Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn. Mark Scheifele Jersey .ca. Hi Kerry, I enjoy reading your column - hope you keep it up! In the final seconds of the third period of the Winnipeg/Montreal game, Brendan Gallagher looked like he was attempting to get back on-side. However, as he was starting to skate back, Al Montoya, Zach Bogosian and Jacob Trouba blatantly interfered with his progress. If the referee wasnt around, I would have thought that he just missed it. However, this all enfolded in front of a referee. It seemed the ref either purposely wanted the game to be over, sadistically wanted Gallagher to get roughed up, or favoured the Jets to win! Please explain why it wasnt a penalty and what (if any) you would have done differently. Regards, Lee Hi Lee: I can assure you that none of the three assertions you made were even remotely part of the referees mindset or affected his ultimate decision not to assess a penalty against the Jets. Instead, Brendan Gallagher engaged in a losing battle of will with the referee when he attempted to draw a penalty by embellishing the contact with Zach Bogosian (twice) and Al Montoya. Once a referee suspects a player is guilty of embellishing he does not want to be fooled into calling a weak penalty as a result of any theatrical performance. The battle lines were pretty much drawn at that point when Jacob Trouba came off the Winnipeg bench on a change with Tobias Enstrom. Troubas most direct route to assume his right defense position from the Jets bench placed him on a collision course with Gallagher, who had just picked himself up off the ice after turning on Bogosians stick, reaching his hand to the rafters and doing a reverse fall onto his back! No penalty call was forthcoming at that point. I would have judged the encounters with Bogosian and Montoya no differently than the referee, based on the embellishment that was first initiated by Gallagher behind the Jets net. The next obvious question you will ask is if the referee deemed there was embellishment, then why not assess offsetting penalties? With under a minute to play and the puck dumped down the ice most referees would prefer to let the minor skirmish quickly play itself out and not affect the manpower on the ice when there was no immediate and direct bearing on the play. That changed in my judgment however, once Jacob Trouba knocked Gallagher to the ice with a slightly buried shoulder and stick placed across the body of the Canadiens pin-ball forward. With the puck in the neutral zone Trouba needed to give way to Gallagher and pass behind the Montreal player to allow him unimpeded exit from the Jets end zone no differently than forward giving way to a D-man backing up at the blue line. That contact by Trouba was deserving of an interference penalty. The previous embellishments clearly witnessed by the referee would certainly cause some doubt as to the legitimacy of any foul committed against Brendan Gallagher so the refs arm remained down. I ask you to watch the play as objectively as possible and freeze-frame the action at key moments during the battles that took place. You should see Gallaghers hands initiate contact with Bogosian behind the net and the changing body posture of both players throughout the engagement. The final shove by Bogosian should not have caused the net to be pushed in an excessively tipped forward position by Gallagher. During and immediately following each player confrontation Brendan Gallagher made direct eye contact with the referee, including verbal appeals for a penalty call. It became a failed mission. Brendan Gallagher had a much more direct route available to him to exit the Jets end zone. He chose a path that ultimately led him into contact with Al Montoya and deep within the goal crease. Following the Montoya elbow push, Gallagher threw his head back excessively and immediately looked at the referee this time and on two more subsequent occasions hoping to see a raised arm. Gallaghers unnatural fall and look back at the ref after tripping over Bogosians stick completed the trifecta! Players that embellish on a consistent basis run the risk of not receiving the benefit of the doubt when they are legitimately fouled. Brendan Gallagher is too effective and too good a player to develop that unwanted reputation from the refs. Ondrej Pavelec Winnipeg Jets Jersey . The assistants greeted Aldridge with compliments and high fives. Stotts had only one word for his high-scoring forward: "Thanks." Aldridge had 25 points and 16 rebounds in his return after missing seven games with a lower back contusion, and the Trail Blazers beat the Atlanta Hawks 100-85 on Thursday night to end a three-game losing streak. Keith Tkachuk Winnipeg Jets Jersey . With the final four being arguably the four best – and most complete – teams from the regular season, picking a winner is not as easy as it sounds.Regina, SK - With just a single win on the season, the Montreal Alouettes will challenge the defending Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders in a clash of East and West Division squads at Mosaic Stadium. Montreals Alex Brink will get the start Saturday in favour of Troy Smith who was added to the teams six game injured list. You can watch the game live on TSN or listen on TSN Radio 690 in Montreal at 7pm et/4pm pt. Interestingly enough, the Alouettes hold a better positioning in their division than the Roughriders, although the records would not indicate it. The Wests absolute dominance over the East, has all five teams in the group with a record above .500, with the Roughriders sitting in third place at 4-2. Meanwhile, over in the East Division, which is led by 3-4 Toronto, Montreal is tied for second place with Hamilton and Ottawa. The Alouettes dropped their fourth straight game this past Friday, falling 33-23 to Edmonton, despite a mad rush in the second half. Montreal trailed 30-8 at halftime, but outscored the Eskimos 15-3 in the final two quarters, including a 12-point eruption in the fourth quarter. It was not enough for the squad, which is last in the CFL in total offense (274.7 ypg). The Troy Smith experiment continued last Friday for Montreal, with the former Ohio State standout completing 20-of-45 pass attempts for 231 yards and a touchdown to match an interception. This season, the second of Smiths CFL career, has gone poorly as he has completed only 47.7 percent of his pass attempts for 989 yards, while throwing as many touchdowns as interceptions (four). Smiths troubles leave Montreal as the worst passing team in the entire league (177.7 ypg). That has called for a change, as Montreal has made some changes in regards to the offense. Former NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia has moved from consultant to quarterbacks coach, while former Boise State quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie is the new offensive coordinator. On the field, Smith will be replaced by Alex Brink under center for Saturdays game. Running the ball has come a bit easier for the Alouettes. Spearheaded by Brandon Whitaker, who is second in the CFL in rushing yards (378), Montreal ranks fourth in the CFL in yards on the ground (97 pg). Whitaker racked up 79 yards on 15 carries against Edmonton. The six-year veteran also brought in three passes for 48 yards and a touchdown. Duron Carter also had a standout game against Edmonton. A former Buckeye himself, Carter hauled in 10 passes for 112 yards, both game-highs, as he more than doubled his production from the first five games of the year. Kenny Stafford (16 receptions, 202 yards, TD) has been the primary target most weeks, although Carter now leads the team in receptions with 17. Defensively speaking, the Alouettes are not the worst team in the league, but they certainly dont put up enough of a barrier to opposing offenses. The team is seventh in the CFL in total defense (369.3 ypg), primarily due to their inability to stop the run. They are the only team in the CFL to be letting up more than 110 rushing yards per game. John Bowwman has done his part, especially on the pass rush, totaling five sacks to go with 16 tackles. Bryan Little Winnipeg Jets Jersey. . Bowman has had at least 11 sacks in four of the last five seasons and looks well on his way to adding to that total. Chip Cox (29), Kyries Hebert (25), Geoff Tisdale (25) and Marc-Olivier Brouillette all have more than 20 tackles on the campaign. The second half was also kind to Saskatchewan in its last contest, Facing Winnipeg last Thursday, the Roughriders scored 20 of their 23 points after halftime en route to a 23-17 triumph. The key score of the game came when Terrell Maze intercepted Winnipegs Drew Willy and returned the ball 28 yards for a touchdown with just over two minutes left in regulation. The big defensive play made up for a rather sorry offensive game for the Roughriders, who were only able to squeeze out 301 yards of total offense. Of course, Saskatchewan is not a team built on offensive brilliance, grabbing four wins in six games despite ranking sixth in the league in total offense (339.3 ypg). Darian Durant has not been asked to do too much this season. He is guilty of five interceptions and is completing less than 60 percent of his pass attempts (.595), but he has six touchdown passes and 1,186 passing yards. He only had 115 yards passing against Winnipeg, but he completed a solid 13-of-21 of his attempts. Durant hasnt needed to make exceptional plays with his arm due to the Roughriders dedication to the running game. Led by the three-headed backfield of Anthony Allen (241 yards, TD), Will Ford (226 yards, five TDs) and Jerome Messam (140 yards), Saskatchewan is ranked at the very top of the CFL in rushing yards (135.7 ypg). It is one of only three teams that is averaging more than 100 yards per game on the ground. Messam had his best game of the season against Winnipeg, tallying 126 yards on 19 carries. If running the ball is the offenses strength, then stopping it is the defenses for the Roughriders. They are the third best team in the league in terms of rushing yards allowed (94.2 ypg). However, their passing defense has been much more suspect, as they let up 273.5 yards per game, which ranks eighth in the CFL. Creating mistakes helped them overcome the 303 yards they allowed to Winnipeg, as Mazes pick was one of three the team had in the victory. Mark LeGree had two of those interceptions and is now the CFL leader in the category with three on the campaign. As a team the Roughriders have forced 14 turnovers this season. Getting pressure on the quarterback has certainly helped in that regard. Led by CFL-leader John Chick, who has nine sacks this season, the Roughriders have an astounding 26 quarterback takedowns. Tearrius George (five), Ricky Foley (four) and Derek Walker (three) are all dangerous on the pass rush as well. Although Montreal is currently the lower team in terms of record, it has been the dominant squad between these two teams all-time, with a record of 38-29-1 against the Roughriders. The Alouettes have also won three of the last four meetings, including a season sweep in 2012. cheap jerseys ' ' '
