Stanson Town » Olympics, where the Americans 99-94 win

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, At 8:54 in the third period of Thursdays game between Pittsburgh and Detroit, James Neal was assessed an interference penalty on Luke Glendening for moving his stick towards the board after Glendening had lost it earlier. Glendening was not trying to retrieve it and Neals actions did not interfere with the play. According to rule 53.2 it would appear that the interference call is not justified. Is there something I am missing? Mathieu BenoitSaint John, NB Mathieu: Your question was selected from one of ten pertaining to the interference penalty called against James Neal for shooting Luke Glendenings stick to the side boards with the Penguins on the power play. A very tricky rule application was created after Glendening lost his stick at the top of the Wings end zone face-off circle following an attempted poke-check on James Neal. Glendening lost his one handed grip through the check motion which caused the stick to travel 15 feet to the bottom of the circle close to the goal line where teammate Kyle Quincey was positioned. Quincey then shot/slid Glendenings stick to a carefully placed location out into the high slot near where Glendening was attempting to defend without his stick. Herein lies the first potential rule violation on this play! Rule 10.3 states that a player who has lost or broken his stick may only receive a stick at his own players bench or be handed one from a teammate on the ice. A player will be penalized if he throws, tosses, slides or shoots a stick to a teammate on the ice. Fortunately for the Red Wings, Luke Glendening was fronting Matt Niskanen who had the puck near the point. As such, Glendening was unable to pick up the attempted helper from Quincey. If Luke Glendening had picked up his stick at that moment, Kyle Quincey should receive a minor penalty placing the Wings two men short for a minute and forty seconds! James Neal, from the high slot position just behind Glendening, felt his skate contact the stick that had been illegally passed by Quincey. I am quite certain that James Neal was unaware of the potential penalty to Quincey if Luke Glendening had picked up the twig. Instead, Neal jockeyed around Glendening with a cute series of deliberate skate drag maneuvers that moved the stick safely out of the reach of the Red Wing defender and effectively nullified the potential penalty to Quincey. Even though Glendening moved away from the immediate area of the stick to defend the opposite side point, it was incumbent upon James Neal to simply step away from the stick and leave it in the position it now rested. Once Neal shot Luke Glendenings stick 30 plus feet to the sidewall he violated rule 56.2 by effectively preventing Glendening from regaining possession of it. The inability Neal created for Glendening to retrieve his stick was further compounded by the fact that the Red Wings were already a man down by virtue of the penalty being served by Brendan Smith. The eventual outcome of this play highlights the need for players to clearly understand the rules. Just 20 seconds into a Penguins power play once Luke Glendening lost his hockey stick, things quickly transitioned from a potential penalty to Kyle Quincey that would have placed the Wings two men short; to additional freedom of end zone puck movement the Penguins enjoyed once Glendening lost his stick; to the creation of a four-on-four when James Neal was penalized for interference. I offer the following advice to players: If you encounter a stick lying on the ice that isnt broken, think twice before relocating it. It the stick is clearly broken, make sure any action taken to remove or discard the broken portion doesnt interfere with the movements of the puck or an opposing player! Custom Houston Astros Jerseys . But qualifying for her first Scotties Tournament of Hearts after years of falling short in tough Manitoba provincial championships is as good as consolation prizes get for the 29-year-old from Winnipegs Fort Rouge Curling Club. Yordan Alvarez Astros Jersey . The former Toronto FC designated player played three of his 15 professional seasons with the team. https://www.cheapastros.com/143o-jose-cruz-jr-jersey-astros.html . Then Klay Thompson put his foot on the gas. Thompson scored 19 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and Harrison Barnes scored 14 points in his season debut to help the Golden State Warriors to a 106-93 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. Houston Astros Gear . The team reported the signing on its website Thursday, but said Friday the deal was off in "a mutual parting of the ways that had to do with the language of the contract. Luis Gonzalez Jersey . He had spent 16 days on the disabled list before being activated Thursday. He was batting just .203 when he came to bat in the 11th inning on Sunday. BARCELONA, Spain -- Madrid awaits. Spain doesnt. The gold-medal matchup seemingly everyone wanted in the Basketball World Cup -- maybe even some U.S. players -- wont be happening. The Spanish were upset in the quarterfinals, ending the predicted No. 1 vs. No. 2 game Sunday on Spains home court. "I think thats one of the reasons why we came over here, was to play them," U.S. guard Derrick Rose said. "Too bad were not playing them and hopefully we go out there in our next game and play hard and just know that were there for a reason." The Americans held up their end, moving within a victory of repeating as world champions for the first time with a 96-68 victory over Lithuania on Thursday night. James Harden scored all of his 16 points in the lopsided third quarter of a near carbon copy of the Americans quarterfinal victory over Slovenia, when he awoke from a scoreless first half to help turn a close game into a blowout. The Americans will face France or Serbia, believing either could provide the test that was expected from Spain. "Obviously theyre playing there for a reason," Harden said. "Were not going to take anyone lightly, which we havent thus far." They will arrive as even heavier favourites after Spains stunning loss to France on Wednesday. With their veteran experience and near misses against the U.S. in the last two Olympic gold-medal games, the Spanish were considered the team with the best chance -- perhaps the only one -- to beat the Americans. Harden was told that forward Kenneth Faried said hed wanted to play Spain. "Kenneths crazy," Harden said. Some U.S. players watched the game Wednesday, while others learned the result afterward. Talk of a U.S.-Spain final had lasted as long as the tournament, and though the Americans tried to ignore it, guard Stephen Curry acknowledgged that was impossible.dddddddddddd "I dont think were disappointed, or wished we played a certain team," Curry said. "Were happy to take care of our business." Their opponent will have to show it can hang with the Americans for more than a half, which nobody in Barcelona did. This one was an eight-point game at the break before the U.S. made 14 of 19 shots in the third quarter and outscored Lithuania 33-14. Kyrie Irving had 18 points and Klay Thompson added 16 for the Americans in a rematch of the 2010 world basketball championship semifinals, also played on Sept. 11, the date of the terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001. Kevin Durant scored a U.S.-record 38 points in that one, an 89-74 victory. That was a rare comfortable margin in this series where close games have been the norm. That includes the 2012 Olympics, where the Americans 99-94 win was their tightest in London. The physical play nearly turned ugly when DeMarcus Cousins reacted angrily after appearing to be elbowed in the neck by centre Jonas Valanciunas of the Toronto Raptors while battling for a rebound. He wound up as if he were going to punch Valanciunas in the back of the head, drawing a technical foul. The Americans then threw the knockout blow, coming out of the locker room with an 18-2 run -- emphasis on run, because they turned this semifinal game into a fast-break drill. That got Harden going. He had the first basket and a 3-pointer to cap a 10-0 start that made it 53-35 in less than 2 minutes. Anthony Davis slammed down a lob from Irving to make it 61-37. "Maybe we let them go," Valanciunas said. "They were really good in the third quarter." Valanciunas and Mindaugas Kuzminskas each scored 15 points for Lithuania, which will play Saturday for a chance at its second straight world bronze. ' ' '