Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn. nfl cheap jerseys .ca! Hello Kerry, Quick question about the Emelin/Downie elbowing incident from December 12th. While Im sure it will be reviewed by the NHL for possible discipline, Im wondering about something else that happened on the play. The Flyers had seven players on the ice, 5 of which were trying to get at Emelin. Weve seen Clarkson (10 games) and Bissonnette (3 games) suspended this season for leaving the bench to enter an altercation. Watching this play, it looks like Grossman comes directly from the bench to the scrum and heads right after Emelin. Heres my head count: #9 – Downie – On ice injured.#5 – Coburn – Tending to Downie # 19 – Hartnell – Scrumming# 32 – Streit – Scrumming# 44 – Timonen – Scrumming# 8 – Grossman – Scrumming# 14 – Couturier – Scrumming None of the officials on ice noticed, or reacted to it. No one was ejected and I havent heard anything about it by the pundits this AM. Whats the procedure or protocol for something like this? Should a defensive pair of the Flyers expect to hear from the NHL offices? I think Bissonnette (if not Clarkson) may be interested to know. Thanks Luke Luke, Thank you for the very astute analysis and resulting question in the aftermath of Steve Downie lowering his body posture to play the puck and being struck in the head with an elbow delivered by Alexei Emelin. The whistle was blown once Montreal gained puck possession in front of Carey Price as a result of the perceived injury sustained by Downie. Paul Bissonnette and David Clarkson were suspended under Rule 70, the basis of which is that no player may leave the players bench or penalty bench at any time during an altercation or for the purpose of starting an altercation. For a suspension to result, the player that left the bench (other than through a legal line change) must become actively involved in the altercation. Thursday night in Philadelphia, players were legally allowed to come onto the ice from the players bench once play was stopped and since a potential altercation (scrum) was not yet in progress. Braydon Coburn left the bench and went directly to Downie in advance of Flyers athletic therapist Jim McCrossin arriving on the scene. Coburns defence partner and alternate captain, Kimmo Timonen appeared in the camera shot to question the referee after the minor scrum involving Emelin and Scott Hartnell had been dispersed by the linesmen. At no time did either Coburn or Timonen become involved with a Montreal player. The Flyers defensive pairing of Mark Streit and Nicklas Grossmann were on the ice throughout the play and at the time of stoppage. Grossmans involvement in the scrum was very minimal and if anything, he appeared to act as a peacemaker. It is important to note, Luke, no penalties were assessed (nor should they have been) as a result of this minor scrum and therefore no altercation officially took place! If we hypothetically apply the scenario that an altercation did develop on this play, Coburn and Timonen would still not be subject to Rule 70 (Leaving the Bench) so long as they did not become involved in the altercation and ultimately assessed penalties. What is really important to note in this situation is that linesman Scott Driscoll reported his version of the elbow infraction to both referees during the commercial timeout and the correct call was ultimately made. It was clear from the camera shot that Driscoll witnessed the infraction from his blue line position in real time and, as the closest official to the incident, Driscoll looked back toward the referee to see if he had seen the infraction. Since neither referee reacted to the illegal contact, another missed major infraction would have resulted. I offer kudos to Driscoll for stepping up and making the correct call on this play. This is the "safety check" protocol which I wrote about in a recent column. Thanks to Driscoll, the process worked to perfection in Thursday nights game in Philadelphia. cheap jerseys china . - After publicly asking management to trade him a few days ago, Josh Smith gave the Atlanta Hawks too many reasons not to on Sunday night against the Sacramento Kings. cheap nfl jerseys . Rex Ryan and the New York Jets are giving him that second chance. "Im just grateful," a confident yet humble Burress said Sunday night.Toronto Argonauts quarterback Steven Jyles was forced out of Fridays game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after being injured on a helmet-to-helmet hit by defensive back Johnny Sears. The hit came midway through the fourth quarter when Jyles scrambled up the middle for 12 yards to the Toronto 54 and came to a feet-first slide. Sears lunged at him and made contact with Jyles head. Jyles was attended to on the field before heading to the locker-room to be examined. Sears was ejected from the game. Dalton Bell came in to replace Jyles. "Im OK. No headache. No dizziness," Jyles told the media after the game. "I just remember running and going to slide," Jyles ssaid.dddddddddddd "I got hit and was out for a couple of seconds. I dont know what to say about it, the guy got a pretty good shot on me." When the hit happened, a pair of injured Argonauts offensive linemen shared their thoughts via their Twitter accounts. "I dont know who the hell this #0 guy is but I hope to hell hes in the league next year.. Ill take the ejection I dont care," was the tweet from Taylor Robertson. Rob Murphy also chimed in on the hit. "#0 is lucky Im not in the Province of Manitoba tonight...They would need the Jaws of Life to pry me off of him... I have a good memory... #CYaNextYear0," read Murphys message. ' ' '
