Rap International » For whatever reason, thats when the He

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! Hi Kerry, I was timekeeping a AAA minor midget game last week when the following happened. A player was skating down the wing and then wound up to take a huge slap shot. When he took the shot, the puck actually split into two pieces with both halves of the puck entering the net for a score. Should the goal be allowed or not? Has anything weird like that ever happened to you in the pros during your career? One ref at the game actually thought a goal should be allowed but after all three officials got together, there was a ruling of no goal with the faceoff inside the zone. Thought maybe a weird situation would put a bit of a change of pace to your column. Cheers,Edward Sherr Edward: As weird as it sounds, I do recall a hard shot ring off the goal post in an NHL game I worked that caused the puck to break in half. Neither chunk of vulcanized rubber entered the net but instead split off in different directions. One piece travelled toward the end zone corner while the other portion found its way into the slot. Players scrambled in both directions, instinctively chasing the black disc that was nearest their position. I recall the look of shock on each players face after recognizing only half a puck existed in two different locations on the ice. I blew my whistle to halted play for this unusual situation. A discussion then ensued as to who caused the stoppage of play with regard to the resulting face-off location. The defending team protested that the attacking team had caused the stoppage with a shot that broke the puck. They rationalized their position no differently than shooting or deflecting the puck over the boards. I settled on the claim that it wasnt "who" (which team) but "what" (a faulty puck) that caused the stoppage and the resulting face-off was taken in the end zone corner where half the puck had come to rest. The fact is, Edward, that the entire puck must completely cross the goal line to count as a legal goal. Half a puck just doesnt cut it. The officials in the AAA Midget game, therefore, made the correct call; including the resulting end zone face-off location. Amendment/Addition: You have correctly noted from Edwards question that both halves of the broken puck entered the net. While there is nothing presently in the NHL Officiating Case book or anything that I could find in the Canadian Hockey Case Book or playing rules on the subject, we need to look at rule 13 - Puck. The puck shall be made of vulcanized rubber, or other approved material, one inch (1") thick and three inches (3") in diameter and shall weigh between five and one-half ounces (5 1/2 oz.) and six ounces (6 oz.). All pucks used in competition must be approved by the League. A puck that has broken in half does not conform to this rule in specified size or weight, nor is it approved for legal play. No goal would result should a puck that was broken in half and therefore deemed unfit for play (illegal) enter the net. This would include the case where separated halves found their way into the net. During the season, I had the puck split in half. Inglasco (the official puck supplier to the NHL) was having some quality control issues. You might recall that routine shots were causing the protective glass behind the goal to break at an unprecedented rate. I was told that there was a component in the puck that was causing this to occur. While that problem was quickly rectified, it brought special attention to the puck and particularly the inconsistency with which it settled or bounced on the ice. A study, conducted by an NHL-hired consultant with a PHD specializing in the field of rubber, revealed the ideal temperature at which frozen vulcanized rubber provided the optimum density to slide across the ice and minimize the bounce effect. Following the study, game puck supplies were to be kept in a special temperature controlled freezer that were installed in every NHL arena. Pucks that previously were kept cool in a bucket of ice at the penalty timekeeper bench were secured in a mini-freezer by an off-ice crew member that was in charge of pucks. Memos were sent to the head of each Off-Ice Crew on the new puck handling policy and optimum temperature that must be maintained. Linesmen were instructed to change out the pucks on a frequent basis. I will tell you first hand that the density of the frozen puck was noticeable when on occasion I was struck by one. Even a glancing blow provided an extra sting not previously experienced! With all this hoopla of information being circulated over the ideal puck temperature, Jeff Weintraub, head of the NY Islanders Off-Ice Crew (and a dear friend of all the NHL Officials) decided to have a little fun with us. Prior to a game I worked in Nassau Coliseum, Jeff entered our dressing room with a very serious look on his face and asked me if I would check the temperature of the game puck. Confused, I asked how the heck he expected me to do that. From behind Jeffs back he exposed a NY Islander puck with a hole drilled in it. Inserted in the hole was a "rectal thermometer!" What a ball-buster Jeff was. The bouncing puck also led to snow buildup being scrapped from the goal crease and around the dasher boards during commercial time-outs. Very quickly through the scraping process guys in sweat suits were replaced by scantily clad "Ice Girls." Its truly amazing the progress I witnessed during my 30 years as an NHL referee. If were lucky, we might even see the results of a study that can stop players from hitting each other in the head? Freddie Freeman Braves Jersey . -- Billy Andrade hasnt played much competitive golf over the past four years. Mike Foltynewicz Jersey ., climbed from seventh to fifth spot in womens competition Sunday at the ISU world junior figure skating championships. http://www.baseballbravesproshop.com/greg-maddux-braves-jersey/ . - Mark Sanchez found out the New York Jets had acquired Tim Tebow on a conference call with team management. Bobby Cox Braves Jersey . -- Scottie Wilbekin sat on the bench for the final minute, holding a bag of ice against his left knee. Tom Glavine Jersey . Under the deal, the Vikings will donate an undisclosed sum of money to five gay rights-related charities over the next five years. Kluwe said he wont receive any money as part of the settlement. "This will help a lot of people that really do need that help," Kluwe said.MIAMI -- LeBron James was even more efficient than usual, which says plenty. Dwayne Wade attacked early, distributed late and capped his night with a pair of cartwheels. Yep, its going pretty good for the Miami Heat these days. James scored 35 points on only 14 shots, Wade added 21 points and 12 assists and the Heat won their seventh straight game, beating the Phoenix Suns 107-92 on Monday night. "The 12 assists was all my teammates, catching the ball, finishing," Wade said after his highest assist total since March 22, 2010. "And the cartwheels were all me." The cartwheels -- a nod to Wades youngest son Zion, who does his gymnast act all over the familys home these days -- were pre-planned, the latest "video bomb" where the Heat find a way to disrupt someones postgame on-court interview. Its about the only way James can be thrown off at this point. He made 11 of 14 shots from the field, shot 11 for 11 from the foul line for the second time in a week -- after doing that or better only four times in his first 10 NBA seasons -- and capped his night with a trio of fadeaway jumpers that left him wondering why the Suns werent double-teaming him. "Im in a very, very comfortable position right now with my game," said James, whos shooting 61 per cent this season and became the first player this season to score more than 30 points while taking less than 15 shots. Ray Allen scored 17 points and Chris Andersen added an 11-point, seven-rebound night for the Heat, who have won 10 of 11 since their 1-2 start. Channing Frye led a balanced attack with 16 points for the Suns, who have dropped five of their last seven. Goran Dragic scored 14, Marcus Morris had 13, Markieff Morris and Gerald Green each added 12 and PJ Tucker finished with 10 for Phoenix. "We were playing pretty decently for a while," Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. "We just couldnt make any shots. The third game of a fourth night might have started to get us. We were open and we couldnt make them. ... To beat this team -- theyre a great team -- you have to make those shots." Coming into Monday, they and the Suns were the only NBA teams who hadnt been handed a double-digit loss. Phoenix cant say that any longer, after falling to the Heat for a seventh straight time. Phoenixs six losses before Monday were by a total of 27 points, and this one was close until the early porrtion of the fourth quarter when Miami found a way to pull away -- while James was getting another extended fourth-quarter rest, something Miamis had the luxury of doing often in recent games.dddddddddddd A 22-second flurry was all it really took. Allen made a 3-pointer off an assist from Wade, Roger Mason Jr. stole the ball from Phoenixs Archie Goodwin, and Wade set Allen up for another 3 with 9:56 left. "Thats the beauty of our team," Wade said. With that, the lead was 87-73, the outcome pretty much decided. A trio of fadeaway jumpers by James late in the game -- the first two swishing, the third one rattling off the rim a bit before falling -- helped keep the Suns at bay. Both teams were without their starting point guards. Mario Chalmers (strained hip flexor) was held out by Miami, and Eric Bledsoe (sore left shin) missed his fifth straight game for the Suns. There was minimal separation between the teams in the opening 24 minutes, with a 3-pointer by James with 0.6 seconds left before the break serving as the difference as Miami took a 50-47 lead into halftime. Miamis lead was only 73-71 with 2:35 left in the third quarter when Marcus Morris took a pass from Markieff Morris and made a 3-pointer. For whatever reason, thats when the Heat found their best groove. James scored the first four points of what became a quick 8-0 run for the Heat, giving Miami an 81-71 lead. And that little burst was enough; the Suns werent within eight points the rest of the way. "We fought," Frye said. "Theyre a veteran team -- theyve been playing together for three, four years now, some of them longer than that. They know where theyre supposed to be. They know what plays work. And they have a couple of closers there at the end." NOTES: Andy Garcia, Macklemore and Flo Rida were in attendance. ... Hornacek and Heat broadcaster John Crotty were teammates in Utah, chatting a bit before the game. ... Wade, handicapping which Heat player will eat the most food at the Thanksgiving dinner the team will share at James home outside of Cleveland on Thursday: "Greg Oden." Wade said Joel Anthony used to be the front-runner in that department. ... Suns G Dionte Christmas once had a 29-point game on the Heat home court -- for Temple, in the 2009 NCAA tournament, his last college game; the Owls held James Harden to nine that day but lost to Arizona State. ' ' '