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 love the column, keep up the good work! It doesnt make me more sympathetic to bad calls by the refs, but it sure explains a lot! On Tuesday, Zach Bogosian and Lars Eller just went off to the Sin Bin together - Bogosian for interference and Eller for embellishment. How come the refs always call two penalties? I see it a lot - hooking and diving, tripping and diving. If someone dives, how can the other player be penalized too? Just doesnt add up to me. Keep up the good work! David ReimerGo Jets Go! --- Can you please clarify? These are two that I witnessed, but Im sure there are other folks around the league wondering the same. 1) Semin gets clotheslined by Ovechkin. Ovie gets a penalty but Semin gets the embellishment.2) PHX-CAR on Sunday afternoon. Pivotal time of game. Ruutu gets tripped. Power play gets nullified by embellishment call. From a fans perspective, this is how it should be played out: If there is a penalty, it should matter not how a guy reacts to the penalty. If there is no penalty called and someone embellishes to try to draw one, call embellishment. Just dont call both. 99% of the time, no one would be flopping around if they didnt feel victimized. Perhaps if there were a few embellishment penalties called when there is no other penalty, embellishment would work its way out of the game. Either there is a penalty or a faked one. Make a choice and go with it. I just hate it when someone is victimized and the refs feel like the player didnt react gracefully enough and it wipes out the PP chance. These, as Ive seen, can be game-changing events and shouldnt happen. Thanks in advance for your thoughts. Your column rocks! - Fraser Van Asch David and Fraser: (My nephew, David Fraser lives in Sarnia, Ontario!) I can understand fan confusion, even to the point of frustration when a legitimate infraction worthy of a power play is nullified with a subsequent embellishment penalty. While Davids point seems logical (if there is a penalty it should matter not how a guy reacts) individual player integrity and ultimately that of the game must be upheld. As a Referee I view embellishment as an outward act of "cheating" and I always found it personally offensive whenever a player tried to fool me or bring the wrath of hometown fans against me and my colleagues. I always maintained a mental list of players whose uniforms were often wetter on the outside from splashing around than on the inside from perspiration. It was a list a player had to skate his way off through honest play. There wasnt a penalty for embellishment in those days so it was important for the Ref to have his radar up when a known offender hit the ice. Dino Ciccarelli flopped on me four times in the same corner of Joe Louis Arena in a span of 15 seconds one game. He looked like a pin-ball bouncing up as quickly as he went down. Needless to say he didnt draw a penalty in spite of his efforts or through the deafening roar from the partisan Red Wing fans! Oh, how I wish we had a diving penalty back then! The cheat-to-win attitude has evolved to include an ever expanding list of embellishers. It really detracts from the integrity of the game and has become a negative component that needs to be eradicated. There are two ways to do that; the Refs must continue to enforce embellishment with a firm standard and assess a standalone penalty whenever the opportunity is presented. Second to that, offenders names need to be published when the Hockey Operation Department flags them under Rule 64.3 (Fines and Suspensions) whether a penalty was called on the ice or not. For those unaware of Rule 64.3: "Regardless if a minor penalty for diving/embellishment is called, Hockey Operations will review game videos and assess fines to players who dive or embellish a fall or a reaction, or who feign injury. The first such incident during the season will result in a warning letter being sent to the player. The second such incident will result in a one thousand dollar ($1,000) fine. For a third such incident in the season, the player shall be suspended for one game, pending a telephone conversation with the Director of Hockey Operations. For subsequent violations in the same season, the players suspension shall double (i.e. first suspension - one game, second suspension - two games, third suspension - four games, etc.)" This rule certainly has some teeth but we never know if or when it is being enforced. I watched each of the infractions that David and Fraser offered as examples in their question. - Zach Bogosian reached with a free-hand to restrain Lars Eller and the Montreal forward folded backward to the ice like a $3.00 suitcase. - David Schlemko put a hook on Tuomo Ruttus hands that resulted in a jump in the air with both skates. If the pond wasnt frozen there would have been a big splash upon Ruttus entry! - Alex Ovechkin really clocked Alexander Semin in the chin with high hands. The Canes would have a legitimate beef with this embellishment as Semin was trying to duck at the moment of impact and not draw a penalty. From the Refs angle he thought otherwise. The bottom line is that the Referees have their instructions and their radar is honed in on embellishment. Im good with that and hope that before too long players will fight to stay on their feet for fear of nullifying a power play opportunity. New rule suggestion: Make the embellishment a double minor penalty. Maybe then all players uniforms would be wetter on the inside from perspiration. After all, its supposed to be a mans game in the NHL. Jonas Jerebko Jersey . -- A lawyer for the fiancee of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez asked a judge Friday to throw out perjury charges, saying Shayanna Jenkins did not wilfully lie as she was bombarded with 1,630 questions over two days before a grand jury. Joe Ingles Jersey . -- C.J. Wilson parked his car and laughed while signing autographs for faceless fans who handed bats, balls and cards to the pitcher from the other side of a brick wall. http://www.cheapjazzjerseys.com/?tag=che...hornacek-jersey. In the days leading up to the draft, TSN.ca and TSN Radio basketball analyst Duane Watson looks at some of the names that will be headlining the event. Watch the 2014 NBA Draft on TSN, Thursday at 7pm et/4pm pt. John Stockton Jersey . Red Sox outfielder Jonny Gomes, the bandleader of the beard brigade during Bostons run to the 2013 World Series title, said he will be shaving his off before spring training so that he can file it "in the archive" with his memories of the teams improbable championship. Jae Crowder Jersey . "Im not doing enough to help them," Durant told The Oklahoman on Monday of his 28-9 team. "Im shooting too much. Im shooting too many threes. Im not helping them out at all.MINNEAPOLIS -- After three straight 100-loss seasons, the Houston Astros lineup is suddenly filled with sluggers who can change a game with one swing. Chris Carter and Jon Singleton hit their first career grand slams to power Houston to a 14-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday. Carters slam in the seventh inning sailed over the limestone overhang in right field and gave Houston a 9-3 lead. Singleton lined a fastball off Glen Perkins over the right-field wall that made it 14-5 in the ninth. Dexter Fowler and George Springer also homered for the Astros. Houston has now hit 69 homers this season, well on pace to surpass last seasons total of 148, third-worst in the American League. "It puts more strain on the opposing pitchers," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "They feel like, I cant make a mistake here, I cant make a mistake here. That can drain on a staff." The only other time two Astros players hit grand slams in the same game was July 30, 1969, at New York when Denis Menke and Jimmy Wynn both hit slams in an 11-run ninth inning against the Mets. Houston players are also sensing a different vibe now that the lineup is filled with more power. "Its been fun. We like playing off of each other," Singleton said. "Thats definitely a bonus. When one person does well, it carries over and its contagious." Darin Downs (1-0) got the last eight outs as the third reliever to follow starter Colin McHugh, who fanned six and allowed one run over 4 1/3 innings. He walked five and was removed after throwing 101 pitches. Trevor Plouffe and Josh Willingham hit RBI singles as Minnesota made it 5-3 in the fifth, but couldnt get any closer before Carter and Singleton powered the game away. Houston batted around in the fourth inning, scoring three runs after Samuel Deduno (2-4) loaded the bases with nobody out by walking two batters and hitting another. The Astros have won seven of eight on the road and 11 of their last 15 overall as they try to snap a three-year streak of losing 100 games. It was the third time in club history Minnesota allowed two grand slams in the same game. The last time it happened was April 22, 1988, in Cleveland. "They got us today," Perkins said. "I think they swing hard in case they hit it, and they hit them today.dddddddddddd Theyre not as bad as people think they are. Gotta give credit to them the way they swing the bat and pitch the ball pretty well." The Twins also officially signed free-agent designated hitter/first-baseman Kendrys Morales on Sunday to bolster their inconsistent offence. But if Minnesota -- now three games under .500 -- wants to remain in the playoff race, its going to need better starting pitching. Deduno walked four and hit two while allowing five runs in three innings on Sunday, raising his ERA to 4.45. As a group, Minnesotas starters are 19-25 with a 4.97 ERA. "Not a good day pitching today. Used a lot of innings out there," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We still have three games to go (before the next off day), so well get through it. Thats the way it is. They killed it at the end." McHugh struck out four batters in a row during one stretch and extended his scoreless innings streak to a career-high 16 2/3 before Eduardo Nunez homered in the fourth. Springer, named American League rookie of the month after hitting 10 home runs in May, led off the eighth by hitting his second homer in three games. "Its nice to have other guys in the lineup who do the same thing and have more protection where guys cant just pitch around me or pitch around another guy," said Carter, who led Houston with 29 homers last season. "Theres another guy behind him always. Its good for all of us." NOTES: To make room on the roster for Morales, Minnesota released Jason Kubel, who appeared in 798 games over parts of eight seasons with the Twins, but was hitting .224 this year and just .158 since April. ... The Astros recalled LHP Rudy Owens to pitch out of the bullpen and sent Paul Clemens back to Triple-A Oklahoma City for the sixth time this season. ... The Twins unveiled a new bronze statue on the Target Plaza before the game: team mascot T.C. Bear. ... Jonathan Villar singled three times for Houston. ... Ricky Nolasco (4-5, 5.65 ERA) starts for the Twins against Torontos R.A. Dickey (6-4, 4.25 ERA) on Monday. ... Houstons Jarred Cosart (4-5, 4.16 ERA) faces Josh Collmenter (4-2, 3.63 ERA) to kick off a two-game series in Arizona on Monday. 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