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, So Shawn Thornton gets a slap on the wrist for the water squirting incident - a childish, unsportsmanlike and potentially dangerous act, but players can get two minutes for spraying the goalie with snow when sometimes inadvertently just trying to stop quickly? In your opinion, should the NHL ever consider taking a more serious look at such actions and add them as an infraction in the rule book? Mike Cimba Mike: The Player Safety Committee should be commended for their swift action to impose the maximum permitted fine under the CBA ($2,820.52) against Shawn Thornton for his childish, television viewer unsightly, unsportsmanlike and potentially dangerous act of water bottle squirting at PK Subban. I am quite sure an incident of this nature will never happen again given the maximum allowable supplementary discipline and public humiliation that has been imposed against Thornton (sic sarcasm intended). Now that this bug on the visor of Subban has been wiped clean and severely dealt with, perhaps the PSC, Hockey Operations and the Officiating Department can focus their attention on more important issues that have been continually exposed to this point in the playoffs? For starters Mike, additional rules dont need to written until the ones that already exist are more consistently enforced; or even just applied. If the referee determined that Subban had been legitimately interfered with by a spray from a water bottle in Thorntons hands (Heaven forbid) the ref could have applied a broad interpretation to rule 56.2: a minor penalty shall be imposed on any identifiable player on the players bench or penalty bench who, by means of his stick or his body, interferes with the movements of the puck or any opponent on the ice during the progress of the play (Thorntons hands are attached to his body). Likewise, the same rule 75 - unsportsmanlike conduct, that is applied (sometimes) against a player deemed guilty of deliberately snow-showering a goalie could also be imposed in the case of a player deliberately squirting water in the face of his opponent. With the multitude of infractions that are being let go throughout extended portions of these games I cant imagine any referee imposing a penalty for this squirt of liquid. With regard to player safety however, it appears to be a serious and unwanted element of the game. So too was diving/embellishment once upon a time. Embellishment was deemed a plague within the game and language was added to rule 64.3 that provided authority for Hockey Operations to review game videos and assess fines to players who dive or embellish a fall or a reaction, or who feign injury regardless if a penalty was called on the ice. The punishment for the first such offence during the season will result in a warning letter being sent to the player. The second such incident will result in a $1,000 fine. For the third such incident in the season, the player shall be suspended for one game, pending a telephone conversation with the Director of Hockey Operations. For subsequent violations in the same season, the players suspension shall double (i.e. first suspension - one game, second suspension - two games, third suspension - four games, etc.) When was the last time you read that a player had been fined for diving/embellishment let alone suspended? I have seen some known offenders embellish as many as three times in one game during these playoffs. Im not suggesting for a second that players should be suspended for the letter of the law that this rule empowers Hockey Operations. What I am suggesting is to focus on the real important issues beyond a squirt from a water bottle. Lets start with an acceptable and expected standard of enforcement from the referees throughout a playoff game that is more consistent with those employed during the regular season. The rulebook has not changed from the regular season but the application and standard of enforcement by most of the referees clearly has. Powerful stick slashes that broke a players stick was almost always called; as the playoffs progress they are seldom called and have even resulted in goals being scored. Obvious infractions have been let go; major infractions have been let go or deemed to be a minor penalty. The latest such example was the major boarding infraction by Brandon Bollig on Keith Ballard that was deemed to be a minor penalty by the referee on the ice. Bollig was subsequently and correctly suspended for two games by the Player Safety Committee for this dangerous hit that injured Ballard. As far as I am concerned they got in wrong by not responding in kind to the chicken-wing elbow delivered by Jared Spurgeon of the Wild to the head of Marcus Kruger. Kruger was pulling his upper body back and up after shooting the puck on goal. Spurgeon was going to miss his intended check and responded by leaving his skates and extending his elbow to initiate contact with the head of Kruger. Kruger staggered of the ice and went directly to be evaluated in the quiet of the Hawks dressing room. Spearing incidents and howdy-dos between the legs have on occasion resulted in the assessment of penalties. Sidney Crosby provided a pretty good howdy to Dominic Moore that went un-penalized and resulted in a scrum at the end of the second period in yesterdays Rangers 3-1 win over the Penguins. In an attempt to keep all things in perspective, it would appear that a squirt off the bench with a water bottle will result in the maximum allowable fine being levied by the Player Safety Committee. Perhaps just a letter to Thornton would have sufficed; all things being equal? LeGarrette Blount Lions Jersey . The Henry Burris-led squad finished second in the East Division before advancing to the Grey Cup where they ultimately fell to the home field advantage wielding Saskatchewan Roughriders. Kerryon Johnson Lions Jersey . -- Masahiro Tanaka knows that first appearance in a spring training game for the New York Yankees will be scrutinized. http://www.lionsfanspro.com/Black-Sylves...ey.html?cat=954. The 24-year-old Raley was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA for Chicago in his first two career starts after being called up from Iowa on Aug. 7. He was optioned to Iowa on Monday after losing 3-0 to Cincinnati in Chicago on Sunday. Christian Jones Lions Jersey . Forward Iker Muniain scored the winner in the 70th minute after Bilbaos incessant pressure recovered the ball and sparked a counterattack inside Barcelonas half. Neymar was once again tagged to pick up Messis goal-scoring duties, but when he wasnt frustrated by slippery footing Bilbaos defence got the better of him. Frank Ragnow Jersey . The move - the latest twist in Greeces nearly three-year financial freefall -- is the first such action by any of the countrys major sports bodies. It immediately halts all domestic track and field competitions, including track meets May 12-13 in several Greek cities.TSN.ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season. Rankings were weighted evenly between separate lists made by TSN Radio host and soccer analyst Gareth Wheeler as well as TSN.cas soccer editors. 1. Manchester City (Last Week-1) Two huge victories have Manchester City one point away from clinching their second Premier League title in three years. A 3-2 road victory over Everton and a 4-0 home win against Aston Villa means that City needs only a draw from their final game to celebrate the championship. 2. Liverpool (LW-2) After building a three point lead, Liverpool conceded all three goals and were forced to settle for a 3-3 draw. Liverpool will now need Manchester City to lose to West Ham to have a chance at claiming the Championship. 3. Chelsea (LW-3) The three horse title race was reduced to two as the single point Chelsea earned from a 0-0 home draw against Norwich was not enough to keep them in the title picture. They did secure a third place finish and direct entry into the group stage of the Champions League. 4.Arsenal (LW-4) The fourth English team headed for the Champions League is Arsenal who earned a 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion. 5. Everton (LW-5) Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku both found the net for Everton, but their faint hope of qualifying for the Champions League was dashed after a 3-2 loss at the hands of Manchester City. 6. Tottenham (LW-6) Tottenham will need one point from their final game to guarantee themselves a place in Europa League next season after they were beaten 2-0 by West Ham United. 7. Manchester United (LW-7) Three points from two games for Manchester United as they defeated Hull City midweek after dropping a 1-0 game to Sunderland. United still has an outside shot at qualifying for Europa League. 8. Southampton (LW-8) Rickie Lambert scored in the 93rd minute to give Southampton a 1-0 victory over Swansea City. 9. Stoke City (LW-9) Peter Odemwingie, Marko Arnautovic, Oussama Assaidi and Jonathan Walters all found the net as Stoke City demolished Fulham 4-1. 10. Crystal Palace (LW-10) Crystal Palace threw a major wwrench into the Premier League title picture when Damien Delaney and Dwight Gayle twice, found the net in a nine minute span to snatch a 3-3 draw with Liverpool.dddddddddddd. 11. Swansea City (LW-11) Swansea City lost 1-0 to Southampton after conceding the winning marker in injury time. 12. Newcastle United (LW-13) Shola Ameobi, Loïc Remy and Steven Taylor all scored for Newcastle as they broke a six game losing streak with a 3-0 victory over Cardiff City. 13. West Ham United (LW-15) Attempting to finish the season strong, West Ham earned a 2-0 victory over Tottenham in their home finale. 14. Sunderland (LW-16) Sunderland became just the second team in the history of the Premier League to be bottom of the table at Christmas and survive relegation as they picked up six points and safety with wins over Manchester United and West Brom. 15. Hull City (LW-12) A pair of 3-1 defeats for Hull City as they were defeated by Aston Villa on the weekend and Manchester United during the week. 16. Aston Villa (LW-17) Aston Villa had an up and down week as they defeated Hull City and held Manchester City scoreless for the first half of their midweek fixture. They conceded four times in the second half to drop that second game at Etihad Stadium. 17. West Bromwich Albion (LW-14) Barring disaster West Brom will survive relegation, despite picking up nothing from losses to Arsenal and Sunderland. The Baggies enter the weekend with a three point, +17 goal differential advantage over Norwich City in the battle to avoid the final drop position. 18. Norwich City (LW-20) It will take a major miracle to keep Norwich in the Premier League after a 0-0 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They will need a West Brom loss and to overturn a 17 point goal differential to have a chance at survival. 19. Fulham (LW-18) Kieran Richardsons 80th consolation marker was not nearly enough as Fulham were relegated from the Premier League following a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Stoke City. 20. Cardiff City (LW-19) Straight back down to the Championship for Cardiff City as they were relegated from the Premier League with a 3-0 loss to Newcastle. Stitched College JerseysCheap UCLA JerseysNCAA Louisville Cardinals JerseysNorth Carolina Jerseys Stitched Kentucky Wildcats JerseysStitched Alabama Crimson Tide JerseysCheap Basketball Wisconsin Badgers JerseysAuthentic NCAA Jerseys StoreWholesale Basketball NCAA JerseysCheap Duke GearStitched Alabama JerseysStitched Georgia JerseysCheap Clemson Jerseys AuthenticAuthentic Texas JerseysWholesale USC JerseysStitched Oklahoma JerseysStitched Ohio State JerseysCheap Notre Dame GearUCLA Jerseys From ChinaCheap Louisville Jerseys Free ShippingCheap North Carolina Jerseys AuthenticCheap Kentucky Jerseys AuthenticWisconsin Jerseys From ChinaCheap Michigan GearCheap Florida GearWholesale Arizona State JerseysCheap LSU GearCheap Auburn GearCheap California Jerseys Free ShippingCheap Miami Jerseys AuthenticCheap Michigan State GearCheap Tennessee Jerseys AuthenticTexas A&M Jerseys From ChinaAuthentic Wake Forest JerseysWest Virginia Jerseys From China ' ' '