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, When Gregory Campbell was injured blocking the shot in Game 4, the referees correctly allowed the play to continue while Pittsburgh had control. I thought they might have stopped play when Campbell later deflected a pass, but didnt maintain control. Could you define the rule for an injury stoppage in play? Larry Powell --- Hi, In Wednesday nights Boston/Penguins game, Gregory Campbell blocked a shot that seriously injured him. Why didnt Campbell stay down and draw a whistle? He was quite useless out there so Im assuming there must be a rule about that? Thanks,Steve McCarthy Larry and Steve: Far too often we see players feigning injury and embellishing contact in an effort to draw penalties. Gregory Campbell showed the heart of a lion when he got up off the deck after throwing his body in front of the shot that broke his leg, ending his playoff season. Campbell had to realize the significance of the injury he sustained on that shot block. If his central nervous system didnt relay a quick message of the break it would only take a split second of weight bearing when the leg totally shut down for him to know the full extent. What his body forced him to give in to his heart would not! For the sake of his teammates, Campbell attempted to defend with all that he had left; even if it was just on one leg. Campbell deserves our highest praise and respect for the "old school" toughness he demonstrated by refusing to lay down and quit when his job wasnt yet completed. The Bruins will surely miss this warrior. While it obviously isnt in this players nature to lie down and hope for a whistle to blow, the fact that Campbell was in a shooting lane and vulnerable to further injury could cause the referee to consider stopping the play following one initial scoring attempt by the Pens. Early in my career, a player blocked a shot in front of the net and lay on the ice with his back exposed to the point and what I thought had to be a stinger. I allowed play to continue even though the player remained down on the ice. Just as a defenceman at the point was teeing up a slapper I recognized the injured player was in a very vulnerable position right in the line of fire. I was too late with the whistle and the slap shot hit the guy in the back of the helmet! From that moment on I decided the safety of the player was my first responsibility. If the player remained down it was most likely because he just couldnt get up. At that point, I would not allow him to become a sitting duck in a shooting gallery. Even though Rule 8.1 says that when a player is injured so that he cannot continue play or go to his bench, the play shall not be stopped until the injured players team has secured possession of the puck. It also says that in the case where it is obvious that a player has sustained a serious injury, the referee and/or linesman may stop the play immediately. The officials should not be expected to play doctor when a player is down with an injury. They make their best judgment as to when an injury appears "serious" in nature to immediately stop play. This is done to get medical attention to the injured player as soon as possible and without delay. It doesnt necessarily have to be life-threatening, as in the case of Sabres goalie Clint Malarchuks throat being slashed by a skate or the frightening eye injury suffered by Bryan Berard. These were extreme and obvious cases where very serious injury had resulted. A sense of urgency will dictate a quick whistle when a player is struck with a puck or skate in the face and/or goes down hard with an apparent head injury. On the other hand, a lower-body injury that results from a shot block such as Campbell and Niklas Hjalmarsson of the Blackhawks endured does not typically fall into the "serious" category or cause play to be stopped immediately. The caveat to that, I hope, is if the referee recognizes the downed player is subject to further or even greater injury as a result of the inability to defend himself if he cant get to his feet. Gregory Campbell wasnt waiting to hear a whistle, nor did he probably expect one to be blown. All his heart told him was to defend with all he had left and if necessary, take another one for his team. Thats "old school," folks. Cheap Lebron 15 . 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He had a goal and two assists for a career-high three points as Columbus beat the New York Islanders 5-2 to snap a five-game losing streak. Cricket Australias chief executive James Sutherland has stressed the need to view proposed changes to the structure of international cricket in their entirety, after the BCCI expressed its opposition to the concept of two-tier Test cricket.ICC chief executive David Richardson has advocated what he calls a proper competition structure for Test cricket, which could see a top division of the seven highest-ranked Test nations and a lower division including the sides ranked eight to ten, as well as new Test teams from the Associate nations.The concept was discussed at the ICCs annual conference in Edinburgh in June, along with other potential changes to the structure of international cricket. However, the boards of both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh expressed their opposition to two-tier Test cricket, a stance that has now been backed by BCCI president Anurag Thakur.In the two-tier system, they will lose out on a lot, including revenue and the opportunity to play against top teams, Thakur said of lower-ranked Test sides. We dont want that to happen. We want to work in the best interests of world cricket and that is why our team plays against all the countries.However, Sutherland said nothing under the new proposal would prevent top teams such as India playing against the lower-ranked sides in bilateral contests, and the overall raft of proposed changes would add greater context to international cricket.I saw the headlines about that and I saw some comment that that was about India wanting to play against the other countries, Sutherland told ESPNcricinfo. Well, frankly theres nothing that Im aware of thhat stops India from playing against whoever they want to.ddddddddddddBut creating some sort of structure around Test cricket is one small part of whats a number of different components to a major review of the structure and format of international bilateral cricket, something that we believe is really important to ensure the sustainable future of international cricket.Whether there are two divisions is one small component. Theres a whole lot of other things about what the financial model looks like, how teams that may be in the second division are protected and supported to ensure theyre given the best financial backing and other opportunities to bounce back from the second division.But were only talking about Test cricket there. Thats one small component of the whole package or raft of things that includes T20 league, one-day league, and competition that adds context and structure to international cricket, and hopefully makes it more sustainable as a fan proposition, which is ultimately the most important thing.Sutherland said it was too early to speculate about the future of proposed ICC changes, despite the apparent opposition expressed by Thakur last week.Well have discussions about that in time, Sutherland said. Its hard to gather exactly what people are thinking from headlines or limited media reports. Until you actually get with people and understand what theyre thinking its very difficult to rationalise and probably inappropriate to make too much comment. ' ' '