major penalties when warranted. Too many player suspensions have been imposed by the Player Safety Committee when a minor penalty or worse yet no penalty at all were assessed on the play. Brad Stuarts three-game suspension for what was ruled upon as an illegal check to the head of New York Ranger Rick Nash is the most recent example of this. That will likely change today, pending the outcome of an in-person hearing called for Patrick Kaleta of Buffalo (suspected illegal check to the head of Jack Johnson, Columbus) and a hearing for Vancouvers Alexander Edler (suspected illegal head check on Tomas Hertl, San Jose). Neither Kaleta nor Edler were penalized on the plays in question. I see one of the problems the Referees created for themselves and the game was the elimination of a major penalty (due to Refs reluctance to impose it) when an illegal check to the head is called. Rule 48 provides for a minor penalty or a match penalty. The major and game misconduct provisions were eliminated in this rule. So whenever an illegal check to the head is identified in a game at best it results in a minor penalty and the player remains in the game. Upon further review that player could ultimately be suspended for three plus games pending the outcome of a hearing. Putting consistency aside, for something as serious as the protection of a players head I think the rule and the application by many of the Refs is far too soft and short sighted. China Jerseys . -- Chicago manager Darold Butler has a message for the Windy City. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping . Canada will host Japan in a World Group first-round match in 2015. It will be a rematch of their first-round clash last year when Japan defeated Canada 4-1 to reach the World Group quarter-finals for the first time in its history. http://www.cheapjerseysdiscount.com/ . -- Alex Anthopoulos spoke volumes with what he didnt say on right-hander Ervin Santana. Jerseys Outlet .com) - The Eastern Conferences best team takes on one of its worst Tuesday night when the Atlanta Hawks pay a visit to the Wells Fargo Center to take on the Philadelphia 76ers. Cheap Jerseys . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Steve Mason, Philadelphia (4) - Mason was brilliant all night long with save after big save on Benoit Pouliot, Carl Hagelin and Derick Brassard.Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - The goals came one after another. Riding a healthy power play, the Philadelphia Flyers beat the highest-scoring team in the NHL at their own game. Jakub Voracek, Mark Streit and Brayden Schenn had power-play goals and the Flyers scored five times in the second period to snap a nearly two-year losing streak against the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 7-3 win on Monday night. Chris VandeVelde, R.J. Umberger and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare also scored for the Flyers, who have at least one power-play goal in 11 of their last 13 home games and in six of their last seven overall. Schenn, who snapped a 15-game goal drought, said they moved the puck well and kept it simple on the power play. I dont think we did anything we dont normally do, he said. We just got some shots on net and the pucks went in. It was their first win over Tampa Bay since Feb. 5, 2013, snapping a six-game losing streak. It was just their second win over the Lightning in the last 11 meetings. With Steve Mason out for two weeks with a lower-body injury he suffered in Saturdays loss to Boston, the Flyers turned to Rob Zepp, the 33-year-old who became the oldest NHL goaltender in 88 years to win his first career start last month. Zepp made 21 saves in his second start and the Flyers won for the third time in four games after a five-game losing streak. Steven Stamkos and Ryan Callahan had power-play goals and Brian Boyle also scored for the Eastern Conference-leading Lightning, who had a three-game winning streak snapped. Two penalties by former Philadelphia defenseman Matthew Carle in the second period, including a double-minor for high-sticking, led to three Flyers goals. NHL points leader Voracek fired a slap shot past Evgeni Nabokov and Bellemare endded a 28-game drought with a re-direction through his own legs for an even- strength goal that knocked the Lightning goaltender out of the game 2:36 into the period and gave the Flyers a 4-1 lead.dddddddddddd Streit scored on a power-play at 7:02 after some nifty puck movement in front of Ben Bishop and the Flyers had a two-man advantage when Schenn beat Bishop with a wrist shot from the right circle. They ended 3-for-4 on the power play. Raffl made it 7-1 later in the period and the Lightning got a fluke goal 22 seconds later, at 15:23, when a shot by Boyle bounced over Zepp. Callahan scored 80 seconds into the third period. Both teams had two players named to the NHL All-Star Game on Saturday and all four contributed on the first two goals. First-time All-Star Voracek started the rush that led to Philadelphias first goal with Claude Giroux getting an assist for his pass to Luke Schenn, whose shot from the point was re-directed by VandeVelde 6:12 into the game. Tyler Johnson, who will also make his All-Star Game debut, fired a pass from the far side of the right circle to set up Stamkos tying goal on a one-timer from the slot at 10:26. The Flyers took the lead after Matt Reads pass hit the skate of a defender and Umberger slid a backhand inside the post with 3:45 left in the period. Game Notes Streit led the Flyers with three points ... Nabokov gave up four goals on 13 shots and Bishop allowed three on 12 ... The Flyers are 4-12-1 against Tampa Bay since the start of the 2010-11 season. Before that, they were 39-22-8-2 from the Lightnings inception in 1992 through the end of the 2009-10 season ... The Flyers visit Washington on Wednesday ... The Lightning remain on the road to play Boston on Tuesday. ' ' '