Tonight at 7:05pm et a referee will drop the puck to kick off the 2013-14 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The first round is always the toughest brand of hockey and the most difficult for the Officials to work effectively. Finishing on top of a division does not always guarantee advancement beyond the first playoff round as we have seen through several upsets in recent years. This years matchups will guarantee that some legitimate Cup contenders will be eliminated with a one and done series appearance. The margin for victory between all the teams is very slim and mistakes made by players and officials are magnified at this time of year. Simply put, mistakes can be the difference between a team and an official from going on in the playoffs or going home! Last night I joined James Duthie for a brief segment in the playoff preview show shot in Studio 9 at TSN where I will be monitoring games and officials calls on a nightly basis throughout the first round. James asked me what I will be looking for from the Officials the moment the playoffs begin. My response was for strict adherence to the letter of the law. The rules do not change during the playoffs and neither should the expected standard of enforcement! The referees have often been accused of putting their whistles away during the playoffs. Far too many times we have seen the score and time of a game factored into the refs judgment as to what constitutes an obvious penalty. I cited a game between the NY Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens from the final weekend of the regular season as an example of what we should hope from the referees throughout this postseason. In that game, referee Gord Dwyer awarded a penalty shot to Brian Gionta in overtime when the Habs captain was tripped from behind at the Rangers blue line by Raphael Diaz. Gionta was chasing a loose puck at the time he was fouled and therefore did not have possession and control of the puck. This aspect of the play could have offered the referee an out to take an easier path and simply assess a minor penalty for tripping. Instead, referee Dwyer made the correct judgment as stipulated in rule 24.8 (iii) that Brian Gionta would have obtained possession and control of the puck and was denied a reasonable chance to score. The game ended when Brian Gionta scored on the ensuing penalty shot awarded by the referee. Kudos to referee Dwyer for making this perceived tough call (video link). In reality the more difficult position a referee will place himself in is if he attempts to manage the game by letting an obvious infraction go uncalled. This often sets a chain of events in motion that is difficult for the ref to recover from. The subsequent infraction committed by the other team is usually worse than the previous one he let go. By applying a sense of fairness, the official feels helpless to call that next penalty and the standard becomes lost. The best deterrent for a player to avoid committing an infraction is the fear that he will be placing his team at a disadvantage by incurring a penalty. When that fear factor no longer exists as a result of the refs whistle being put away the game can deteriorate and the integrity of the outcome placed in jeopardy. Anarchy can result until an automatic penalty is called such as puck over the glass or too many men on the ice and a semblance of order is restored! This negative influence on a game can be avoided it the referees call the obvious infractions that are committed regardless of the score or time in a game. Whenever the officials make the tough but correct call they must receive the support of the Officiating Department heads. Management needs to demonstrate their courage by publicly backing the officials when they make the right call at a crucial time in the game. A season long subjective performance evaluation has been tabulated by the Officiating and Hockey Operations Department on each referee and linesman to determine selection to the playoffs. Congratulations and best of luck to the following officials that have been selected to the first round: Referees Francis Charron, Paul Devorski, Gord Dwyer, Eric Furlatt, Dave Jackson, Mark Joannette, Steve Kozari, Chris Lee, Wes McCauley, Brad Meier, Dean Morton, Dan OHalloran, Dan ORourke, Chris Rooney, Tim Peel, Kevin Pollock, Francois St.-Laurent, Justin St.Pierre, Kelly Sutherland, Brad Watson Linesmen Derek Amell, Steve Barton, David Brisebois, Lonnie Cameron, Scott Cherry, Michel Cormier, Greg Devorski, Scott Driscoll, Darren Gibbs, Shane Heyer, Brad Kovachik, Matt MacPherson, Steve Miller, Brian Murphy, Jonny Murray, Derek Nansen, Brian Pancich, Pierre Racicot, Jay Sharrers, Mark Shewchyk The hockey world will be watching closely as each of you display the courage and good judgment necessary to get the job done. Nick Foles Jersey . LOUIS -- The St. Reggie White Jersey .com) - Joique Bells touchdown run in the fourth quarter gave the Detroit Lions a 20-14 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday. http://www.theeaglesshoponline.com/Youth-Wes-Hopkins-Eagles-Jersey/ . Right-hander Todd Redmond took the loss. Jose Bautista hit his second home run of the spring. Here are a handful of tidbits from around camp: Hutchison impressive The Blue Jays are being cautious when talking about their young arms but internally, excitement is building over the way Drew Hutchison is looking and performing this spring. Seth Joyner Jersey . Future Hall of Famer Ricky Ray is in his prime and back for a third season in double blue. The 34-year old was magnificent in 2013, throwing for just under 2,900 yards despite missing eight games, tossing an impressive 21 touchdowns against just two interceptions, completing 66 per cent of his passes in the process. Randall Cunningham Jersey . The Red Wings hadnt played the night before. The Boston Bruins had. A month from now, or two months from now, it doesnt matter. But right now it does matter, when you start and you play back to back, its wear and tear on you for sure, Babcock said.TORONTO -- Mark Buehrle did his thing on Saturday, allowing only one run in seven innings as he tried for a major-league leading 11th win. Unfortunately for Buehrle, Shelby Miller did even better. The Cardinals starter pitched his first shutout of the season, and the second of his career, as St. Louis snapped the Toronto Blue Jays six-game winning streak with a 5-0 victory. "He was tremendous," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said of Miller. "But theyve got a good pitching staff over there, as good as anybodys in baseball, top to bottom. He was on his game. We hit a couple of balls we thought had a chance but they flagged them down." Buehrle (10-2) wasnt at his best Saturday, but the left-hander pitched around five hits and five walks with his usual understated velocity that would not endanger fine china on impact. The only run he allowed in the game was Randal Grichuks first major-league homer on a first-pitch change-up in the fifth inning. It was enough to snap Buehrles streak of six consecutive winning decisions and give him his first loss since April 25 against the Boston Red Sox. "Buehrle was great," Gibbons said. "His command was off a little bit but he gutted it out for seven innings. He did what he does, he keeps you off the scoreboard but the story of the game was Miller. Hes got that sneaky fastball. He threw a lot of fastballs located it up, threw it in and out. He carved us up pretty good." Miller (7-5) held the Blue Jays to three hits and one walk while striking out five to snap a string of three losses in a row. "The biggest thing was getting ahead in the counts and mixing it up," Miller said. "Warming up in the bullpen I didnt feel good at all. Its crazy how the game works. Im a little speechless still. It was a lot of fun doing that." The Cardinals, who had lost their two previous games, scored four runs against Toronto relievers Aaron Loup and Steve Delabar in the eighth as they evened the three-game series against the Blue Jays with the rubber match on Sunday. Grichuk picked up his second RBI of the game when Delabar walked him with the bases loaded. While Miller was retiring his first 13 batters, the Cardinals (32-31) were threatening Buehrle. They loaded the bases with two out in the fourth on a one-out double by Jhonny Peralta, a walk to Oscar Taveras and a two-out infield that bounced off Buehrle. But Buehrle worked out of the jam when Tony Cruzs bouncer to third resulted in a force play at second. The Cardinals did score with one out in the fifth when Grichuk took homered to centre field. "It was changeup away, it was on the outside of plate, it may have been up a tad," Buehrle said. "I knew he hit it pretty good but I thought when hhe hit it that it was more of a pop fly so it kind of surprised me.dddddddddddd It seems like we hit a few balls today that I thought were going to go out of there and they caught them at the warning track. He obviously hit it a little bit better than I thought he did at first." "He hammered that ball," Matheny said. "Thats the kind of power that excites you about him. Not many guys have that kind of juice to the centre of the field. The ball just absolutely jumps off his bat no matter what he does." The Blue Jays (38-25) did not have a runner on base until Adam Lind walked with one out in the fifth. Lind took second on a high chop by Brett Lawrie that first baseman Allen Craig snared adeptly before throwing to Miller covering first for the first out on a close play. Juan Francisco made the final out with a towering fly out to the wall in centre field. "The way we have been swinging the bats, for him to go out there and shut us out like that, its one of those things, tip your hat to that guy," said Buehrle, who threw a season-high 118 pitches. "He had it going today and kept us off the board." Jose Reyes lined a single to right with two out in the sixth for the Blue Jays first hit of the game and their second base runner. Melky Cabrera followed with a double that deflected off Craigs glove to put runners at second and third. But Jose Bautista struck out on a 97-mile-an hour fastball. Bautista, who hit a fly out to the centre-field warning track in the first, was 0-for-4 to snap a 12-game hitting streak. "He turned it up, no question," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Millers sixth-inning strikeout of Bautista. "Thats a huge part of the game right there, obviously, with one of the best hitters youre going to see." Left-hander Loup replaced Buehrle in the eighth and he was charged with four runs to snap his string of 15 1/3 scoreless innings. He walked Mark Ellis with the bases loaded to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead and allowed a two-run single by Cruz for a 4-0 lead before right-hander Delabar took over and walked his first two batters to force in another run. The rally started with Craigs one-out double to right that was followed by an intentional walk to Peralta and a single by Taveras that filled the bases. NOTES: Attendance was announced as 42,981. ...The Blue Jays have been alone in first in the AL East for 16 consecutive days, the longest since 1993 when they were first from June 24 until the end of the season. They won the World Series that year. a The interleague series ends Sunday with the Cardinals starting left-hander Jaime Garcia (1-0, 5.47 earned-run average) facing Blue Jays right-hander Drew Hutchison (4-3, 3.50 ERA). 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Theres some question about how high his offensive ceiling is, particularly without significant power play time, but hes been a double-digit plus in each of the last three seasons, making him viable as a No. 4 right winger. D Dan Hamhuis has contributed more offensively in his last couple seasons with the Canucks, and over the last three years, he ranks second among defencemen with a plus-67 rating. While D Kevin Bieksa isnt as consistent as Hamhuis, he is a three-time 40-point scorer who is always good for PIMs (698 PIM in 491 career GP). Both fit as number three fantasy defencemen. Sleepers/Breakthrough: Meagre assist totals have limited the appeal of D Jason Garrison, but his 24 goals over the last two seasons ranks third among defencemen. A boom or bust pick, RW Zack Kassian has 21 points in 83 career games, but could have a chance to skate on the Sedins wing and that would give him a shot at a breakthrough season. Hes big, tough and talented, but has yet to provide consistent results. As a late-round flier, though, youd be hoping he starts to reach his potential this season. Rookies: The Canucks do have room for rookies, particularly at centre, where the Sedins are followed by Kesler and perhaps Jordan Schroeder. Brendan Gaunce and Bo Horvat, first-round pick in each of the last two seasons could have an opportunity to start the season in the NHL, though it may be too soon to have any expectations for their production. Gaunce has been a point-per-game player in Belleville (OHL) for the last two seasons and Horvat has 61 points in 67 games with London (OHL) last season before scoring 16 goals and 23 points in 21 playoff games. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. 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