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. Mr. Fraser, In the PIT/NYR Round 2 series, there have been two separate occasions where Marc Staal has taken blatant shots to the head of Pittsburghs Sidney Crosby. In Game 3, Staal hit Crosby with a viscous crosscheck to the back of the head. I was shocked that a penalty wasnt even called on the ice! The league then came out the following day and said that no punishment would be handed down for the hit. The following night, in Game 4, Staal again went after Crosbys head. This time it was a blatant elbow. Again, it was from behind, to the back of the head, nearly knocking the helmet off Crosbys head. Again, there was no call on the ice, and no action taken by the league. Can you explain to me how the league and officials, in this era of "no tolerance" for hits to the head, can allow this kind of thing to go on? How can there be no call on the ice? Obviously, since there was no action for the league, or penalty called, in Game 3, Staal figured he was cleared to do it again in Game 4. I mean, if the NHL doesnt care about the well-being of its marquee players, why should Staal? Thanks for listening. Any light you can shed on this subject would be great! John Waclo John: The cross-check that Marc Staal delivered on Sidney Crosby was well beyond just a minor infraction (Video link) and worthy of at least a five-minute major and game misconduct. This aggressive cross-check delivered to the head area could not be considered an effort by a defensive player to contain, engage in a battle in battle or to clear an opponent from the front of the net. The blow did not start at the name plate on the back of the jersey and then rode up to the neck and back of the helmet. This forceful, full-arm extension cross-check went directly to the back of the neck/head of Crosby and should be considered an attempt to injure and worthy of a match penalty under rule 59.4. For the sake of argument lets reverse the body position of Crosby where he and Staal are face-to-face. If that same force is delivered to the neck and chin of Sid he will most likely be spitting blood, chicklets and perhaps even incur another broken jaw. I would sincerely hope that a match penalty would be assessed in that case and a player would be suspended for cross-checking an opponent in the face! I see a deliberate and forceful cross-check to the back of a players neck and head to be similarly dangerous regardless of the fact it was delivered on a player with a well-documented history of concussions. If you want to see an "old school" hit take a look at the major and game misconduct I assessed to Darian Hatcher in a game in Dallas just prior to the playoffs, when he delivered an elbow to the face of Jeremy Roenick. Roenicks jaw was dislocated, broken in three places and he had eight teeth cracked or broken. Roenick approached me on the ice spitting blood and teeth with his jaw wagging in the breeze as he attempted to say, "He broke my f----n jaw!" Hatcher was suspended for seven games (including the Stars first five playoff games) by Colin Campbell for the illegal hit. See it here. John, you ask how these types of plays can be missed. The answer is there are too many "puck watchers" wearing stripes in these playoffs. Player safety is placed in jeopardy when these aggressive fouls are allowed to go un-penalized. This isnt "old school" officiating; just a lack of awareness. Jordan Baratas Online . Louis Cardinals won the World Series last season, but after losing first baseman Albert Pujols to free agency and manager Tony LaRussa to retirement, they opened the 2012 season in 12th spot in the TSN. Zapatillas Yeezy Falsas .Y. - Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs didnt flinch in the face of adversity. https://www.zapatillasbaratasspain.es/zapatillas-baratas-spain-outlet-online-d2288.html . And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. From Pierre LeBrun While Anaheim GM Bob Murray said earlier this season he was not going to trade Jonas Hiller despite the fact hes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, some sources have told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun that Murray might be willing to move another goalie. Air Max Baratas Outlet .C. United to a 4-1 victory over short-handed FC Dallas on Saturday night. Yeezy Baratas Hombre .Y. - Sven Andrighetto scored once and set up two more as the Hamilton Bulldogs hung on to defeat the host Adirondack Flames 5-3 on Tuesday in American Hockey League action.PHILADELPHIA - Brett Lawrie is considered day-to-day with tightness in his right hamstring, an appropriate prognosis given that its the daily grind of baseball thats forcing him to take a seat. The hamstring cant heal if Lawries placing athletic demands on it every day. "Its the same as it has been," said Lawrie. "Ive been playing with this the past road trip since Kansas City and whatnot. I need to give it a little bit of time; I need to give it a couple of days. I tried to play with it and I can play with it, its just that Im not playing the way I would like to play." His leg didnt give out on him. Lawrie saw a doctor at Citizens Bank Park after leaving Mondays 3-0 win over the Phillies in the fourth inning. The hamstring needs a couple of days to, as Lawrie put it, "settle down." "We only have one off day this May and thats tough just to continuously go day after day after day on something like a hamstring," he said. "Theres no recovery time so I need some recovery time to allow it to get better. Id rather take a couple of days rather than do something really terrible and take myself out for a month and a half because obviously hamstrings are just nothing to mess around with." Lawrie has a history of muscle-related injuries, most notably his oblique problems which cost him time in each of the last two seasons. He sat out the second game of last weeks series in Kansas City with tightness in his back and often times, after games, hes essentially mummified in elastic bandages holding down ice on various parts of his body. Ive hit a point where I cant keep doing this every single day," said Lawrie. "In every game that Ive played in the last little bit it has been little things that have just grabbed on me and almost resets it a little bit and just kind of says this is how its going to be, its not better yet. That just says to me, as much as it sucks and I can play, I just cant do it the way that I want to ? so Id rather take a couple of days rather than do something really bad." Lawrie went 0-2 on Monday before leaving the game. He had been heating up offensively after a slow start, having had a seven-game hitting streak snapped and with mmulti-hit efforts in seven of his last 11 games.dddddddddddd NAVARRO NEARING RETURN Dioner Navarro pinch hit in Sundays game against the Pirates and singled. To say he moved gingerly toward first base is an understatement. Navarro was being careful with his sore right quadriceps muscle. Dont read anything into the visual. "Probably if I hit a groundball somewhere I would have gone a little bit faster but I knew I wasnt going to get to second so might as well take an extra day, it felt like I didnt do anything (Sunday)," said Navarro. "It wasnt that bad. I know it looked bad on TV but it wasnt that bad. I knew the ball was over the third basemans head, the run scored, the guy was going to get to third." Navarro left Thursday nights game in the eighth inning after aggravating his quad running the bases. Hes had hamstring problems in the past but never an issue with his quads. "We did a whole bunch of stuff, squat stuff, mobility stuff, side-to-side stuff, backward, forward, it felt great," he said. The biggest test is when we go out there and start running and see how it feels." Navarro didnt rule out a return on Wednesday, when the Blue Jays play host to the Phillies. LIND GETTING CLOSE Adam Lind, rehabbing a sore back, went 3-5 with two doubles and two runs scored for Single-A Dunedin on Monday. Lind, who went on the disabled list on April 16, could be back as soon as Wednesday nights game against the Phillies in Toronto. JANSSEN TOSSES SCORELESS FRAME Casey Janssen pitched a scoreless inning, allowing two hits, in Double-A New Hampshires Monday night game against Binghamton. It marked Janssens first appearance in his second attempt at a rehabilitation assignment coming off a strained left oblique. Janssens return isnt imminent. Hell pitch in back to back games later this week and the plan, at the moment, is for Janssen to take as much time as he needs. Remember, not only has Janssen been mostly down since suffering the oblique injury at the end of March, stiffness in the back of his shoulder limited Janssen to just three spring training appearances. He hasnt thrown much and is still in the process of regaining strength in his pitching arm. ' ' '