Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn. Lamar Miller Dolphins Jersey .ca. Dear Kerry, On Thursday night in the Chicago/Detroit game, linesman Steve Barton was forced to leave the game due to an injury. I´ve got two questions regarding this situation: 1. Are there any common rules how referees and linesmen split their responsibilities after such a situation happened?2. How many referees (linesmen) is "enough" to finish the game? Is it possible to finish the game with only one referee (linesman) left? (e.g. hypothetically three referees are forced to leave the game) Looking forward to your answers. With best wishes from Slovakia,Peter Bartisek Hi Peter: Cmon Ref is pleased to receive your question from the beautiful country of Slovakia and with the International Games of the Winter Olympics soon to begin. Thank you for your concern for linesman Steve Barton when he was forced to leave the game in Chicago with an injury. Barts is an outstanding linesman and truly one of the great guys on staff. It appears he may have sustained a slight concussion from a hit to the head sustained on Monday night in Phoenix. We wish Steve a full and speedy recovery. Rule 32.6 provides general provisions when a linesman is unable to continue; "Should a Linesman appointed be unable to act at the last minute or through sickness or accident be unable to finish the game, the Referees shall have the power to appoint another in his stead, if they deem it necessary, or if required to do so by the Manager or Coach of either of the competing teams. If no replacement Linesman is available, the two Referees will assist the remaining Linesman with his duties while still retaining their ability to assess penalties when deemed appropriate." In the practical application the two Referees assist the remaining linesman with his duties. The Linesman conducts all end zone face-offs and the lead referee (backing up in advance of the play) picks up the first offside call at the lead blue line and also will make the call on the new hybrid icing rule either by waving the play good or blowing his whistle when he determines icing has been committed. The "Junior" referee conducts neutral zone face-offs. He would most likely assist the Linesman in breaking up fights as well; although it might be agreed upon that the larger of the two referees would perform this physical duty! In the event that three officials were forced to leave the game or were perhaps unable to arrive at the rink due to weather or unforeseen circumstance the authority to appoint replacements is spelled out in rule 31.11. "If, owing to illness or accident, one of the Referees is unable to continue to officiate, the remaining Referee shall perform the duties of the ill or injured Referee during the balance of the game. In the event that a member of the Leagues Hockey Operations or Officiating departments is in attendance at a game where a spare official is present, he shall have the authority to substitute the injured Referee with a spare. If through misadventure or sickness, he Referees and Linesmen appointed are prevented from appearing, the League will make every attempt to find suitable replacement officials, otherwise, the Managers or Coaches of the two Clubs shall agree on Referee(s) and Linesman(men). If they are unable to agree, they shall appoint a player from each side who shall act as Referee and Linesman; the player of the home Club acting as Referee and the player of the visiting Club as linesman." Members of the off-ice crew are typically high level amateur or minor professional hockey officials and could be appointed to act as substitute referees and linesmen if necessary. We have seen situations where this has happened in the past. Peter in Slovakia and all the rest of your fans wish you a speedy recovery Barts. Philip Wheeler Womens Jersey . The 38-year-old became an unrestricted free agent in July after spending a little over a year with the Calgary Flames. Billy Turner Jersey . The 37-year-old Welshman takes over after spending the last two seasons as an assistant with the Major League Soccer club.The Chicago Blackhawks werent ready to give up on their dreams of winning consecutive Stanley Cup titles the last time out. The defending champions hope to stay alive for a second straight time tonight when they visit the Los Angeles Kings for Game 6 of the Western Conference Final. The Blackhawks are attempting to return to the Cup Finals after falling behind three games to one in this postseason battle against Los Angeles. The Kings, who lost in five games to Chicago in last springs conference finals, couldnt close out the Hawks in their first attempt on Wednesday, dropping a 5-4 double-overtime decision in the Windy City. Chicago, which is trying to become the first team to win consecutive titles since Detroit in 1997 and 98, improved to 8-1 as the host in these playoffs with the Game 5 triumph, but it will have to win its first road game of the series to keep on playing. The Kings won Game 3 at the Staples Center by a 4-3 score and pushed their series lead to 3-1 with a 5-2 decision Monday night in the City of Angels. All told, Los Angeles is 5-3 as the host this postseason and is 19-7 in home playoff games since the start of the 2012 playoffs, when the Kings won their only Stanley Cup title. If the Blackhawks win Friday the clubs will meet Sunday evening in Chicago for a decisive Game 7. Michal Handzus, a former L.A. King, provided the OT heroics for Chicago on Wednesday, scoring at 2:04 of the second overtime to send the series back to the Staples Center. Brandon Saad held the puck along the right wing below the circles and dished ahead to Handzus, who controlled the disc for a second before lifting a backhander under the crossbar to end the contest. "Two guys went on him and I got open,"Handzus said of his linemate Saad. "I was surprised I got open like that but he waited and waited and gave me a great pass." For Handzus, it was his first career postseason overtime score, and just his second playoff game-winner after recording the only goal in a 1-0 Flyers victory against Ottawa in the 2003 second round. Saad ended up with a goal and two assists for the Blackhawks, who wasted a pair of early two-goal leads and fell behind by a goal before rallying to extend the series. "We dont want the season to end now. Were having too much fun playing," Saad admitted. Brent Seabrook, Johnny Oduya and Ben Smith also scored, while Patrick Kane notched a career playoff-high four helpers for Chicago. Kane became the first Blackhawk to assist on four goals in one playoff game since Steve Larmer did so on April 30, 1990 in a Norris Division final-clinching 8-2 rout of the St. Louis Blues . Kane hasnt scored a goal since getting the OT winner and series clincher in Game 6 of Chicagos second-round series against Minnesota, but the reigning Conn Smythe winner has posted five assists over the last two games.. Custom Dolphins Jersey. Corey Crawford looked shaky at times, but emerged with the win thanks to 40 saves. On Thursdays off day, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews talked about keeping the pressure on Los Angeles from the start of tonights battle. "Were going to work on getting our first win on the road against this team," said Toews. "We want to stay with the mentality, that were putting all the pressure on them. Its going to be tough for them to close it out and win that fourth game against us. We showed how resilient of a group we are last night. Were going to do it again." Dustin Brown, Marian Gaborik, Jarret Stoll and Tanner Pearson lit the lamp for L.A. Pearsons tally extended his point streak to six games, matching the Kings postseason record for a rookie along with Warren Rychel (1993) and Daryl Evans (1982). L.A. has the comfort of home ice on Friday to try and reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in the last three seasons, but the club knows the fourth win of a series can be extremely hard to come by. "If anyone thinks that its easy ... its not easy," Kings forward Justin Williams said of closing out an opponent in the third round. "Attaining your ultimate goal is never easy and were going to do our best to get it done." Jonathan Quick took the loss despite stopping 40 pucks. Kane had a hand in all three Blackhawk scores in the opening 20 minutes on Wednesday before notching the secondary assist on Handzus winner. However, after going up by scores of 2-0 and 3-1 in the opening period, the Blackhawks found themselves down 4-3 heading into the final stanza of regulation, but Smith scored early in the third to even things. Saad fired a low shot from the left wing that was kicked aside by Quick, but Smith beat his checker and potted the rebound for a 4-4 game just 77 seconds into the third period. The Blackhawks had a prime chance to win in regulation when Stoll committed a tripping infraction with 3:11 on the clock. Quick made two acrobatic stops, one from Kane and the rebound on Bryan Bickell early in the advantage and added two more before its completion. Acting on adrenaline and instinct, the first overtime featured a dozen quality chances split between the clubs. Los Angeles claimed a 10-8 shot edge in a briskly-paced fourth period. "Overtime, Ive seen a lot of games, been involved in a lot of those," said Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville. "That might have been the greatest overtime Ive seen." The Blackhawks have come back from down 3-1 to win a series only once in their history, but it was last spring against Detroit, which won three of the first four games against Chicago in the Western Conference semifinals before losing the final three tilts. The Blackhawks also needed to win Game 7 in overtime to down the Red Wings. ' ' '
