Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn. Deion Sanders Womens Jersey .ca. Hi Kerry, Thanks for your time, even if this doesnt make it to the site, Id love to hear your opinion on this: In the second period during the Blues-Sabres game on Tuesday, the Sabres took exception to a hit at the whistle on Tyler Ennis by Ian Cole. I admit Cole sometimes acts before he thinks but I think this was a clean play, it just looked violent because Cole has 50 pounds on him and the boards broke his fall! The referees arms didnt go up signaling a penalty. As expected, the Sabres took it in their own hands and started a scrum to even the score. I have no problem with that. What I have a problem with is the referees tack on a roughing minor to Ian Cole after the melee? What warranted the penalty call? The fights? I dont see how if it wasnt a penalty before the fight, its a penalty after the fight? Buffalo retaliated, score settled. It seemed futile at that point. And to make matters worse, to start the third period, Buffalos Cody McCormick starts a fight with Alex Steen and Steen gets a double-minor for roughing giving the Sabres a power play. Why? If any extra minor should be called, it should be on McCormick for instigating or roughing! Can you tell me what these referees were thinking? If there is a valid explanation, maybe it will help me stay calm next time? Thank you, Josh Bartlett ----- Josh, I thank you for your question and congratulate you for making it to the Cmon Ref site! Unfortunately there really isnt a valid explanation as why to why the St. Louis Blues received an extra minor penalty in either of these altercations; especially in the second dust-up that was initiated just 17 seconds into the third period by Cody McCormick and Marcus Foligno. None of us can ever know what the refs were actually thinking but let me provide my perspective based on the referees position, focus and their reactions (or lack thereof) to what was taking place in the moment. On the first play in question, at 13:11 of the 2nd period, Ian Cole was in the act of finishing a check on Tyler Ennis after the Buffalo youngster shot the puck. The contact, delivered at the goal line, was more of a shove than a solid body check but caused Ennis to lose his balance and fall awkwardly into the end boards. Based on a resulting degree of awkwardness or violence that a player is shoved, hit or falls into the boards, I have seen occasions when a minor penalty has been assessed; more on the result than the act itself. Referee Gord Dwyer was very close to the incident; so close in fact that when Ennis fell into the boards, his stick blade whacked the referee in the knee. If there was any initial thought process by the referee to raise his arm and assess a penalty to Cole, which I very much doubt, we will never know. Instead of raising his non-whistle hand to signal a penalty, Dwyer used the hand to grab his right knee and expressed a grimacing look of pain on his face. Since we dont know the referees intent beyond the fact that neither of them raised an arm to signal an infraction, it is more probable to speculate that the minor penalty assessed to Cole was determined through the conference of officials in the aftermath of the scrum and fights. While it might not have appeared to be worthy of a penalty in the refs mind initially, I can understand that he might have reflected on how hard Ennis struck the end boards and then changed his mind. Im relatively okay with his prerogative to change his mind. What Im not okay with is the solid pop that Ennis delivered to the face of Ian Cole as he was being engaged by the Buffalo cavalry and in clear view of the referee that went unpenalized. The shot delivered by Ennis on Cole caused Alexander Steen to grab Ennis and resulted in their fight. If Cole was to be assessed a late minor in hindsight or otherwise, then Ennis also deserved a roughing minor. My personal preference is to see a minor penalty imposed against any player who leads the cavalry charge following a hit on one of his teammates; legal or otherwise! Too often, we see a player have to defend himself when he administered a perfectly legal but hard check. The double minor penalty assessed to Steen is beyond confusing to me. In my first season in the NHL, linesman John DAmico gave me a piece of great advice that stuck with me forever. John told me to know what players are on the ice at all times, whether they change on the fly or during a stoppage. John also said that just because the puck isnt moving, that doesnt mean that your eyes and your brain stop moving as well. Once play stopped, John advised me it was time to turn up the radar because things can happen and you dont want to be caught off guard! I never forgot that great advice offered by the future Hall of Famer. At the first stoppage of play, 17 seconds into the 3rd period, Steen came onto the ice with his line for an end zone face-off. On their way to the Sabres players bench, Cody McCormick and Marcus Foligno took a route that allowed them to shove and engage Steen in obvious retribution for his previous fight with Ennis. In this moment, referee Mike Leggo can be seen standing near centre ice, facing the players bench with his arm raised to signal the line change has been completed and could not have possibly witnessed what initiated the altercation. Referee Dwyer is off camera but would have been standing on the goal line on the players bench side of the ice. Given the penalty assessment, referee Dwyer must have been preoccupied and not dialed in to the flow of players coming and going. Once the altercation started, St. Louis had one extra player on the ice as a result of the change and referee Leggo can be seen waving Alex Pietrangelo back toward the St. Louis bench. Steen handled himself very well in containing McCormick during their wrestling match