Cardiff » said 24-year-old Duka. "Ive been watching

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. With the 2014 Hockey Hall of Fame Induction festivities about to take place this weekend, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to share a memory or two. A number of times I had the good fortune to receive the assignment to work the Hall of Fame Game played between the Toronto Maple Leafs and their respective opponent. I always felt emotions well up from deep within that were spawned from childhood recollections as previously enshrined members; some from generations long since removed, were marched onto the red carpet prior to the new class being presented. Each time I set foot inside the Hockey Hall of Fame I am overcome with knee-trembling awe at the accomplishments of the membership and the history of the great game of hockey that we all love. I am grateful for the opportunity to have skated on NHL ice with some of the greatest players the game has known for three decades; including my association with the current crop of inductees. Their talent, individual records and tremendous contribution to the game are common knowledge. You might be surprised to learn that my first thought at hearing Peter Forsbergs name is not about all of his awards and the tremendous skill or the brute power he demonstrated; a guy that could throw a reverse hit like no other as he was about to be checked while maintaining full possession of the puck. No, my thoughts centred on his well-documented ankle and foot problems that ended his comeback attempt as a 37-year-old with the Colorado Avalanche after playing two games in 2010-11. The reason for this is I attempted to walk in the mans skates and as a result I am truly amazed at how Peter could achieve such an amazing career. In September of 1996, I flew to Stockholm, Sweden with linesmen Ray Scapinello and Dan Schachte to officiate the European preliminary round of the World Cup of Hockey. We connected through London Heathrow where a broken baggage conveyor belt prevented thousands of bags from moving on to their final destination. My colleagues were fortunate enough to find their equipment bags on the conveyer in Stockholm while mine remained stranded in London. Dag Olsen, referee-in-chief of the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation, made a call to the Swedish team trainer to arrange alternate skates and equipment. I arrived at the Globe Arena two hours prior to game time and was given a pair of skates my size. After lacing up and stepping on the ice my right skate turned so severely inward that I almost fell over. I only ventured 10 feet from the players bench door to recognize I couldnt navigate in Forsbergs skates that were formed to his foot malady. I was forced to use Olsens ancient tube skates. I saw Peter as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers; along with their medical and training staff exhaust all options to devise a solution to this real foot problem. All the while, you as fans were treated to his amazing skills with little or no knowledge of the magnitude of what he had to overcome. Dominik Hasek was appropriately tagged The Dominator for preventing pucks from entering his net by whatever means it took; including his head. Doms goaltending style was beyond unorthodox and during his many elite years, he stopped pucks better than any other goalie in the game. In 1998, I travelled to Nagano to work the Winter Olympics. My wife Kathy was joining me in Japan prior to the medal round. A few games into the preliminaries Kathy asked, in a phone conversation, which teams I thought looked good. While the Canadian team had received most of the advance hype, much to her surprise I told Kathy the Czechs looked like the team to beat. Reason being, teams just couldnt put the puck past Hasek! Kathy and I were seated in the first row of the lower balcony with a contingent of NHL dignitaries preparing to watch the gold medal game between Russia and Czechoslovakia. A very low railing provided minimal safety for anyone from falling over the balcony if they were to stumble on the steep steps. Chicago Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz was about to settle into the seat beside me when the large man stumbled and was about to go over the rail. I grabbed Mr. Wirtz by the belt and yanked hard to deposit him into his seat. The Hawks owner was surprised to see that it was me that saved him from a dangerous, if not tragic fall. The former Chairman of the NHL Board of Governors then solicited my opinion as to who I thought was going to win the game for the gold. I shared that the Czech team looked very tough to beat. Turns out that was good news for Mr. Wirtz, as he told me he laid a substantial bet in Vegas on the Czech team to win. The reason was that he gambled against Hasek once before when his Hawks traded him. He wasnt going to make the same mistake and bet against The Dominator again. Led by the brilliant goaltending of Hasek, the Czech team shut out the Russians to win the gold medal. On this solemn day of November 11 as we honor our veterans; past, present and future, I cant help but pay tribute to the memory of Pat Burns; a great coach and an even better man. In doing so I must share a valuable perspective that I gained from a non-hockey person in Boston one day. On the morning of a Bruins game I attended the weekday, morning mass at a chapel inside the Copley Square Mall. Following mass the Priest, who correctly assumed I was an out-of-town guest, engaged me in conversation to find out where I was from and the nature of my visit to Boston. When I informed him I was there to work the Bruins game, the priest told he was in charge of the Seminary and had several hockey fans in his charge! I arranged to have four seminarians as my guest at the Bruins game that evening. In reciprocation, I was invited to attend lunch at the Seminary; an invitation I was thrilled to accept. One of the young seminarians was a devout hockey nut from Michigan who was almost out of his skin with enthusiasm at having me join them for lunch and to be going to the Bruins game that evening. After the blessing, the Michigan lad was animated in telling his colleagues all about the officiating career of Kerry Fraser and how I was a future Hall of Famer! Sitting across the table from me was a very polite, meek young seminarian from Nebraska who didnt know a hockey stick from a corn stalk. The aspiring priest looked me in the eye and said, Mr. Fraser, I dont mean any disrespect but theres only one Hall of Fame that I want to be inducted into, as the young seminarian looked skyward and pointed toward Heaven. I laughed and said a big, Amen to that my Brother! Following the festivities this weekend, I know without a doubt Pat Burns will have been inducted into both Hall of Fames. God bless you and your family Pat. I wish to congratulate each of the class of 2014 inductees on their career accomplishments and the great honour being bestowed upon them this coming weekend. Cheap Air Jordan 3 For Sale .com) - The NFL is investigating whether the New England Patriots intentionally deflated balls during Sundays AFC Championship Game against Indianapolis. Cheap Jordans Ireland . There will be no Down Under four-peat for Djokovic, as the eighth-seeded Swiss slugger Wawrinka outlasted the second seed 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7 at Melbourne Parks Rod Laver Arena in yet another five-set thriller in their burgeoning rivalry. http://www.cheapairjordan3ireland.com/. Summers has seen scant playing time with the Coyotes since being selected 29th overall by the club in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, having played in 47 career NHL games. Cheap Air Jordan 3 Wholesale . Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday. Air Jordan 3 Ireland Online . I kept my eyes focused up on the camera during each approach. I just tried to stay focused on my form, as I didnt know what the ball reaction was. I was quite emotional at the end. I did not actually see any of the shots in the game until I got home and watched the video.MONTREAL -- What happens when Major League Soccers highest scoring team and the club with the worst defence collides is something the Montreal Impact may not want to know. They will find out Wednesday night when the Los Angeles Galaxy bringing their dazzling attack to Saputo Stadium. But Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush welcomes the challenge from Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane and the rest. "Its a team with a lot of names everyone knows and the last couple of months theyve been flying, scoring a lot of goals," Bush said this week. "They scored six last game, so its a challenge for us. "But its one of the games you get excited for. Theyre one of the big dogs in the league, so the chance to knock them off in your home stadium is something to get excited about." The Galaxy (14-5-7) are 10-2-2 since the World Cup break in June and have outscored their opponents 37-17 over that span. They lead MLS with 54 goals scored. The Impact (5-16-5) are last in the 19-team league and are tied with Houston in conceding an MLS-worst 48 goals in 26 games. Los Angeles is coming off a 6-0 slaughter of Colorado on Friday, although the Rapids had goalie Joe Nasco ejected only 33 seconds in for putting a rugby tackle on Alan Gordon as he was about to score a goal. Donovan bagged a pair of goals on penalties in that game and added two assists, leaving him four short of Steve Ralstons MLS career record of 135 helpers. The 32-year-old who plans to retire at the end of this season already has the league record with 136 career goals. Impact forward Dilly Duka looks forward to what will likely be his last chance to play against the Ontario, Calif., native who has also been a stalwart on the U.S. national team, although he was left off this years World Cup side. "The guy has done so much for soccer (in the U.S.)," said 24-year-old Duka. "Ive been watching him since I was a kid. "Im a big fan. Its unfortunate its going to be his last year, but Im excited to see him this week and to play against him. Especially for my generation, hes been a role model." Donovan will line up against a Montreal side that has laboured to keep the ball out of its goal since the start of the season, particularly off free kicks, corners and even throw-ins. Set-piece goals played their part in a 3-2 defeat Saturday night in Houston, although sweltering heat and humidity in southern Texas were also a factor. Veteran centreback Matteo Ferrari had to leave with heat exhaustion at half time, putting fullback Heath Pearce in to play alongside academy product Wandrille Lefevree.dddddddddddd The central defence has been a nightmare for Montreal, which had Nelson Rivas leave the team after three seasons of knee and leg injuries and had Adrian Lopez go down with a second serious leg injury since he joined the club last year. Then newly acquired Nigerian centreback Gege Soriola was sent for an MRI exam on Monday due to a separated shoulder suffered last week in training. Coach Frank Klopas said Ferrari should be ready to play against the Galaxy. He expects to make few changes because he plans to rest players when the Impact play Sunday in New England. He wants his first eleven fresh for the only game that truly matters now: a CONCACAF Champions League group stage match Sept. 17 at home against the New York Red Bulls. The return leg is Oct. 22. But the Impact want to do well against the Galaxy just the same. Their last home game produced a 2-0 win over Columbus on two goals from recently acquired designated player Ignacio Piatti. The Argentine midfielder and Duka had the Impact goals in Houston. Klopas said Los Angeles main strength is that most of its squad has played together for a few years. The Galaxy won MLS championships in 2011 and 2012. "They understand how they play; how they attack and defend," said Klopas. "I think were a good team when we play at home, better than we were at the beginning. "The key is the transition. Be good with the ball. We have to stay compact, but our ability in the final third is going to be key because we have players now that can hurt opposing teams and defenders." Added Duka: "Weve still got a chance, mathematically, and weve still got to push and give everything we have, every game." Both teams are dealing with grief. The Impact wore black arm bands in Houston in honour of defender Karl Ouimettes sister Julie, who died last week at 20 after a 12-year battle with cancer. L.A. did the same for defender A.J. DeLaGarza, whose week-old son died from a congenital heart condition. He is not expected to make the trip to Montreal. Ouimette attended the funeral and then returned to Toronto, where he was preparing for Tuesdays international match against Jamaica. He is to return the next day, but is not likely to dress against Los Angeles. "Were part of Karls second family, well give him our support," said Klopas. The Galaxys Gyasi Zardo had two goals against Colorado to give him a record 14 in a season by a "home grown" player (one developed by his teams academy). It is one more than the 13 Diego Fagunez had last year for New England. ' ' '