Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn. Drew Stanton Jersey .ca. Hello Kerry, In Tuesdays Stars/Maple Leafs game, Dallas is trying to come back. With 13:07 left, Jason Spezza, having obvious difficulties entering the offensive zone, actually puts himself offside! He skates into the zone while the puck is still out then brings the puck in. Not sure how the linemen missed this but adding injury to insult, a penalty is called on Stephane Robidas. My question is this: if the call for offside was made late and just as the ref calls the penalty, could the ref have changed his ruling and cancelled his call on Robidas? Thanks for all the great columns! Claude Gauthier Claude: The Linesman made the correct call when Jason Spezza legally carried the puck across the Toronto blue line even though Spezzas skates crossed the inside edge of the line well ahead of the puck. Rule 83.1 states: A player is on-side when either of his skates are in contact with, or on his own side of the line, at the instant the puck completely crosses the leading edge of the blue line regardless of the position of his stick. However, a player actually controlling the puck who shall cross the line ahead of the puck shall not be considered off-side, provided he had possession and control of the puck prior to his skates crossing the blue line. Spezza pulled the puck back with a stickhandle move that caused his skates to clearly enter the zone ahead of the puck. The key to this being deemed on-side is the fact that Spezza maintained complete possession and control of the puck through as he entered the attacking zone. Even if the puck was not in direct contact with Spezzas stick at the instant the puck crossed the leading edge, a normal stick-handle maneuver is considered possession and control. Further to this, if Spezza had somehow mishandled the puck through the stickhandle maneuver, which caused the puck to leave the attacking players immediate vicinity it would be deemed off-side once Spezza reacquired control of the puck and brought it across the line. This would also be true if the puck inadvertently jumped off the attackers stick (bad ice?) resulting in a loss of possession and control of the puck. Now that I have established that Spezza was on-side at the blue line, let me expand on your hypothetical question and bring it to reality. The very situation you described actually occurred in a game I worked in the Staples Center in Los Angeles. I described the play in this column previously but it bears repeating, especially since we recently saw a player placed in the penalty box for a minor penalty and was subsequently released after the two referees had a consultation (penalty cancelled). This took place a couple of games after a phantom penalty was called on Luke Glendening by the ref in the neutral zone when Caps goalie Braden Holtby tripped on his own when backing up to return to his crease. In my answer to that question I responded that the other referee and/or linesmen should have seen the play clearly and advised the neutral zone ref he was mistaken and no penalty should result. This is what took place in the game when I cancelled a penalty after I had raised my arm and stopped play. An LA Kings player was carrying the puck across the attacking blue line in the middle of the ice with a winger on his right side skating tight to the boards in front of the visiting players bench. The Kings right winger passed in very close proximity to the Linesman standing on the blue line. I followed 15 feet behind the play and on the opposite side of the ice to where the Linesman was positioned. As the puck was carried across the blue line my gut reaction was that the winger had jumped just ahead of the puck creating an off-side situation. I glanced at the linesman and he did not react as play was allowed to continue. The puck carrier continued straight into the attacking zone a good 10 to 15 feet beyond the blue line (high slot) when he was hooked off the puck. I raised my arm to call the obvious infraction. The puck was turned over quickly following the hook and as I killed the play the linesman blew his whistle simultaneously with mine. I approached the lineman and he advised me that the play was off-side at the blue line and he was slow to react and missed his mouth with the whistle on his initial attempt to stop play! Over 18,000 fans in Staples Center, both teams and the television viewing audience saw me raise my arm to call a penalty that never should have occurred if the linesman had blown his whistle once the off-side infraction took place. I made the quick decision to cancel the penalty call and eat crow if necessary. I advised Kings coach Terry Murray of my decision to withdraw the penalty and that his team would not be receiving the benefit of a power-play. Murray told me I couldnt cancel a penalty! In spite of the logic I presented it still didnt sit well with the Kings coach so I drew him a visual from the NFL to support my decision. I said, Terry, have you ever seen an NFL ref throw a flag for a penalty and then cancel the initial call by announcing it was an inadvertent flag? Terry nodded in agreement. I quickly followed up by saying, Tonight, for the first time in the NHL you have seen an inadvertent arm by the referee and there is no penalty on the play! That settled the debate. I clicked on the microphone at the penalty bench and announced, The play was off-side at the blue line. There is no penalty on the play. I instructed the linesman to drop the puck quickly outside the blue line as the partisan crowd booed my announcement. Justice was served. Chad Williams Jersey . -- League scoring leader Anthony Mantha had two goals and two assists to lead the Val-dOr Foreurs over the Blainville-Boisbriand Phoenix 6-3 on Wednesay in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play on Wednesday. D.J. Humphries Jersey . The Italian football federation announced the appointment, three days after new president Carlo Tavecchio was elected. Tavecchio and Conte spoke on the phone early Thursday. http://www.thecardinalsshoponline.com/Customized/ . "If we only consider this season," Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini said, "there is just one club in Manchester -- and its ours.BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. - Business is booming in Colorados mountain resorts, and the addition of recreational marijuana stores this year has attracted customers curious about legalized pot. But theres mounting anxiety that ski towns have embraced stoner culture a little too much, potentially damaging the states tourism brand.That worry flared up in two resort towns last week. In Breckenridge, residents voted overwhelmingly to force downtowns lone dispensary off Main Street to a less-visible location. And just up the road in Granby, town officials used a property annex to prevent a dispensary from opening.Its not a morality issue, or that we think marijuana is bad, said Breckenridge councilman Gary Gallagher, who supported legal marijuana but also voted to force the Breckenridge Cannabis Club out of downtown. Marijuana, it is not in this countrys DNA yet. Its a little bit too early.So far, theres no indication that legal pot has damaged tourism, Colorados No. 2 industry. The state notched a record $17.3 billion in tourism spending the year after legalization, with a record 64.6 million visitors, and state tourism officials say 2014 is poised to top last years record.But its an open question whether pot has anything to do with it. Officials cite the improving economy and the weather, with healthy snow totals historically being the most significant driver for mountain visits.The state and its marijuana industry are barred by law from advertising weed out of state, and the head of the Colorado Tourism Office says the state isnt tracking the role of marijuana in tourist behaviour.Its all anecdotal, Al White said. I have heard from some angry parents who said theyll never come back to Colorado because of marijuana. And Ive also heard from people who say they came to Colorado just to see the marijuana.At the end of the day, it may be having a modest effect, but its not huge either way.The recent friction isnt the first time officials have moved to lower marijuanas profile.The nations largesst ski operator, Vail Resorts, made headlines over the last year tearing down makeshift shelters built illicitly in hard-to-reach areas and used by stoners to get safe, mountain slang for toking up out of the cold and away from ski patrollers. Evan Boehm Jersey. . Resorts across the state are dotted with the so-called smoke shacks, and some of them are decades old.We will continue to communicate that consumption of marijuana is illegal in public and on federal land, Vail Resorts Russ Pecoraro said in a statement about destroying the shacks in its four areas, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Vail.Still, at rates greater than their urban neighbours, mountain communities backed marijuana legalization in 2012, including Breckenridge, an early and enthusiastic support base, and theres no doubt that recreational pot has had an effect on ski towns.A state-produced July report on the new marijuana industry concluded that 90 per cent of recreational sales in mountain resort communities go to out-of-state visitors.The influx of shoppers — and camera crews that have become frequent sights as they work on pot-themed news stories and documentaries — has prompted a lively debate among residents about how pot is changing their resorts.Whether youre pro-marijuana or against marijuana, you have to be concerned about how tourists react to seeing it, said Bob Gordman, a Breckenridge retiree who voted to move the dispensary.Others say the marijuana novelty will die down naturally and that resort towns shouldnt worry about dispensaries or the souvenir shops that put Rocky Mountain High puns on T-shirts.In five or 10 years, itll be no big issue, said Bill Kiser, a Breckenridge retiree who voted to keep the dispensary on Main Street.Why dont families get turned off when they go on vacation and see a bar and people drinking alcohol? Because theyre used to it, Kiser said. People will eventually get used to this, too.___Kristen Wyatt can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/APkristenwyatt Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '