and 11 rebounds in the Bulls 94-87 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

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, I was timekeeping a AAA minor midget game last week when the following happened. A player was skating down the wing and then wound up to take a huge slap shot. When he took the shot, the puck actually split into two pieces with both halves of the puck entering the net for a score. Should the goal be allowed or not? Has anything weird like that ever happened to you in the pros during your career? One ref at the game actually thought a goal should be allowed but after all three officials got together, there was a ruling of no goal with the faceoff inside the zone. Thought maybe a weird situation would put a bit of a change of pace to your column. Cheers,Edward Sherr Edward: As weird as it sounds, I do recall a hard shot ring off the goal post in an NHL game I worked that caused the puck to break in half. Neither chunk of vulcanized rubber entered the net but instead split off in different directions. One piece travelled toward the end zone corner while the other portion found its way into the slot. Players scrambled in both directions, instinctively chasing the black disc that was nearest their position. I recall the look of shock on each players face after recognizing only half a puck existed in two different locations on the ice. I blew my whistle to halted play for this unusual situation. A discussion then ensued as to who caused the stoppage of play with regard to the resulting face-off location. The defending team protested that the attacking team had caused the stoppage with a shot that broke the puck. They rationalized their position no differently than shooting or deflecting the puck over the boards. I settled on the claim that it wasnt "who" (which team) but "what" (a faulty puck) that caused the stoppage and the resulting face-off was taken in the end zone corner where half the puck had come to rest. The fact is, Edward, that the entire puck must completely cross the goal line to count as a legal goal. Half a puck just doesnt cut it. The officials in the AAA Midget game, therefore, made the correct call; including the resulting end zone face-off location. Amendment/Addition: You have correctly noted from Edwards question that both halves of the broken puck entered the net. While there is nothing presently in the NHL Officiating Case book or anything that I could find in the Canadian Hockey Case Book or playing rules on the subject, we need to look at rule 13 - Puck. The puck shall be made of vulcanized rubber, or other approved material, one inch (1") thick and three inches (3") in diameter and shall weigh between five and one-half ounces (5 1/2 oz.) and six ounces (6 oz.). All pucks used in competition must be approved by the League. A puck that has broken in half does not conform to this rule in specified size or weight, nor is it approved for legal play. No goal would result should a puck that was broken in half and therefore deemed unfit for play (illegal) enter the net. This would include the case where separated halves found their way into the net. During the season, I had the puck split in half. Inglasco (the official puck supplier to the NHL) was having some quality control issues. You might recall that routine shots were causing the protective glass behind the goal to break at an unprecedented rate. I was told that there was a component in the puck that was causing this to occur. While that problem was quickly rectified, it brought special attention to the puck and particularly the inconsistency with which it settled or bounced on the ice. A study, conducted by an NHL-hired consultant with a PHD specializing in the field of rubber, revealed the ideal temperature at which frozen vulcanized rubber provided the optimum density to slide across the ice and minimize the bounce effect. Following the study, game puck supplies were to be kept in a special temperature controlled freezer that were installed in every NHL arena. Pucks that previously were kept cool in a bucket of ice at the penalty timekeeper bench were secured in a mini-freezer by an off-ice crew member that was in charge of pucks. Memos were sent to the head of each Off-Ice Crew on the new puck handling policy and optimum temperature that must be maintained. Linesmen were instructed to change out the pucks on a frequent basis. I will tell you first hand that the density of the frozen puck was noticeable when on occasion I was struck by one. Even a glancing blow provided an extra sting not previously experienced! With all this hoopla of information being circulated over the ideal puck temperature, Jeff Weintraub, head of the NY Islanders Off-Ice Crew (and a dear friend of all the NHL Officials) decided to have a little fun with us. Prior to a game I worked in Nassau Coliseum, Jeff entered our dressing room with a very serious look on his face and asked me if I would check the temperature of the game puck. Confused, I asked how the heck he expected me to do that. From behind Jeffs back he exposed a NY Islander puck with a hole drilled in it. Inserted in the hole was a "rectal thermometer!" What a ball-buster Jeff was. The bouncing puck also led to snow buildup being scrapped from the goal crease and around the dasher boards during commercial time-outs. Very quickly through the scraping process guys in sweat suits were replaced by scantily clad "Ice Girls." Its truly amazing the progress I witnessed during my 30 years as an NHL referee. If were lucky, we might even see the results of a study that can stop players from hitting each other in the head? Cheap Adidas Sharks Jerseys . His team rose to the occasion Sunday with a 3-1 victory over Sweden in the bronze-medal game. "The sting from yesterday is not something we hid from or pretend didnt happen," Dineen said. Wholesale Sharks Jerseys . -- Kyrie Irvings last-minute 3-pointer helped seal another victory for Cleveland -- and the Cavaliers longest winning streak since LeBron James left. http://www.cheapsharksjerseys.com/ . The 23-year-old Woods, Tiger Woods niece, closed with a 4-under 69 at Royal Pines to finish at 16-under 276. Lee also shot 69 in the event sanctioned by the European and Australian tours. Woods birdied the par-5 15th to open a two-stroke lead, hitting a wedge from about 120 yards to 4 feet. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . At quarterback, all agree that Andy Dalton has been a wonderful surprise, but to truly progress he has to play his best in the playoffs. The two losses in the wildcard rounds keep the evaluation on Dalton open -- just like it did for Peyton Manning many years ago and Matt Ryan until last year. Cheap San Jose Sharks Jerseys . Coach Jorge Sampaoli resisted naming any major surprises in the list published Tuesday at the site of Chiles football association. Chile is pinning its hopes on the recovery of Vidal.CHICAGO -- Chicago Bulls fans chanted "MVP" when Joakim Noah made big plays. Noah doesnt like the attention. "Thats not whats important to me," Noah said. "Its just all about this team right now. Weve been through so much. Its not about individual accolades." Noah turned in another MVP-type performance on Saturday night, finishing with 23 points and 11 rebounds in the Bulls 94-87 victory over the Sacramento Kings. "First thing is his game is through the roof right now. His confidence is through the roof," teammate Taj Gibson said. But Noah would rather focus the attention on the team and how it withstood the Kings comeback. Gibson scored seven of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, Mike Dunleavy added 16 and DJ Augustin had 12 for the Bulls (37-29), who are fourth in the Eastern Conference and improved to 3-2 on their six-game homestand. "It was very physical out there tonight," said Noah, who added eight assists, five blocked shots and three steals to his 33rd double-double. "That was a good win. We didnt let frustration get to us. We stuck with it." Isaiah Thomas led the Kings with 26 and DeMarcus Cousins had 25 points and 14 rebounds. The Kings (23-43) won the rebounding battle 55-40, but committed 16 turnovers and were 23 of 37 at the free-throw line. "Thats a lot of points to be left on the court," Kings coach Michael Malone said. "The reality is were just not good enough to not take advantage of all of those free throws." Both teams struggled on offence, with the Bulls shooting 40 per cent and the Kings 37 per cent. "The fact that we allowed a team that does not score a lot in transition score 20 fast-break points, obviously that wasnt part of our game plan," Malone said. The Kings are 2-4 on their seven-game road trip. Cousins hit a layup with 1:01 left to cut the Bulls llead to 88-85.dddddddddddd Gibson responded with a jumper with 42.2 seconds left, and the Bulls made four of six free throws to seal the win. The Bulls led 48-43 at halftime before the Kings outscored them 20-16 in the third to pull within one. The Bulls have won four straight at home against the Kings, the only team below .500 to visit during the homestand. Noah had 17 points and five rebounds and Rudy Gay led the Kings with 10 points at halftime. Noah scored 12 points in the first quarter, which ended 23-23. "Noah is an incredible player. I say hes the heart and soul of that Bulls team," Cousins said. The game was more competitive than the teams previous meeting. The Kings routed the Bulls 99-70 at Sleep Train Arena on Feb. 3, when the Bulls finished with season lows in points and shooting percentage (28.2). "Thats a good team even though their record is not too well," Gibson said. "They tend to play well at times. It was a battle tonight." NOTES: Dunleavys right eye was black and blue and he wore tape above it. He received 10 stitches after he caught an elbow when he drew a charge Thursday in the Bulls 111-87 win over Houston. ... Evans started at power forward for the Kings to match up against the Bulls front line. Malone said the Kings will decide who plays the position based on each games matchup. Derrick Williams has played both forward positions. ... Malone was impressed with G Jimmer Fredette, who played 41 games with the Kings this season before he signed with the Bulls on March 2. "He was always in the gym, even on off days, committed to getting his work in," Malone said. "Even when he was not playing and part of the rotation, he never dropped his head, kept on working, kept on supporting his teammates. Thats why I think the Bulls at some point will be able to use him." ... The Kings are 10-24 on the road. 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