Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry Fraser wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn. Rob Ninkovich Black Friday Jersey .ca! Taylor Hall on Cal Clutterbuck. To me, there was obviously no intentional knee by Hall but yet a five and a ten? Why does it seem that whenever someone is hurt that the big guns come out (major penalties)? Can you elaborate on this mindset or are the referees mandated to drop the majors on plays when someone is hurt? Cheers,Dan GriffithLethbridge, AB Dan: This was a textbook example of a kneeing penalty as defined in Rule 50.1 - Kneeing is the act of a player leading with his knee and in some cases extending his leg outwards to make contact with his opponent. Whenever an injury results to a player hit in this manner the Referees best discretion and judgment would be to assess a major penalty which is accompanied by an automatic game misconduct. The kneeing major penalty and game misconduct assessed by Referees Don VanMassenhoven and Marc Joannette to Taylor Hall for leading with his knee in a leg check on Clutterbuck is without question the correct call. Dan, while Hall might not have intended to take out Clutterbuck with a leg hit as you suggest, the fact remains that Hall set himself in advance of the attempted check by protruding and leading with his left knee. Principle contact on the hit was not made with Halls upper body but through his left leg and thigh; the same leg that Hall set as the leading edge for the check. On a North-South hit a checker can easily lose body position as his opponent shifts laterally. Typically a knee can be extended at the last second to make the checker "bigger" when it appears he is going to miss his opponent. Marchment played for nine teams throughout his 17 season NHL career and is the one player that comes to my mind who often utilized a protruded knee to catch his opponent that made a lateral shift. Marchment was suspended 13 times in his first 12 seasons in the NHL for deliberate attempts to injure opponents. Marchments history for leg to leg hits were one of the contributing factors for the League to include major and game misconduct penalties to Rule 50 - Kneeing. Marchment was so feared (and often hated) by opponents that guys on the bench would shout a loud warning whenever Marchment had their teammate in his sights! On more than one occasion I ejected Bryan from the game with a kneeing major, game misconduct or a match penalty. Once the major penalty was added to the rule, we (the Referees) were instructed to impose it whenever a player extended his knee or led with it to make contact to the leg/knee of an opponent and where injury resulted. Leg to leg contact poses a real safety issue with the potential to end a players career; including to the player who uses his knee in a checking fashion. Clutterbuck was in excruciating pain following the check to his knee. Im not about to make a medical determination but as I watched the pain on Cals face I relived the experience of blowing out my ACL while playing in a playoff game as a 15 year old. The pain was the worst I have ever felt for a matter of 20-30 seconds and then it just stopped. They didnt repair the ACL back then but instead just cleaned out the entire medial meniscus cartilage. Fortunately, I was able to continue finish playing Junior hockey prior to enjoying a 30+ year career as a Referee with the NHL even without my ACL. Fortunately for Clutterbuck, it appears that he will not need to take advantage of modern surgical procedures. I truly hope that this gritty player heals quickly and returns to action with a full recovery. Also Of Note: The Chicago Blackhawks have the opportunity to set a record this weekend for consecutive wins following their almost flawless start. I will be in the Windy City this weekend as well but unable to attend their games. This Sunday, I am most humbly being inducted into the Sports Faith International Hall of Fame, a Catholic organization founded by Chicago Bears owner, Mr. Pat McCaskey. The induction ceremonies take place at Chicago Bears Halas Hall. I will be entering this Hall in the Professional category with NFL Legendary coach, Vince Lombardi, Major League Baseball star, Sal Bando, former Univ. of Notre Dame and Chicago Bear great Bob Wetoska, and Fr. Burke Masters a former All American and Chicago White Sox organization baseball player prior to receiving a higher call. Terry Brennan, former Univ. of Notre Dame player and coach will be inducted into the College Hall of Fame, World record distance swimmer and two time Olympian, Kate Ziegler will enter the Olympics Hall of Fame while Bishop Tom Paprocki, of Diocese of Springfield, IL and known as the Holy Goalie after practicing with both the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets will receive the Light of Christ Award. A pre-Hall of Fame All-Star panel event, offered in conjunction with Sports Leader and hosted by Ron Meyer of EWTN Sports Blessed 2 Play will be held on Saturday from 2pm-5pm at Northwestern University McCormick Auditorium. I join Kate Ziegler, NFL/Oakland Raiders Hall of Fame player Dave Casper and Sports Leader Chaplain, Fr. Jacob Dumont, LC on the panel. The weekend events are open to the public and you can get ticket information by going on the Sports Faith International web site http://shop.sportsfaithhalloffame.com or by calling Angela Tomlinson at 847-331-6994. Have a blessed weekend, everyone! Charles Woodson Raiders Jersey .com) - A highly anticipated battle between teams that swapped head coaches during the offseason is on tap today, as John Tortorella and the Vancouver Canucks visit Alain Vigneaults New York Rangers for a clash at Madison Square Garden. Cyber Monday Jerseys . Juan Miranda belted a two-run homer in the fourth inning to hand Yoervis Medina, who gave up three hits in the frame, the loss. http://www.thetitansofficialshop.com/black-friday-bernard-pollard-jersey/ . In an off-camera interview Friday with ESPN, Teo said Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, a 22-year-old acquaintance who lives in California, contacted him two days ago and confessed to the prank. Deadspin.com first exposed the scheme on Wednesday and indicated Tuiasosopo was involved in it. Ryan Tannehill Jersey . TSN 1290s coverage begins with the pregame show at 11:00am Monday morning with Rick Ralph, colour analyst Bob Crawford joins Brian Munz in the broadcast booth for the play-by-play at noon. Ryan Tannehill Black Friday Jersey . Jerome Verrier, Jerome Raymond, Tommy Giroux and Charles-David Beaudoin also scored for Drummondville. Jason Houde, Marcus Power and Antoine Quevillon replied for the Huskies. Elsewhere, Moncton edged Shawinigan 3-2. MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The Memphis Grizzlies ended the New York Knicks unbeaten start and put themselves on top of the NBA standings. Zach Randolph had 20 points and 15 rebounds, Marc Gasol added 24 points and Memphis handed the Knicks their first loss of the season with a 105-95 victory on Friday night. At 7-1, the Grizzlies own the leagues best record for the first time in franchise history. "Sounds good," Memphis guard Mike Conley said. "I think we are playing well right now, obviously. We have played some very good teams in the past week. (We) are just going to try and keep it going." With the 10-point win, the Grizzlies defeated the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder -- last seasons NBA finalists -- and the previously undefeated Knicks by double digits this week. Rudy Gay scored 17 points and blocked four shots, and Conley added 16 points and eight assists as Memphis won its seventh straight. "The confidence is something that we have always had," Gay said. "I dont think it is (any) different as what we always have been. We are just playing basketball. We are getting better, thats all it is. "We are just doing it at a higher level." Carmelo Anthony scored 20 points for New York, which was trying to start 7-0 for the first time since the 1993-94 team that reached the NBA Finals. Raymond Felton scored 18 points and handed out five assists. Rasheed Wallace scored 13 points, shooting 6 of 10. The game got away from New York in the third quarter, when the Knicks seemed to lose their composure during a Memphis rally, and complained about calls and drew technical fouls, including one on Knicks coach Mike Woodson. "Our guys are competitive They want to win," Woodson said. "We are on a six-game winning streak. We didnt want that streak to break. But it did, so we have to start a new streak." The Knicks shot 51 per cent for the game, but Memphis had 12 offensive rebounds, leading to a 22-12 advantage in second-chance points. Memphis led by as many as 21 in the third quarter and still held a 19-point lead in the early stages of the final period. The Knicks answered with a 12-3 rally and appeared poised to make a comeback reminiscent of Thursday nights win at San Antonio, when New York outscored the Spurs 27-11 in the final 7:14 for a 104-100 victory. But New York never got closer than eight the rest of the way. The game started getting testy in the second quarter as the Grizzlies Jerryd Bayless and New Yorks J.R. Smith got into it, earning double technicals. Gay got a tech when he disagreed with a no-calll on a dunk attempt. Eddie Lacy Jersey. And through all that, Wallace was mouthing with everyone from the Grizzlies bench to the officials to the fans. "Thats part of my game," Wallace said. "I like to talk trash. Thats what I do. But the thing about it is, I talk trash, and I can back it up. Then I like to have fun with the fans. Theyre jabbing at me, so I like to throw jabs at them. Its all in fun though." Memphis led 54-49 at the break, both teams shooting well. The Knicks hit at a 57 per cent clip, while Memphis connected on 54 per cent. Conley had 13 for Memphis, while Anthony had 14 for the Knicks. Wallace already had matched his season high with 10 points before intermission. Memphis opened the second half with a 23-7 spurt. Gasol had eight in the run, and the Knicks continued picking up technical fouls. The Grizzlies rally built the advantage to 77-56 when Tony Allen converted a three-point play after Smith was called for a flagrant foul on Allens drive. That was just one of the things that caused the Knicks play to go awry in the period. "There in the third quarter, we tried to do it individually instead of just moving the ball," guard Jason Kidd said. "Guys got great looks and they didnt go in. .Emotion is part of the game. For the whole team, this is a test we can learn from." New York cut into the margin slightly, but Memphis still carried an 85-67 lead into the fourth after outscoring the Knicks 31-18 in the period. The Knicks started a comeback to open the fourth period, outscoring Memphis 12-3 in the early stages of the period. That got New York within 91-81 with 6:18 left on Feltons jumper in the lane. "The third quarter got away from us," Anthony said. "Techs, they made some shots. We missed some shots. They got the momentum, kind of slowed the game down. We made a run and cut it to eight, but they already had the momentum going, so we were just in an uphill battle from there." But several Knick players noted that the battle and the roughhouse game is just the first round of the series between the two teams. "One thing were saying," Wallace said, "Theyve got to come to the Garden." NOTES: Memphis has won 15 straight regular-season home games. Memphis last loss during the regular season at home was last March 16 to Toronto in overtime. . Smith came into the game leading the league in 3-point shooting on 14 of 19. He ended the night 0 for 3 from outside the arc. . The Knicks finished their three-game road trip at 2-1. . Wallaces 13 points and 24 minutes were season highs in both categories. ' ' '