01-07-2020, 05:24 AM
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. Hey Kerry, big fan of yours, just finished reading your book. I think that we all saw the Canucks/Flames line brawl just after puck drop. It was obvious that something was about to happen, even to the referees because the fourth lines were on to start. My question is, is there anything that the refs couldve done to prevent this from happening? Secondly, Canucks coach John Tortorella confronted the Flames after the end of the second period. He was pretty wound up after the brawl and there were the two refs and a linesman beside him trying to calm him down. The confrontation would not have most likely happened if he received a penalty of some sort after the brawl. He was pretty worked up, and yelling at the Calgary bench, so why not penalize him for his actions or just toss him altogether? Thanks Patrick Patrick, The referee is expected to execute his duties as a reactionary arbitrator. He must determine when a violation of the rules has been committed and then raise his arm to assess the appropriate penalty. There is nothing within the playing rules that prevents either coach from placing their fourth liners on the ice to start the game. As the visiting team, Flames coach Bob Hartley must provide his starting lineup to the Official Scorer first. This generally takes place following the pre-game warm-up. As the home team coach, John Tortorella had the option to counter with a starting lineup selection of his choice. Torts accepted the challenge from Hartley and chose to match "beef for beef"! Both coaches must accept the consequences of their players actions, premeditated or otherwise. All hands of the officiating crew were on deck as they observed the tell-tale signs as to what was about to occur the instant the puck was dropped. Players extended menacing looks, chatted each other up as they assumed their positions, gloves shook on hands to make sure they came off quickly and Canuck defenceman Kevin Bieksa offered a word with Flames starting centre Kevin Westgarth before switching positions with Canucks starting center, 66 rookie Kellan Lain. Referee Dave Jackson was privy to all of this and delayed the puck drop after providing some instructions of his own. At this point in the posturing that took place, I am going to step well outside of the expected referee protocol. I suspect many will disagree with the proactive intervention that I am about to suggest. (Know that I have utilized something similar when situations called for it). While many of you might have even enjoyed watching the line brawl that took place, I personally didnt like the staged event that forced players to initiate and others to defend themselves as a result of coaching decisions and perhaps even instructions. Prior to even thinking about dropping the puck, I would bring the other officials to centre ice for a conference and ask the linesmen to escort both starting lineups to their respective players bench. I would speak to Bob Hartley first (with my ref partner) and read him the riot act. I would promise (not threaten) that if a brawl erupted, we would identify the instigators from either team and eject them from the game. Additionally, I would offer the coach a moment, before we started the game, to instruct his players to exhibit restraint once I dropped the puck and to just play! If they did not comply with this request and a brawl resulted, I would hold the coach responsible and eject him from the game as well! The final thing I would do is allow the coach to make a change in his starting lineup if he wished. The very same discussion would be held with John Tortorella at the Canucks bench and if Hartley made a change in his starting lineup, Torts could counter the move. These are pretty drastic measures, for sure. Would I do it in the best interest of the game? Youre damn right! If a line brawl erupted following the discussion with both coaches and their players, I would make good on my "promise". The battle lines would have been drawn before the puck drop. Following the brawl, Tortorella understandably lost his mind on Hartley, perhaps forgetting that he also had a hand in placing a starting lineup on the ice. This would have been a perfect time to eject both coaches from the game in addition to the players that got an early shower. Once the period ended, assuming the referees observed what took place in the hallway outside of the Calgary dressing room that was captured on camera, Tortorella should have been ejected from the game for his conduct. The officials would be required to submit a full report to the commissioner immediately following the game with regard to the line brawl and their account of the incident in the hallway. Hefty fines and even suspensions should result from this ugly incident. Fake Yeezy 700 Utility Black . Bjoerndalen, who had failed to win any major race for two years before Sochi, writes in a Facebook entry that he is "full of energy and inspiration" after winning the 10-kilometre sprint and mixed relay at last months Olympics. Yeezy 700 Black Outlet .Y. -- First, Patrick Kane gave his family and friends something to cheer about by scoring a highlight-reel goal in a rare trip home to Buffalo on Sunday night. http://www.yeezy700outlet.com/discount-y...nline.html . -- Dee Ford prefers to keep things simple: Play hard and fast, and let others worry about his NFL draft stock. Yeezy 700 2020 Fake . Mission accomplished. Now the Royals will take the field on Saturday with a World Series lead for the first time in team history when they play Game 4 of the Fall Classic against the Giants at AT&T Park. Yeezy 700 Analog Online . And theyre pointing to the NHLs biggest market: Toronto. With Gretzky paid out for what is believed to be $7 to 8 million, Gretzky may be eager to get back into the NHL and TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports that the Maple Leafs are very much interested in The Great Ones services.It seems in todays world of goaltending, theres still a couple of contrasting styles that help netminders have success. Every goalie has a specific skill set - I call this the toolbox - and youre trying things and adding them if they work for you along the way. Certain plays, saves, reads and how you consistently play them help define you as a goaltender. With the evolution of goaltending at an all-time high over the last 20 years, most goaltenders play relatively the same way - especially in their save selection in certain areas of the crease. Where it differs is how you arrive to make the save. Some goalies play deeper in their net, while others play more aggressive. Some netminders have better lateral movement and flexibility and some play a more upright style, while others play with more patience. The bottom line is that everyone plays a little bit different from one other. When I started to look at how guys play in the league today, there wasnt much difference in what I would term the middle group. Its their modified styles that are the most noticeable difference. Lets start with the majority group - the hybrid goaltender. These are the goaltenders that have a lot of different skills in their tool box, play with structure, a near-predictability in their save selection and are basically a cross between a standup goalie and a butterfly goalie. Aggressive, But With Structure These goaltenders play the top of their crease and will try and take as much ice as they can. They use athleticism, try not to open a lot of holes and work within the confines of good crease management. When theyre on their game, they make it look easy because the puck hits them and dies. Modifications of it are also noticeable if the goaltender plays more upright or in a deeper crouch. Goaltenders in this category include Floridas Roberto Luongo, Bostons Tuukka Rask, Ryan Miller of the Vancouver Canucks, Detroit netminder Jimmy Howard, Washingtons Braden Holtby, Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks, Brian Elliott of the St. Louis Blues, Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, Chicagos Corey Crawford, Kari Lehtonen of the Dallas Stars, Ottawas Craig Anderson, Colorados Semyon Varlamov and Ben Scrivens of the Edmonton Oilers. Most goalies go down on almost every play to take away the lower part of the net because shots are rarely clean nowadays. With net-front traffic, screens and tips, the puck changes directions constantly. With the middle group comes the aggressive hybrid style - and you can lump most of todays goaltenders into that category. And theres different groups within this category based on how they react to shots. Patient With Structure These are goaltenders wwho dont go chasing the puck - they allow the puck to come to them.dddddddddddd. They still incorporate all the features of a good hybrid style, but look a lot more relaxed doing it. Theyre very efficient with their use of energy, almost to the point that they could be accused sometimes of not trying on certain shots. Goaltenders in this category include Montreals Carey Price, Phillys Steve Mason, Darcy Kuemper of the Minnesota Wild, New Jerseys Cory Schneider, Torontos Jonathan Bernier, Cam Ward of the Carolina Hurricanes, Jaroslav Halak of the New York Islanders and Buffalos Jhonas Enroth. Aggressive And Athletic/Garage Sale These guys have all the skills and have the athleticism to get away from structure, but will stop the puck by any means necessary. Theyll use flexibility, quickness and willpower to keep the puck out of the net and throw everything they have at the puck to make the save. Were talking about Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings, Nashvilles Pekka Rinne, Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Winnipegs Ondrej Pavelec. Deep And Athletic Netminders that use their size and athleticism to their advantage. But theres also no margin for error, as they play a foot-and-a-half deeper within the blue paint. It helps to conserve energy, be more efficient on side to side plays and theres not a lot of scramble mode. This includes Tampa Bays Ben Bishop, Mike Smith of the Phoenix Coyotes and New Yorks Henrik Lundqvist. Pure Butterfly I term butterfly as more the style of a save. Calgarys Jonas Hiller makes no apologies for playing from his knees, uses the 6-foot-2 frame to be as big as he can and tries to force shooters to go high. Standup Style This has gone the way of the Dodo in todays NHL. It used to be the style for most of the league, but the biggest adaptation in goaltending over the last 20 years has been covering that lower part of the net where 80 per cent of the shots end up going. Now the 30 NHL starters listed above each have unique traits that separate one from another. But it all comes back to structure and base and whats in your toolbox. At least 13 of 30 starters play an aggressive game with structure. Maybe thats why when it comes to goaltending chats, people always say theyre interchangeable. Its how they use and incorporate the skills that separates the good ones from the elite ones. It also includes the extras or intangibles. I know my analytics friends hate those words, but when it comes to goalies, thats just a fact. Durability and mental capacity, along with the skills Ive talked about above, are what really separate the good from the great. And that will be for another chat to come. ' ' '