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Posté: Mer Mai 03, 2017 9:14 amTonight at 7:05pm et a referee will drop the puck to kick off the 2013-14 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The first round is always the toughest brand of hockey and the most difficult for the Officials to work effectively. Finishing on top of a division does not always guarantee advancement beyond the first playoff round as we have seen through several upsets in recent years. This years matchups will guarantee that some legitimate Cup contenders will be eliminated with a one and done series appearance. The margin for victory between all the teams is very slim and mistakes made by players and officials are magnified at this time of year. Simply put, mistakes can be the difference between a team and an official from going on in the playoffs or going home! Last night I joined James Duthie for a brief segment in the playoff preview show shot in Studio 9 at TSN where I will be monitoring games and officials calls on a nightly basis throughout the first round. James asked me what I will be looking for from the Officials the moment the playoffs begin. My response was for strict adherence to the letter of the law. The rules do not change during the playoffs and neither should the expected standard of enforcement! The referees have often been accused of putting their whistles away during the playoffs. Far too many times we have seen the score and time of a game factored into the refs judgment as to what constitutes an obvious penalty. I cited a game between the NY Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens from the final weekend of the regular season as an example of what we should hope from the referees throughout this postseason. In that game, referee Gord Dwyer awarded a penalty shot to Brian Gionta in overtime when the Habs captain was tripped from behind at the Rangers blue line by Raphael Diaz. Gionta was chasing a loose puck at the time he was fouled and therefore did not have possession and control of the puck. This aspect of the play could have offered the referee an out to take an easier path and simply assess a minor penalty for tripping. Instead, referee Dwyer made the correct judgment as stipulated in rule 24.8 (iii) that Brian Gionta would have obtained possession and control of the puck and was denied a reasonable chance to score. The game ended when Brian Gionta scored on the ensuing penalty shot awarded by the referee. Kudos to referee Dwyer for making this perceived tough call (video link). In reality the more difficult position a referee will place himself in is if he attempts to manage the game by letting an obvious infraction go uncalled. This often sets a chain of events in motion that is difficult for the ref to recover from. The subsequent infraction committed by the other team is usually worse than the previous one he let go. By applying a sense of fairness, the official feels helpless to call that next penalty and the standard becomes lost. The best deterrent for a player to avoid committing an infraction is the fear that he will be placing his team at a disadvantage by incurring a penalty. When that fear factor no longer exists as a result of the refs whistle being put away the game can deteriorate and the integrity of the outcome placed in jeopardy. Anarchy can result until an automatic penalty is called such as puck over the glass or too many men on the ice and a semblance of order is restored! This negative influence on a game can be avoided it the referees call the obvious infractions that are committed regardless of the score or time in a game. Whenever the officials make the tough but correct call they must receive the support of the Officiating Department heads. Management needs to demonstrate their courage by publicly backing the officials when they make the right call at a crucial time in the game. A season long subjective performance evaluation has been tabulated by the Officiating and Hockey Operations Department on each referee and linesman to determine selection to the playoffs. Congratulations and best of luck to the following officials that have been selected to the first round: Referees Francis Charron, Paul Devorski, Gord Dwyer, Eric Furlatt, Dave Jackson, Mark Joannette, Steve Kozari, Chris Lee, Wes McCauley, Brad Meier, Dean Morton, Dan OHalloran, Dan ORourke, Chris Rooney, Tim Peel, Kevin Pollock, Francois St.-Laurent, Justin St.Pierre, Kelly Sutherland, Brad Watson Linesmen Derek Amell, Steve Barton, David Brisebois, Lonnie Cameron, Scott Cherry, Michel Cormier, Greg Devorski, Scott Driscoll, Darren Gibbs, Shane Heyer, Brad Kovachik, Matt MacPherson, Steve Miller, Brian Murphy, Jonny Murray, Derek Nansen, Brian Pancich, Pierre Racicot, Jay Sharrers, Mark Shewchyk The hockey world will be watching closely as each of you display the courage and good judgment necessary to get the job done. Joe Haden Womens Jersey .com) - Brad Stuart has yet to play a regular-season game for the Colorado Avalanche, but that didnt deter the club from signing the veteran defenseman to a two-year contract extension on Monday. Authentic Jim Brown Browns Jersey . The win gives Canada its fifth title at the World Sledge Hockey Challenge. "Weve got to keep pushing," said Westlake, who led Canada with five goals in the tournament. "The second you let off the pedal, everyone catches up. http://www.brownsauthoritystore.com/Aut ... ns-Jersey/. Im very excited about the playoffs, particularly in the Western Conference with ..... match-ups, as well as the wonderful local story in the Toronto Raptors. It should be a blast. Here are my predictions, but based upon my lousy prognostications during the NCAA Tournament, you might be better off going the other way on some of mine - particularly with the Raptors, who I hope and pray are able to win an incredibly difficult match-up. Bernie Kosar Jersey . Jeter doubled high off the left-field wall and scored on Jacoby Ellsburys first hit in pinstripes in the fifth. Hiroki Kuroda (1-1) pitched 6 1-3 sharp innings in the Yankees 112th opener in New York. In what manager Joe Girardi said would be a season-long lovefest for Jeter, the shortstop was cheered every step of the way by an adoring crowd of 48, 142 -- even when his double-play grounder back to Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez (0-2) scored Solarte in the third inning for the first run. Authentic Bernie Kosar Browns Jersey . -- The Sacramento Kings have signed first-round pick Nik Stauskas to his rookie contract.SALT LAKE CITY -- Marvin Williams has been so .... the last three games that he didnt let an air ball bother him. With Utah leading by seven in the fourth quarter against the reigning NBA champs, the Jazz forward released a 22-foot jumper that wasnt close. The Jazz came right back to the unfazed Williams and his back-to-back 3-pointers sparked Utah to a 94-89 win over the Miami Heat. "I cant think of a bigger win than this one," said Williams, who scored 23 points. Trailing 87-79 after Williams shots, the Heat used a 10-4 run to draw within two points after Ray Allen made a 3 from the corner with 46 seconds to play. Rookie Trey Burke, who had 13 points, rose up and drained the clutch 19-foot jump shot to beat the shot clock and Gordon Haywards free throw clinched the win for the Jazz, who have beat the Heat at home three straight times. Burke has said he hit the classic rookie "wall" that often plagues first-year players after theyve played 35-40 games. Shooting just over 30 per cent the past three games, his teammates and coaches have encouraged him to keep shooting. "They come to me and tell me to play with confidence. Dont think about it. Just play freely. Thats what I did tonight," said Burke, who had a penchant for big shots as the AP Player of the Year at Michigan last season. Dwyane Wade had 19 points for the Heat, who missed their last four shots from the field to thwart their comeback bid. LeBron James was 4 of 13 from the field for 13 points, his lowest scoring total since he had 13 points in a 104-88 win over Atlanta on Nov. 19. "Theres nobody that can stop LeBron from scoring the basketball, but we tried to slow him down collectively as a team and I think we did pretty good," Williams said. Hayward nearly had his first triple-double with nine points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, while often guarding Wade and James. Richard Jefferson had 14 and Alec Burks had 12 points for the Jazz, who snapped their four-game losing streak in front of a frenzied crowd. James subbed in with 7:54 to play and his team trailing 77-70 and the Heat looked poised for a comeback as they also reached the penalty with 6:51 to play. But James missed his only two field goal attempts of the fourth quarter and was 2 of 4 from the line. The young Jazz, who entered the game with worst record in the Western Conference, relied on their two veterans down the stretch until Burkes big shot. Williams, who averages 9.9 points, has scored 67 points in his last three games and made 5 of 8 from beyond the arc in this one.dddddddddddd After his air ball, Williams made a pair of 3-pointers -- the last shot just beating the shot clock after Jefferson dove to the floor to gather a loose ball and flip it to Utahs .... hand. "He just found somebody open and I was able to get away from Chris Bosh. I just threw it up there and was able to beat the clock and it went in," Williams said. Once the Heat turned up the defensive pressure, the Jazz were often scrambling to get any shot they could muster late in the clock. When the ball ended up in the hands of Williams and Jefferson, who had seven in the final period, good things happened. "I cant say enough about their focus and desire to help this young group grow. And their play has been great, gives us a chance to be competitive every night," Utah coach Ty Corbin said of his veteran forwards. James has averaged 31.3 points and 7.8 assists per game in his last four on the road as the Heat have found their offence, shooting better than 50 per cent. "It was just one of those games where offensively we were out of rhythm and you try to win on the defensive end," said James, whose team dropped to 27-2 when holding opponents under 100 points this season. The four-time MVP also had scored 30 or more in six straight trips to Salt Lake City, averaging 33.5 points while hitting 57.7 per cent from the field, but didnt ever get things going in a contest that snapped the Heats three-game winning streak. "We didnt shoot the ball well like we are capable of doing," James said. "We had some great looks, including myself, some really open looks." Even after a couple nights off, the Heat started sluggishly and the Jazz ran around and through them for a 32-18 lead in the first quarter. The Jazz had 11 assists in the opening period and shot 62 per cent. James gave the Heat their final lead in the opening moments of the third quarter at 54-52, but Utah controlled the game the rest of the way. "It seemed we were always in the right place at the right time tonight," Hayward said. NOTES: The NBA assessed a $5,000 fine to Chalmers for a flop in the third quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. The league office previously warned Chalmers for a flop against Atlanta on Jan. 20. . James had 30 points and the Heat shot a franchise-best 63.4 per cent from the field when the Heat thrashed Utah 117-94 in Miami on Dec. 16. . James loudly expressed his displeasure after a foul call on Derrick Favours drive with 1:57 to play. 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