Basisphilosophie » rson said. "He is an ex

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. Good morning Kerry, I love your daily clarifications to help everyone understand better why some calls are made! My question is in regards of spearing. As you know by now, Milan Lucic speared Alexei Emelin in Game 3 - again! I understand that at times some calls be overlooked, but why is he continuously getting away with it? If there is video evidence, why nothing is done afterward to avoid any precedence to be set? My last question: is this not making the officials in a difficult position? Thank you very much for your time. Lyne Laurendeau Lyne: The act of spearing and butt-ending seldom result in a player suspension. Instead, a fine may be imposed (but not always as we have seen) by the Player Safety Committee. It would appear that players are utilizing both ends of their hockey stick on a more consistent basis in violation of rule 58 (butt-ending) and rule 62 (spearing). This season the following fines have been levied for these illegal acts: February 6, 2014: Alexei Emelin - Montreal Canadiens - Butt-ending Pascal Pelletier ($5,000)March 20, 2014: David Legwand - Detroit Red Wings - Butt-ending Evgeni Malkin ($5,000)April 13, 2014: Scott Hartnell - Philadelphia Flyers - Spearing Brett Bellemore ($5,000)April 18, 2014: Milan Lucic - Boston Bruins -Spearing Danny DeKeyser ($5,000)April 25, 2014: Ryan Garbutt - Dallas Stars - Spearing Corey Perry ($1,474.36) You also might recall in the Ducks-Stars series on April 18th that Corey Perry was given a "slashing" minor when he "speared" Jamie Benn at 7:25 of the first period. Perry remained in the game as a result the "slashing" assessment and then scored an unassisted goal at 16:15 of the second in a 3-2 Anaheim win. Milan Lucic was also guilty of an undetected backdoor spear motion on Alexei Emelin in a game March 24. Neither of these incidents resulted in a fine. Beyond the non-call in the Bruins-Habs game the other night, no disciplinary action or fine will result from Lucics latest spear on Emelin. It should also be noted that Emelin was guilty of cross-checking on the play and was not penalized for the infraction as well. Fouls can be missed in the fast pace of the game. There is obvious reluctance on the part of the referees to call "spearing" for what it is due to the severity of the penalty that they must impose under the rule. Only when contact is significant, as in the Ryan Garbutt spear on Corry Perry, will we see the accurate call made. Perrys action on Jamie Benn was no less a spearing motion than Garbutts, but due to lesser degree of contact (deemed to be minimal by the ref) the infraction was called slashing. It is not the referees job to interpret the relative value of the rule or base their assessment on the degree of contact (or non contact) when a spearing motion is delivered. That however is exactly what is being done. Under rule 62, the referee is empowered (and expected) to assess a double minor is imposed when a player spears an opponent and does not make contact. A major and game misconduct is to be assessed on a player who spears an opponent (makes contact). When I attended my first NHL training camp for officials as a 20-year-old aspiring referee in 1972 we went through every rule in the book during daily classroom sessions. The rule book wasnt all that thick back then and the referee had the option of assessing a minor or major penalty for spearing based on the degree of contact. Wanting to understand the difference between the two applications I approached veteran referee Lloyd Gilmour for advice. I asked Gilmour what constituted the difference between a minor or major penalty for spearing. Without so much as a wink, Lloyd said, "Kid, if you see the spear go in its two minutes; if the stick comes out the players back call it five!" Perhaps the veteran advice was a little tongue-in- cheek but in reality not all that far off from the application we might be seeing now. Lyne, it is my opinion that there should be a fine imposed for every instance of spearing and butt-ending; regardless of the degree of contact or whether a penalty was imposed by the referee. Both are dangerous and cheap acts. Further to this, the referees must be directed to call the action of spearing and butt-ending for what they are and not place their personal value on the degree of contact made with the point or end of a players stick. It is the referees that are putting themselves in a "difficult position" by either ignoring the infraction or calling it by any other terminology than what it is. Penalty enforcement and fines would result in higher standards of player accountability and act as a stronger deterrent against these unwanted acts from being committed. Toby Alderweireld Jersey . The 24-year-old Pruneau played his CIS football with the Montreal Carabins. The six-foot, 200-pound Montreal native had 41 tackles, 3. Thibaut Courtois Belgium Jersey . - Gary Kubiak is John Elways No. http://www.belgiumsoccerpro.com/Jan-Vertonghen-Belgium-Jersey/ .com) - Edmonton Oilers forward Taylor Hall left Saturdays game against the Senators in the second period with a left knee injury. Romelu Lukaku Belgium Jersey .ca. The NHL Play of the Year showdown kicks off with some slick moves going head-to-head with a combination of soft hands and endless patience. Dries Mertens Belgium Jersey . - This win was more the New Jersey Devils style.(SportsNetwork.com) - In todays NFL, heating up in December generally means things go pretty well in January. The action can be seen on CTV at 4:30pm et/1:30pm pt. The Kansas City Chiefs are hoping to turn that kind of thinking on its head by doing something they have never done before, beat the Indianapolis Colts in the postseason. The AFC South champion Colts come in hot, having won three straight in which they allowed a total of 20 points, a span that included an impressive 23-7 triumph at Kansas City back on Dec. 22. "I think if you check the last six Super Bowl winners, they got hot at the right time," Indianapolis defensive end Robert Mathis, a serious Defensive Player of the Year candidate, said. "Thats what its all about, getting hot at the right time." The Chiefs, on the other hand, have limped into the postseason by losing two in a row and stumbling to a 2-5 finish after their impressive 9-0 start. Kansas City, though, completed the regular season with an 11-5 record a year after compiling a dismal 2-14 mark, the greatest single-season turnaround in franchise history thanks in large part to a new head coach and quarterback combo, Andy Reid and Alex Smith. "Its the start of a new season. Thats how the playoffs work," Reid said. "Youre in the dance, as they say. Its another phase of the season. Youve worked very hard as a team to get into this position. Now its important that you make sure you get it right." Part of the problem for the Chiefs in the latter half of the year was health, particularly on defense. During its 9-0 burst out of the blocks, Kansas Citys "D" allowed just 12.3 points per game compared to the 27.7 ppg it allowed in the past seven. Linebacker Justin Houston was the lynchpin of that early run, amassing 11 sacks in 10 games before going down with a dislocated elbow. "Its very tough knowing that if you were out there, you can make a difference," said Houston, who is expected back this weekend. Reid also chose to rest the majority of his starters in Kansas Citys disputed season-ending 27-24 overtime loss in San Diego last week. Whether that helped or not remains to be seen but the Chiefs expect to also have wide receiver Dwayne Bowe (concussion) and left tackle Braden Albert (hyperextended knee) back in the lineup as they attempt to halt an ugly seven-game playoff skid. Signs also point to Houstons running mate at linebacker, Tamba Hali (knee) playing, while right tackle Eric Fisher, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 draft, could be sidelined with a groin problem. "Obviously, guys are going to be feeling pretty fresh, so thats a good thing," Smith said when taking about the extra rest he and some of his teammates got. "It will really help us as far as the week goes, having a great week of preparation." The Colts ended things in the regular season with a rather easy 30-10 home win over Jacksonville as star quarterback Andrew Luck completed his sophomore campaign on a up note, completing 26-of-37 passes for 282 yards and a touchdown. Luck tossed 23 TD passes for the second straight year and really improved his decision-making, throwing only nine interceptions after being well into double-digits during his rookie campaign. He also finished the regular season with 8,196 career passing yards, the first player in NFL history to crack the 8,000-barrier in just two seasons. Kansas City, the AFCs fifth-seed, has faced No. 4 Indianapolis on three prior occasions in the playoffs (1996, 2004 and 2007) with the Colts coming out on top each time: a 10-7 victory at Arrowhead Stadium in a 1995 AFC Divisional Playoff Game (Jan. 7, 1996), a 38-31 win at Arrowhead in a 2003 AFC Divisional Playoff Game (Jan. 11, 2004), and a 23-8 victory at the RCA Dome in a 2006 AFC Wild Card Game (Jan. 6, 2007). Since the AFL-NFL merger, Kansas City and Indianapolis have squared off 23 times overall, with the Colts holding a 15-8 advantage. WHAT TO WATCH FOR The Chiefs are one of the most talented teams in football as evidenced by the fact that eight members of Kansas Citys roster were named to the 2014 Pro Bowl, tying San Francisco for the highest amount of players from a single roster in the NFL. The Chiefs have excelled at times in all three phases this season. Smith pilots an offense that is keen on taking care of the football while the defense has been extremely opportunistic. Kansas Citys plus-18 turnover differential (36 takeaways and only 18 giveaways) leads the NFL. Meanwhile, the Chiefs have outscored opponents by an impressive 430-305 margin and led the league in return touchdowns with 11. The special teams have also been special. K.C. is tops in average starting field position, beginning at the 33.4 yard line and also ranked first in average opponent starting field position at the 23.2 yard line. A major reason for that is the fact that the Chiefs kick return team set a new NFL record by averaging 29..dddddddddddd9 yards per return. The Colts, though, figure to come in with the confidence of a home team and the knowledge they already handled the Chiefs pretty easily in Arrowhead, a difficult environment to play in. Luck, who is 2-0 against Kansas City, finished 26-of-37 for 241 yards in the meeting back on Dec. 22 while Smith was 16-for-28 for just 153 yards and an interception. "Its tough right now," Smith said after that game. "I didnt think that we played very well in any facet of the game, certainly not good enough especially on offense. We didnt have the production and with the turnovers, you make it about impossible to win. Were going to have to learn from it." Neither team is apt to give anything away. Indianapolis has an NFL-low 14 turnovers on the season while the Chiefs are next at 18 and that entire difference came at the hands of Indy two weeks ago "Thats a challenge I think both ways - both offensively and defensively," Reid said. "(The Colts are) efficient with the ball, they dont have a lot of penalties that are called against them and they dont turn the ball over much. Thats this time of the year, youve got to eliminate mistakes." Smith is usually the definition of a signal caller who doesnt shoot himself in the foot. Since 2011, he is 30-9-1 as an NFL starter and hes 6-1 as the Chiefs leader on the road this season, throwing 11 TDs in those games compared to just one pick with a solid 94.6 passer rating. The Indianapolis defense, led by Mathis, who won the NFLs inaugural Deacon Jones Award with 19 1/2 sacks, has been humming recently, forcing eight turnovers in the current winning streak while allowing just nine third-down conversions in 37 attempts. "We finished December strong," defensive lineman Cory Redding understated. The Colts will certainly be keying on Kansas City running back Jamaal Charles, who makes the Chiefs offense go. Charles led the AFC in rushing for the second consecutive season, has an NFL-best 19 total TDs, and averaged 132 scrimmage yards per game in 2013, best in the conference. "As a coordinator and as a staff, offensively, every week we sact 25 (Charles) the football? Whether it be from the backfield, empty it, motion, how can we do that," Kansas City offensive chief Doug Pederson said. "He is an explosive player, we know that, everybody knows that and we understand that people and defenses are going try to take him away and target him so we have to be creative with him and continue to find ways to get him the football in space." For Indy much has been made about all the upheaval and the lack of continuity on the offensive line but Luck has only been sacked three times in his last 152 pass attempts despite eight different starters playing over that time frame, a testament to the Stanford products quick release and understanding of the offense. "Hes a really good football player," Chiefs defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said when asked about Luck. "Hes a very talented guy, theres not a throw he cant make. I think the thing that impresses everybody is when you play him; hes a big man that can run. Hes a lot faster than people realize. He can run, and I think hes done a tremendous job." The K.C. defense is spearheaded by the pass rush of Houston and Hali, who both finished with 11 sacks this season, along with the playmaking ability of safety Eric Berry on the back end. "I dont know how much it changes (what we do offensively), but certainly we know that both of those guys have 11 sacks apiece," Indianapolis coach Chuck Pagano said. "With Tamba (Hali) on one side and Justin (Houston) on the other, its a great duo ... our tackles have played well, for the most part, all season so it will be a huge challenge for both of those guys (Anthony Castonzo and Gosder Cherilus) and to get those guys blocked." OVERALL ANALYSIS Something has to give here as the two teams come in with a combined 10 straight postseason losses. The Chiefs havent tasted victory in the playoffs since a road win in the 1993 AFC Divisional round with a 28-20 victory at Houston on Jan. 16, 1994. Indianapolis, conversely, has dropped three consecutive in the postseason after last seasons 24-9 wild-card loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens. Reids playoff experience could be the difference here. While Indy is in the postseason for the 11th time in 12 seasons, this is only Paganos and Lucks second time on the big stage. Conversely this will be Reids 20th postseason game as a head coach. "We want to win," Houston said. "Everybody knows its playoff time. Win or go home. Everybodys mindset is we are not ready to go home. As long as we keep practicing the way we are practicing and everybody is putting in extra work in the film room, we are going to be alright." 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