o-back no-hitters. Josh Beckett gets his shot at immortality on Friday night. [url=http://www

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. Four rivalry matchups will kick start the 2014-15 NHL regular season schedule tonight as all 30 teams firmly set their gaze on a Stanley Cup-winning season. In a league that has enjoyed considerable parity over the past number of seasons just securing a spot in the post-season will be a challenge for several teams. Points are hard to come by and shootout wins can sometimes be the difference between a team going on in mid-April or just simply going home! While the leagues competition committee has tinkered with the playing rules to make some minor changes - primarily in an effort to generate more offence a€“ heres my perspective on adjustment of the shootout process and increase the odds of determining a winner in the overtime period. Im thrilled with the elimination of the spin-o-rama move from the shootout process. The circus atmosphere reserved for the All-Star Games skills competition had no rightful place in determining the eventual winning team in the regular season. A clear unfair advantage was granted to the shooter over the goalkeeper. The move, which I first saw introduced by Bobby Orr and later perfected by Denis Savard at high speed, is without question a skilled move. The difference here, however, is that these gents performed the move in close quarters with the possibility of being checked by an opponent; none of which exists during a penalty shot or shootout. The longstanding rule whereby the puck must be kept in forward motion toward the goal line often appeared to be violated without consequence. To the naked eye, the puck stopped or even travelled in a backward direction through the spin move or the hard stop and go that some players utilized. Expanded video review capabilities under Rule 38 will allow a broader discretion to Hockey Operations to determine the legitimacy of all potential goals and can include forward motion of the puck toward the goal line during a penalty shot or shootout. The process should now provide more acceptable legal parameters for the shooter to operate under, pitted against the ability of the goalkeeper to defend. A change to Rule 84 just might determine the outcome of a tied game before even entering the shootout session. Teams will now switch ends prior to the start of overtime in the regular season following a dry scrape of the ice surface. Fresh ice will surely help to enhance the four-on-four level of play. More importantly, however, is the statistic that more goals are scored in the second period due to the longer change from the players bench. I see these as positive changes in determining a winner. To finish off todays feature, congratulations to veteran linesman Jean Morin for his return to action after missing all of last season due to a serious back injury and surgery. Jean is a top notch linesman and the game is certainly better with his return. Cmon Ref looks forward to answering your questions beginning Thursday. Let the games begin! Kolton Miller Jersey . Coming off a 6-0 drubbing at Chelsea on Saturday, Arsenal endured another demoralizing result after rallying for a 2-1 lead -- only to concede a fluke equalizer. Jordy Nelson Jersey . So heres what I do when I want to get into the baseball mood—I delve into "The Baseball Project". http://www.footballraidersmall.com/. Maricopa County spokeswoman Cari Gerchick says thats the finding from an autopsy conducted Thursday by the county Medical Examiners Office. Brandon Parker Raiders Jersey . Kerr said he had dinner with Jackson, his former coach with Chicago and the new Knicks team president, on Friday night and they talked again Saturday. Kerr is in New York to work the game between the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors for TNT. P.J. Hall Raiders Jersey . -- New York Yankees centre fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was sent for an MRI Thursday of his ailing right calf, which was negative.The Blue Jays have had an incredible month of May - no two ways about it. With two games still to play, they are 20-8 including a nine-game win streak that came to an end at the hands of the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night at the Rogers Centre in 10 innings. If they win the last two games in May against KC, they will close out the month at 22-8. A year ago only four teams had a singular month better than that, three in the American League and one in the National League. Three of the four made the post-season and the other, the Texas Rangers, made it to the knockout tie-breaker and lost out in Game 163. The Tampa Bay Rays were the best going 21-5 in June, while the Cleveland Indians were a scorching 21-6 in a pressure-packed September run. The Rangers were 20-7 in August. The Blue Jays best month in 2013 was June where they finished 17-9, including an 11-game win streak. but they quickly faded after that. The Dodgers actually put together the most incredible short-term run on the way to winning the NL West. On June 20, they were sitting 12 games below .500 and there was talk skipper Don Mattingly was on the verge of being fired. Then, almost coincidentally with the arrival of Yasiel Puig , they went 8-1 to close out June, followed by a League best 20-6 in July and 23-6 in August. That in total is a fabulous 51-13 run that led them to finish the campaign at 90-72. Im not saying one 20-win month guarantees you a playoff spot. Injuries can undermine all that momentum, but one huge month can provide a team with an incredible boost of confidence and provide a bit of a cushion for the inevitable cold spells as the season unwinds. Heres something else. I know the season is only one-third over, but I cant remember the last time the Blue Jays had contenders for four major awards. Edwin Encarnacion for MVP, Mark Buehrle for Cy Young, Melky Cabrera for Comeback Player of the Year and, possibly, Casey Janssen for Fireman of the Year ( 8-for-9 in save opportunities, so far) and, if Edwin werent my pick for MVP, Jose Bautista would be right there, too. A lot can change over the course of the final fourth months of the season, but you cant ignore all of the positives coming out of the Blue Jays camp after all those years wandering in the wilderness. - There has been plenty of talk about the Blue Jays trying to pry right hander Jeff Samardzija loose from the Chicago Cubs to shore up the rotation and possibly push the Blue Jays over the top. Well, Alex Anthopoulos made it pretty clear on Thursday, the Blue Jays wouldnt be making any trades until July at the earliest and could wait up until the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline. This wont really make any difference as far as possible dealings with the Cubbies go this season, but in their entire 37-plus years history, the Blue Jays have only made six trades with the Cubs. Only one really included a significant name player from a Blue Jays standpoint. On December 10, 2001, Gord Ash, eembarking on his final season as Jays GM, dealt shortstop Alex Gonzalez to the Cubs for lefty reliever Felix Heredia and a player to be named later, who turned out to be 3B/SS prospect Jim Deschaine who never made it to the Majors.ddddddddddddHeredia only spent one season with the Jays before leaving as a free agent. Alex spent two-plus years with Chicago and even went to the playoffs with them in 2003, the year of the " Bartman" catch down the left-field line, that helped the then Florida Marlins rally to win that NLCS in seven games and ultimately go on to beat the New York Yankees in the World Series. Some Blue Jays fans believe George Bell was dealt to the Cubs. Not so, as he left the Jays and signed with the Cubbies as a free agent on December 6, 1990. On March 30, 1992 Bell was swapped across town to the White Sox for reliever Ken Patterson and, yes, Sammy Sosa who would go on to become a tainted legend with the Cubs. That is to this day considered to be the worst trade in White Sox history. Outside of teams that have never won the World Series, the Cubs have the worst Fall Classic legacy. They are 2-8 all-time and, since winning their last World Series over the Detroit Tigers in 1908, they have won only one playoff series since when they edged the Atlanta Braves in a five-game NLDS in 2003. They dropped seven-straight World Series appearances between 1910 and 1945 and their all-time playoff win-loss record is 27-54. If thats not enough, they have the worst record in the Majors this season at 19-32 and are sitting in last place in the NL Central 11-and-a-half games back of the Milwaukee Brewers and the season isnt even two months old yet. - Friday night at Dodger Stadium, Josh Beckett will be the latest to try and equal a record that most feel can never possibly be broken. Beckett will have the chance to throw a second-straight no-hitter when the Dodgers host Francisco Liriano and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds made history within a four-day span in June of 1938. On June 11, the 23-year-old lefty, in his first full season in the Majors, pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Braves, then known as the Bees. It was the first no-hitter by a lefty since 1931. Four days later at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, Vander Meer was the Reds starting pitcher in the first night game ever in New York in front of a sellout crowd of 48,000. "Vandy" was outstanding again. He almost lost it in the ninth when he walked the bases loaded with one out, but he got a force out at the plate for the second out and then got Leo Durocher to fly out to end the game. Though he was a four-time All-Star and was one of a handful of pitchers to lead his league in strikeouts three years in a row, he finished with a 119-121 record and a 3.44 ERA with 29 career shutouts, He also has the ever-lasting fame that goes with back-to-back no-hitters. Josh Beckett gets his shot at immortality on Friday night. 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