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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 hope you saw that attempt by Joffrey Lupul to elbow Henrik Sedin in the head on Saturday, but missed and took out Nazem Kadri. I just wanted to find out if the NHL has a rule against attempts to injure players. Im sure a running elbow would be a concussion or something serious had Lupul hit his intended target. The refs are not doing enough to protect the players, this went uncalled! Thanks,Adrian Wong --- Hi Kerry, Been wondering about Joffrey Lupuls attempted elbow to the head of Henrik Sedin in the Canucks win over the Maple Leafs. Lupul clearly attempts to use his elbow to hit Sedin as he is flying by him. Sedin dodges it, and it takes a bad turn for the Leafs as he hits Kadri instead. With this, I have two questions: 1. Does Lupuls failure to hit Sedin clear him of everything, or does his obvious attempt to injure stay with him? 2. If it doesnt clear him, why is this hit not being looked at by the league, especially with Lupul having a previous suspension? Thanks,Ben Arends --- Hi Kerry,I was watching the Leafs-Canucks game and completely missed this occurrence. I couldnt believe that this attempt at Sedin was not even brought up by most news operations. Even though Lupul didnt connect, should this attempt to elbow Sedins head not be a suspension or at least be reviewed? To me, it clearly looks like Lupul was attempting to head Sedin in the head. Yes, he didnt connect, but the attempt to connect was there. I would be interested in your thoughts. Jay --- Hi Kerry, In the Toronto/Vancouver game Saturday, Lupul extends his elbow with the intent of hitting Henrik Sedin. Henrik luckily ducks out of the way and Lupul ends up elbowing Kadri instead. Yes, it was a very amusing outcome (perhaps not for Kadri), but this makes me question why the NHL does not use rule 21.1 (Match Penalty) to punish these types of plays when it is clear that Lupuls intent was to strike Henrik Sedin in the head and only because Hank saw it coming, was it avoided. Seems to me like the NHL waits for a significant injury instead of ever punishing the intent. Can you explain this to me? Can you explain why we have a rule that allows refs to punish intent, but it never gets used? Thanks,Steve Platt Adrian, Ben, Jay and Steve: We have another full mail bag today on a potentially very dangerous play. This time we examine Joffrey Lupuls deliberate flying elbow intended for Henrik Sedins head. The forceful elbow narrowly missed the mark but instead caught Lupuls teammate Nazem Kadri flush in the kisser. No call was made on the ice. First, let me offer my perspective concerning the lack of a penalty being assessed on the play (video link). In most cases there needs to be some form of contact for the Referee to assess a penalty. I can therefore understand why one wasnt forthcoming on this play. Elbowing, kneeing and most other fouls come to mind where a narrow miss becomes a non-event and therefore not worthy of a penalty. Slashing on the other hand is the act of a player swinging his stick at an opponent, whether contact is made or not. Other exceptions to this standard of contact are when a player attempts to butt-end or spear his opponent. In these cases a double minor is assessed when no contact is made and a major plus game misconduct results from contact. In the previous two fouls a match penalty is assessed when injury results. The reason for these applications is the inherent danger to a players safety when struck with a stick. We also now recognize the potential for serious injury when an elbow cap is forcefully delivered to the head of an opponent. A number of suspensions have resulted from these types of illegal hits. In all cases the parameters and criteria change when an infraction is deemed to be an attempt to injure an opponent. In this particular situation, even with the absence of contact but given the deliberation and severity of the attempt Joffrey Lupul made to elbow Henrik Sedin in the head a different standard must apply. I want to specifically reference rule 45.4 which I believe should have been applied by the Officials at ice level; "The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match penalty if, in his judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately injured his opponent by elbowing." The decision Joffrey Lupul made to leave his feet and fully extend his elbow at his opponents head was beyond just tremendously irresponsible but one he should know would result in some degree of injury to Sedin. Just because Sedin veered from his original path behind the goal and cut hard toward the front of the net does not excuse Lupuls subsequent actions with some separation as an attempt to simply make a check. The evidence here clearly demonstrates that Henrik Sedin narrowly avoided the intended contact to his head by looking down at the puck in his skates and thereby altering his head position. Lupul did not let up after missing Sedin and accidentally planted the elbow in the face of Nazem Kadri. Striking Henrik Sedin would have been no accident! I look at this play similarly to a player swinging a stick at the head of his opponent from close range but where no contact was made. Without question I would assess a match penalty for "attempt to injure." I would hope every Referee would do the same. I recall giving Chris Knuckles Nilan a match penalty after assuming his position in the penalty box following a fight, then grabbing a puck out of the bucket and throwing it at his opponent seated in the visitors penalty box. The puck missed Knucks intended target but it was still an attempt to injure! The Player Safety Committee on the other hand has a more challenging task to suspend a player where no contact or adverse result occurred given the standard they have set to this point in their deliberations. I can only imagine the fallout from a team and the NHLPA if a player was suspended without physical evidence of contact—the smoking gun. The primary objectives of supplemental discipline are to hold players accountable for poor and dangerous decisions in an effort to provide player safety and ultimately prevent future injuries. While proving "intent" can be a very difficult task, the overwhelming evidence on this play can only lead a reasonable thinking person to conclude that Joffrey Lupul fully intended on elbowing Henrik Sedin in the head. There have been many times that the Player Safety Committee has suspended a player where no injury resulted. I cant think of one situation where a player was suspended where contact with his opponent did not actually occur. The reality is that this play was likely judged in the same consistent fashion given the absence of physical contact. Any lack of supplemental discipline in cases such as this not only sends the wrong message but misses the intended target completely; namely to provide a future deterrent to a player committing an illegal and dangerous act where injury is likely to result. Custom Washington Redskins Jerseys . So it was understandable if he was a little shaky early in his return to the Texas Rangers rotation. 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The Brazilian international goalkeeper was beaten twice in the first 12 minutes of his Reds debut in a 3-1 preseason loss to Columbus Crew in Florida earlier this week. LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Brandt Snedeker was making so many birdies that even an 18-foot putt looked like a mere tap-in. When he finished his amazing run Thursday in the BMW Championship, he had seven straight birdies on his card and an 8-under 63 at blustery Conway Farms. "You get on runs like that, you get excited for the next hole because you know something good is going to happen, because youre in such a good frame of mind and everything is going in the right direction," Snedeker said. In this case, everything was going in -- a 15-foot putt from the fringe on the 13th, another 15-footer on the next hole when he used the blade of his sand wedge to bump the ball out of the short rough, and a 40-footer from the fringe on the 17th stood out to him. That gave him a one-shot lead over Zach Johnson in the third FedEx Cup playoff event. Tiger Woods sounded disgusted with his round of 66, mainly because he had a pair of three-putt bogeys and missed a 4-foot birdie putt over his last five holes. "Im not exactly real happy," Woods said. "I played well, and I just didnt get much out of that round. I missed three little short ones in there and then played the par 5s even par. Thats just not very good." Steve Stricker, Charl Schwartzel and Kevin Streelman also were at 66. The opening round was mainly about the debut of Conway Farms, a Tom Fazio design north of Chicago which has a blend of strong holes and plenty of birdie opportunities on par 4s where players hit wedge for their second shot. Low scoring was predicted, and Snedekers round was proof of that. But as the wind picked up and shifted directions, the course was far from a pushover. Rickie Fowler opened with a pair of double bogeys, followed by a pair of bogeys. He rallied for a 77. Rory McIlroy made a double bogey -- his ninth of the FedEx Cup playoffs -- on his second hole, and then three-putted from 4 feet for a triple bogey and staggered to a 78. Lee Westwood, fighting severe pain in his back and ribs, had an 80. "Theres a good mixture of really hard holes and really good birdie opportunities. I think that makes for exciting golf," Phil Mickelson said after opening with a 70. "Thats why we have such a discrepancy in scores." The top 30 players in the FedEx Cup after the BMW Championship advance to the Tour Chhampionship next week and a shot at the $10 million prize.dddddddddddd Westwood is at No. 30 and likely played himself out of a trip to East Lake, though he didnt appear to be healthy enough to play. McIlroy is at No. 41 and all but took himself out of the Tour Championship. He needs to finish somewhere around seventh in the 70-man field. His 78 put him in a tie for 66th. "Its going to be a very uphill task," McIlroy said. "Ill try to get to even par as quickly as I can." That still might not be enough the way Snedeker is playing. Snedeker is at No. 9 in the FedEx Cup and assured of being the first defending FedEx Cup champion to make it to the Tour Championship. He is trying to move into the top five, for those players have a clear shot at the $10 million bonus -- all they have to do is win at East Lake no matter what anyone else does. He wouldnt have imagined this kind of round at the start of the day. He didnt warm up well and didnt feel good with the putter. Snedeker missed the 10th fairway to start his round and had to make an 18-footer for par. He missed the 11th green and had to scramble for par. He missed a good look at birdie from the 12 feet on the next hole. The next hour was a blur. "When I get going good, I realize it doesnt happen all the time, so I instantly become more aggressive," he said. "I think being a good putter helps, too, because I dont really have to hit it three feet eight times in a row. Just got to hit the green sometimes and its going to happen. I realize these runs are few and far between, so when I get on one, I try to run as hard as I can for as long as I can." The blustery conditions kept scoring from getting out of hand, and the average score was at 71.3. No one had less experience on the course than Mickelson, who had some personal issues earlier in the week that kept him from playing the pro-am. He didnt arrive in Chicago until Wednesday night and had never seen the course until he stood on the first tee Thursday. Mickelson did not want to talk about what kept him away. When asked if it was a family matter, he said, "Everything is fine. Im here now, Im ready to play. But I just needed to be a little cautious this first round before I attack it tomorrow." Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., shot 70, while David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., fired a 72. 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