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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. Good morning Mr. F, First, thank you for helping to educate us fans about the rules of the game, and for sharing your stories. Second, my questions: What is the NHL policy on media and officials? Can they be on Twitter? Can they be interviewed by TSN? Can they publish a book? We rarely, if ever, see an active official make a comment off the ice. Is this because they dont have much to say, or because of restrictions? I could see referee interviews causing uproars among fans. Thanks!Kent Hi Kent: The policy the NHL has in place for their officials speaking to the media is clear and direct: NO COMMENT! All media access to the officials (interviews) must be cleared and granted through the office of Gary Meagher, Sr. Vice President Public Relations & Media Services. Gary is assisted by Julie Young, Manager of Public Relations. Once the content and nature of an interview is cleared, Julie is typically responsible for contacting the official and facilitating the interview. Both individuals are extremely professional and very good at their job. It was a treat to work with Julie Young because through her efforts things always went smoothly during the many times that I was requested for interviews. Social media is off-limits for all the officials! They are not allowed to have a Facebook or Twitter account as information could easily be misconstrued or deemed to be inappropriate. It is just another undesirable location that the officials could become accessible. After NBA referee Tim Donaghy was convicted on criminal charges and served time in federal prison for betting on games he officiated, NHL officials are "strongly discouraged" from entering casinos while travelling on NHL business. You can forget about reading a book written by any NHL officials until after they retire; unless perhaps it is a childrens coloring book! Other than the number on the back of their sweater (no names since 94) the league is most content when their officials are seen and not heard from. During the playoffs a supervisor (Officiating Manager) is assigned to each series. In the event that an explanation might be required for any reason, it is conveyed to the media through the series supervisor after he consults with the officiating crew. If a major controversy were to occur in game, Gary Meagher will typically craft a press release and/or instruct the supervisor as to the information that should be shared with the media. Personally, I preferred the day when a pool reporter was allowed into the refs room after a game to get the answer directly from the official who made the decision on the ice. I would rather explain the reason behind my decision than to have it communicated through a third party or worse yet not explained at all. On occasion, pertinent aspects of my explanation became lost in the transfer and delivery of information. There are even times when the only answer is that an honest mistake was made but I doubt youll hear about it! Some officials are media savvy while others are not. I know many officials that would get torn to shreds by the media if they became accessible following a game. The only time the press would be interested to hear what an official had to say would be following some sort of controversy. It is at times such as this when damage control is utilized. Most often however, there is a reasonable explanation for a refs decision that should become public. Players and coaches can provide post-game comments from an emotional and often biased perspective. Those are the sound bites and quotes that fans are left with even though the NHL can (and has) impose fines to players and team management when they impugn the officials publicly. To prevent embarrassment or limit the need for damage control by the NHL, it is most obvious that a broad policy has to apply which restricts all referees or linesmen from making public comments. I am under no such gag order so the best place to get a straight answer as we move into the 2013-14 Stanley Cup playoffs is right here at Cmon Ref! Fair, honest and opinionated - the spin truly does stop here Kent! Enjoy the final weekend of the regular season and the race for the playoffs. Bernard King Knicks Jersey . The hard-serving 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., became the first Canadian to be ranked in the Top 10 on the ATP World Tour thanks to his runner-up performance at Rogers Cup in Montreal. Phil Jackson Jersey . Solomon Elimimian did not make the trip with the team after suffering what appeared to be a right leg injury in the teams regular season finale against the Calgary Stampeders. http://www.knickssale.com/kids-frank-nti...-knicks-jersey/. The Canadians led for much of the game before Argentina forced overtime in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter. Canada weathered the storm after squandering a lead with a series of made shots. "Its a fantastic win for our country with 11 first-time Canadian national team members," said head coach Roy Rana. Carmelo Anthony Knicks Jersey . Louis Blues, having added Ryan Miller and Steve Ott from Buffalo, remain the No. Walt Frazier Knicks Jersey .Y. -- Major League Soccer has agreed to new measures to protect gay players from discrimination and harassment as a result of meetings with New Yorks attorney general.SAN ANTONIO -- Manu Ginobili and the San Antonio Spurs put together a dominant offensive performance on Sunday night. The final result was a 10-game winning streak and another year with 50 victories. Ginobili scored 21 points and Tony Parker had 18, leading the Spurs to a 122-104 victory over the Utah Jazz. San Antonio (50-16) became the first NBA team to reach 50 wins, extending its league record of consecutive seasons with at least that many victories to 15. Not that it means all that much to the veteran Spurs, who are focused on winning another title. "I dont really care," coach Gregg Popovich said. "You all have to have things to write about, I guess. Its better than losing 50, I guess. Were thinking about other things and weve just had a great group of guys for a long time. Thats reason weve been able to win. Records and that sort of thing, streaks arent really on anybodys mind." The Spurs (50-16) shot a season-high 62.8 per cent from the field while improving to 4-0 against the last-place Jazz (22-45) this season. "You give them the credit," Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said. "They are a great ballclub. They know who they are. They take the right shots. They had 31 assists, so the ball moved around very well. The guys who came off (the bench), they made tough shots. Our guys competed, they are just better at what they do at this stage. You just have to give them a lot of credit." Derrick Favors had a career-high 28 points for the Jazz, who have lost four straight. Gordon Hayward scored 17 and Trey Burke had 13 points. Parker also had seven assists and Tim Duncan added 16 points and six rebounds for the Spurs. Along with Ginobili, the teams Big Three combined to shoot 22 for 32. "Were getting our rhythm," Parker said. "Manu looks good, he looks healthy. Timmy, his outside shot is coming around. Were all doing little stuff. Now we all just to have to stay healthy." Its the second double-digit winning streak of the Spurs, who won 11 in a row in November. "Were in a great situation and its great to win (50 games), but the main goal is to win a championship," Parker said. The Spurs featured their inside game early on, and then went to their sharp outside shooting. Tiago Splitter had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Patty Mills and Marco Belinelli each scored 12 and Kawhi Leonard had 11 points. San Antonio was shooting 65 per cent from the field with 6 minutes left, holding a 108-90 lead following dunks by Splitter and Belinelli and jumpers from Leonard and Duncan.dddddddddddd. "Regardless of personnel, they all pass the basketball, the ball never stops," Hayward said. "They hit the open man and defensively theyre all where theyre supposed to be at." San Antonios initial 12 points came in the paint, as well as 14 of its first 15. It finished with 56 points in the paint, compared to 52 for Utah. The Spurs had assists on five of their first six baskets, punctuated by a running dunk by Leonard off a feed from Danny Green for a 12-6 lead with 7 minutes left in the first quarter. "Offensively we were sharp today as we were in the last few games," Ginobili said. "We were not as good defensively today. We made too many mistakes. We let them score a lot of points in the paint. We knew they were going to do that. But overall, I think we cant complain. It was a good game." After falling behind 15-8, the front court of Favours, Richard Jefferson and Marvin Williams rallied Utah for its only lead of the game. The trio scored nine points in a 13-4 run, capped by a 13-foot turnaround jumper by Favours that put the Jazz ahead 21-19 with 1:43 remaining in the first quarter. "This was a great night for me," Favors said. "My teammates did a good job of finding me in the post and in my spots, and I was hitting shots. Just one of those nights for me." After finding so much inside the paint early, the Spurs turned to their long-range shooting in the second quarter. San Antonio had five different players make a 3 while making all of their long-distance attempts in the second. Greens 3 from 26 feet gave the Spurs its largest lead of that half at 54-45 with 2 minutes remaining. "The first half we did a relatively good job up until the last four or five minutes of the half of keep them off the 3-point line," Corbin said. "But they had 30 points or so in the paint. So, we wanted to make an effort to try and keep them out of the paint, and we gave up 3-point shots. They made five right there and they just took off from there." NOTES: San Antonios previous shooting high was 57.5 per cent in a 126-96 victory over Cleveland on Nov. 23. ... The Spurs won 11 straight from Nov. 5 through Nov. 25, giving them a 13-1 record to open the season. ... Jazz G John Lucas III (sprained right ankle) was in uniform, but did not play after being listed as a game-time decision. ... Jefferson, a former Spurs player, was resoundingly booed during pregame introductions. ' ' '