e 5-4 game to the New York Islanders on Thursday is w

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. Cheap Patriots Jerseys China . -- Syracuse was dangerously close to letting another less talented opponent pull off the upset when C. Wholesale Patriots Jerseys . Last year, Islanders forward Colin Mcdonald released a "Do It For Colin" campaign to promote his teammate and friend John Tavares for the EA sports honour:The most popular sports voting video ever has to go to Chris Bosh who showcased his comedic abilities in his effort to get fans to vote him into the 2008 All Star Game:You can vote for TJ and other star players for the NHL 15 cover vote here. http://www.cheappatriotsjerseyselite.com/ . PETERSBURG, Fla. Cheap Patriots Jerseys . But sometimes the way you lose takes precedence over the final score. And how the Jets lost the 5-4 game to the New York Islanders on Thursday is what had Coach Claude Noel hot after the game.Houston, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two of his career- high six touchdown passes to DeAndre Hopkins as the Houston Texans cruised past the Tennessee Titans, 45-21, in an AFC South blowout on Sunday. Fitzpatrick, back as Houstons starter because of the injury to Ryan Mallett, and Hopkins hooked up nine times and accounted for 238 of the quarterbacks 358 passing yards. J.J. Watt punctuated the rout with his third touchdown catch of the season and threw in two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery for good measure. Arian Foster, who missed the previous two games with a groin injury, totaled 105 yards from scrimmage and caught a touchdown pass for the Texans (6-6), who still trail the division-leading Colts by two games with four to play. The Titans (2-10) dropped their sixth straight and saw starting quarterback Zach Mettenberger exit with a shoulder injury in the third quarter. Mettenberger and Kendall Wright connected on a 36-yard touchdown pass out of the break, but on the next series, Tennessees rookie QB took a big hit from Watt and exited with a right shoulder injury. Jake Locker, who was replaced by Mettenberger as the starter last month, came on in relief, and his first pass was intercepted by Jumal Rolle. On the next snap, however, Jason McCourty stripped Andre Johnson, picked up the loose ball near the sideline and sprinted 62 yards untouched to pull the Titans within 24-14. The Texans answered with the next 21 points to win going away. Hopkins caught a 34-yard toss from Fitzpatrick with cornerback Brandon Ghee draped all over him in the end zone, then had a 56-yard catch-and-run to set up Johnsons 4-yard touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter.dddddddddddd Watt stripped Locker on the ensuing series, recovered the fumble, then made a diving catch in the end zone with his fingertips after another Hopkins catch put the ball on the 1-yard line. Locker threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Nate Washington to account for the final margin. Houston took the opening kickoff and held the ball for nearly 7 1/2 minutes. Hopkins caught a pair of third-down passes from Fitzpatrick, who kept the drive alive by rushing for a first down on 4th-and-2 from the Tennessee 35. On the 14th play of the trek, Ryan Griffin was left uncovered out of the backfield and caught Fitzpatricks 8-yard touchdown pass. Johnathan Joseph picked off Mettenbergers first pass and returned it to the Titans 20, and Fosters 7-yard grab made it 14-0 just over 10 minutes in. Randy Bullock tacked on a 37-yard field goal with 3:25 left in the half, and the Texans got the ball back with under a minute to play. Hopkins got behind the secondary and hauled in Fitzpatricks perfectly-thrown bomb, and the 58-yard strike gave the hosts a 24-0 cushion at halftime. Game Notes Watt has accounted for six takeaways this season ... Mettenberger finished with 184 yards on 13-of-19 passing, while Locker was picked off twice and tossed for 91 yards on 6-of-12 throws ... Wright caught seven passes for 132 yards ... Foster and Johnson remain tied for the most touchdowns (63) in franchise history. 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