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! Kerry, I would like your opinion on the Joe Pavelski shootout goal. It appears that Pavelski comes to a stop, waits and then shoots. Should this goal have counted in the shootout? Unapologetic Ducks fan. Kerry, On Saturday night during the shootout, San Joses Joe Pavelski appeared to come to a complete stop while moving towards Jonas Hiller. Immediately after stopping he shot the puck and scored the only goal (for either team) during the shootout. I thought that the rules were that both the puck and the shooter had to keep up uninterrupted forward momentum for the goal to count? A little clarification would be great because Id hate to think that yet another game this season was decided by a refs blown call, there have been FAR too many of those already. Love the column, thanks for helping further everyones education and knowledge about the game that we all love. Greg Lykes Greg and our Unapologetic Ducks fan, Welcome to another shootout "razzle-dazzle" which should be redefined in the rule book as an NHL skills competition where anything goes. Its about time to change the wording in rule 24 to include, "any move that resembles a skilled hockey play." The lacrosse-like whip and spin-o-rama are approved for use as skilled moves and both involve continuous motion. It might be argued that Joe Pavelski maintained a semblance of forward motion when he slammed on the brakes resulting in a forward slide and then immediately turned his blades from that sliding stop to a continuation of his glide momentum towards Jonas Hiller. There was also an ever so slight forward rotation of the puck only detected by video replay as Pavelski executed a stickhandle move in conjunction with his sliding stop. Pavelskis stick motion, from back to front, throughout this stickhandle maneuver is deemed legal puck possession as he teed the puck up for a shot. All this allows the execution of Pavelskis shootout move to be deemed "legal" by a technicality. Rule 24.2 presently reads, "However, should the puck come to a complete stop at any time during the shot attempt, the shot shall be stopped and no goal will be the result." To the naked eye in real-time, it appears that both the puck and Pavelski came to a complete stop. Slow-motion video review can provide a different picture; especially if the viewer desires all of these "hockey plays" to be deemed legal. My take is that an attacker is given a distinct and unfair advantage over the goalkeeper on most of these "stop and go" type maneuvers. While it might be entertaining for fans during an All-Star Game Skills Competition where there is little on the line except bragging rights, a regular season shootout is worth a point in the standings. Shootout wins can make a huge difference in the final standings for playoffs. The integrity of the final standings is being compromised by circumventing the spirit of Rule 24 through unfair advantages shooters are being given over the goalkeepers. Short of a rule change, the referees should be empowered to kill the play whenever they determine (with their naked eye) that the puck has not been kept in motion towards the goal as the current rule states. It would take a large measure of courage on the part of the refs to make that call, in addition to support offered from a Hockey Operations Dept. that has set the existing standard. Dont expect a change anytime soon unless the goalkeeper fraternity revolts en masse. Fake Heat Jerseys . It was the most lopsided loss in Lakers history. Darren Collison had a team-high 24 points while starting at shooting guard for the injured Jamal Crawford. Chris Paul added 13 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, who apparently are trying to make up for decades of humiliation at the hands of the Lakers all in one season; theyve won the last two meetings by a combined 84 points. Anthony Carter Jersey .Y. - Carey Price had an early feeling that one goal might be enough to settle the latest matchup between his Montreal Canadiens and longtime Original Six foe, the New York Rangers. https://www.cheapheatonline.com/ . Hamilton signed offensive linemen Mike Filer, Joel Reinders, Landon Rice and Carson Rockhill. Meyers Leonard Jersey . Toronto FC hosts the three-time Italian league champions in a friendly Aug. 7 at BMO Field, a game that Roma CEO Italo Zanzi said falls within a key part of their pre-season. Gary Payton Jersey . The 27-year-old hit .209 in 86 at-bats last year after missing the 2010 season following surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder.TORONTO – Nineteen innings. Six hours and 37 minutes. Eight pitchers and fourteen position players used, some making as many as 10 plate appearances, to secure a 6-5 victory and a series win over the Detroit Tigers. It seemed appropriate, at least to some in the groggy media horde that ambled down to the victorious clubhouse on Sunday afternoon (oops, evening), that a fog machine had been used in whatever celebration had just occurred. "I cant give out all the secrets," said Colby Rasmus, who made two sparkling defensive plays, robbing Miguel Cabrera of extra bases with a catch up against the centrefield wall in the 18th and making a head-long, diving catch of a Bryan Holaday sinking line drive in the 19th. "I cant give out all the secrets. Hopefully itll keep working for us." The Blue Jays franchise is engaged in its 38th season of Major League Baseball. Never had it played in a game longer than 18 innings. Never had it played in a game that exceeded six hours. There were many heroes on this day. Jose Bautista delivered the walk off, bases loaded single, which must have felt particularly satisfying considering it was Bautistas first hit in 10 plate appearances. He did walk twice. The bullpen deserves the most credit. Mark Buehrle struggled badly, again, and was lifted after allowing five runs (two earned) with one out in the fourth. The Jays trailed 5-0 at the time and all seemed lost with 2012 Cy Young award winner David Price on the mound for Detroit. Nobody could have predicted that the offence would chip away, tagging Price for four runs before tying the game in the ninth off pseudo closer Joba Chamberlain. What it meant was seven Toronto relievers would be required to combine for 15 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball. They were up to the task. Todd Redmond went 2 2/3; rookie Aaron Sanchez tossed three innings; Brett Cecil and Dustin McGowan 1 1/3 each; Aaron Loup went a third of an inning; Casey Janssen a full inning and then Chad Jenkins drove the bus the rest of the way. He went six scoreless, his longest outing of the season, to secure his first big league win of the year. "That was a long one," said an exhausted Jenkins afterwards. "For all the fans who sat through all of it, thank you. That was awesome. I mean, its really exciting to look up and see its 7:30 and there are still people here cheering, going crazy, going nuts and it made it so much better." The Jays sold out both Saturdays and Sundays games. The Jays took the series two-out-of-three from the Tigers and did so winning the final two games started by the last two American League Cy Young award winners (Max Scherzer and Price). The series win gave Toronto five of six against the Tigers on the season. The victory gained the Blue Jays a game on Baltimore, which lost to St. Louis and allowed Toronto to hold serve with red-hot Kansas City, which leads the race for the second wild card spot by a game and a half on the Jays and Seattle Mariners. Oh, and the Blue Jays open a series in Seattle Monday night (against another former Cy Young award winner, Felix Hernandez, to boot). Oh, and the Tigers shouldnt sleep on the playoffs. Those Royalss are but a half-game back of Detroit for the AL Central lead.dddddddddddd Maybe these wins over the Tigers will matter to the Blue Jays in that wild card race. As the games and days pass by, the stakes become higher. The Blue Jays, as R.A. Dickey put so simply on Friday night, are "in it." If youre too young to remember the good old days of the mid-1980s and early 1990s, enjoy this. This is what it was like back then. And if youre old enough to remember those times, welcome back to feeling like a kid. SANCHEZ THRIVING Aaron Sanchez is blessed with the physical gifts needed to have a long, successful career as a big league pitcher. Hes tall, 64", and most of it is core and lower body. He laughed as he points to his hips. "I get heat from the guys, they always tell me Ive got a grandpas waistline," he said. "Theyre always on me about why I wear my pants so high." The legs are Sanchezs key; any pitchers key, really. From there he generates the power to effortlessly unleash fastballs which register 98 miles per hour on the radar gun. He doesnt know where he gets his height. Sanchez has two older brothers and an older sister and said hes at least four inches taller than each of them. Hes taller than both his parents. "There are some cousins on my moms side who are like seven-feet tall," said Sanchez. "So maybe thats where I get it from." With three scoreless innings in Sundays 6-5, 19-inning win over the Tigers, Sanchez has held the opposition without a run in five of his seven big league appearances. All have come out of the bullpen and its likely the rest will, too, as he gets further and further away from his last start, a six-inning performance for Triple-A Buffalo on July 10. Just because hes a reliever doesnt mean Sanchez has changed his daily routine. "I tried to stay running as a starter just because I dont know any different," said Sanchez. "I think thats kind of helped me bounce back better (after relief appearances) than I would have if I did minimal running, I guess to say. I dont know if that makes any difference or not but Ive just tried to continue with the same running that Ive done as a starter, you know the long distance, the sprint intervals, the stadiums, whatever it is just to get the lactic acid out of the arm." The Blue Jays toyed with Sanchez working in relief in spring training, culminating with an appearance against the Mets at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. He learned then the difference between taking all the time needed to prepare for a start and pitching in relief. Youve got to "get hot" quickly, as pitchers will say. Then, once in the game, theres little time to find a groove. "As a starter youve got six innings, two innings to get a curveball and figure some things out," said Sanchez. "As a reliever youve got to come in and just pound the zone and youre stuffs just got to be there." ROSTER MOVE The Blue Jays need help in the bullpen after seven relievers combined for 15 2/3 scoreless innings on Sunday afternoon. Left-hander Brad Mills has been added to the roster for Mondays series opener in Seattle. Infielder Ryan Goins was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo. ' ' '