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I have great hopes for Jonathan Crompton, quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes. Luis Gonzalez Jersey . I hope he comes through and becomes a dominate player in every aspect of his position. Really, I am not sure if there is a Plan B. Troy Smith was plan A and Alex Brink was plan B so I guess in reality Crompton is plan C. Now he does have moments of brilliance but the team needs more of them. Over the first three quarters on Friday night only 68 yards and seven out of 10 possessions were two and out. Come on, Crompton, in many ways you are in the right place at the right time to make it happen. After the two losses to Calgary, it was important for Edmonton to get back to winning. I thought Mike Reilly played his best football in the fourth quarter and Adarius Bowman is having his best year in his CFL career. But the two guys that are on their way to making the transition from noticed once in a while to noticed all the time are Kendial Lawrence and Tyler Thomas. Both are running backs and both are 59 and 195lbs. When John White went down with injury, Lawrence recognized the opportunity and performed. It is so true in pro football that staying healthy is so critical to success. Not only when you are healthy you are active and contributing to winning but you also keep the guy behind you a€?an unknowna€? talent. The more the guy behind you is unknown the better because everyone now knows about Lawrence. As for Thomas, he is a part-time running back and a very good kickoff returner. Thomas is going to take a kick and return it for a touchdown before this season is over. Too much confidence, too much explosive speed, and too much ability to break tackles not to capitalize on at some point this season. The Eskimos have an interesting game this week in Hamilton because due to the absence of Darian Durant in Saskatchewan it is Edmonton that has a great shot at finishing second in the West when all is said and done in early November. In Calgary I dont know the bigger story. How well the Argos played in the first half of their 40-33 loss or the fact they gave up a 29-point lead to lose in the second half. Or maybe it is Calgary and their ability to come back and win. I guarantee you the celebration in the locker room after the game and winning the way they did was like a playoff game victory or winning a division at the end of the season. To be able to maintain concentration, faith and effort down by so many points says a lot about not just ability, but resolve and character too. It is true that people rise or fall during adversity and when you rise, it says a lot about what is inside you as a player because what is inside is eventually expressed on the outside for all to see. That was a great game to watch and an even better one to be a part of. With Toronto, they can play winning football, they just dont know it and therefore must prove it for four quarters. In BC Place the Lions moved two points ahead of Winnipeg and have played one less game. The Bombers are on a slide; losing five in a row is tough to deal with but losing Drew Willy is tougher. This is their bye week so the ability to regroup and re-evaluate is an asset in the moment. Still no doubt this is a make or break scenario coming up for Winnipeg. Out of their six remaining games, four are in the West so they control their playoff destiny, but do they have a quarterback presently on the roster to get them there? Finally, I was really impressed by Hamilton. Yes, they played the Roughriders at the right time with Durant out and Tino Sunseri in. Orlondo Steinauer had a good defensive game plan for a quarterback starting his first game and his plan changed the game. Still it was the best I have seen the Ticats play in a long time and Zach Collaros gave every indication all is going to be ok. Taylor Reed, number 44 out of SMU, looked really good at middle linebacker. First year player and maybe the Ticats have found a long term player at that critical position. With the Riders, the two weeks left in September will be a challenge. Good news is offensive coordinator George Cortez will teach Sunseri all he needs to know. Bad news is there is no guarantee that what is taught will be seen next week at home against Ottawa, or the week after in Edmonton. Amazing how all can change in one week to the next. Cheap Custom Astros Jersey . Long snapper Patrick Mannelly announced Friday that he is retiring after a 16-year-career with the Bears, a span in which he played in a team record 245 games and snapped the ball 2,282 times. Chris Devenski Jersey . Stepanek gave the Czech Republic its second straight Davis Cup title Sunday, sweeping past Dusan Lajovic in straight sets in the fifth and decisive match to secure a 3-2 win over Serbia in the final.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. Hey Kerry, Can you please explain why Phil Kessel was awarded a penalty shot during Leafs/Bruins game on New Years Eve? Clearly he was fouled from behind in the attacking zone but I always thought that a penalty shot was awarded only if the player being fouled was denied a scoring opportunity. Kessel clearly regained his balance after being hooked and was able to get good clean shot away. Shouldnt the offending player have been assessed a minor penalty for hooking? As a minor hockey ref I enjoy your insight and take on rule interpretation. Thanks. Pat Baskette Ingersoll, ON Pat: You are correct by noting that when a player is fouled from behind the intention of the rule is to restore a reasonable scoring opportunity which has been lost. The rule also goes on to say that if, however, the player fouled is able to recover and obtain a reasonable scoring opportunity (or a teammate is able to gain a reasonable scoring opportunity), no penalty shot should be awarded but the appropriate penalty should be signaled and assessed if a goal is not scored on the play. It is purely a judgment call by the referee as to the quality of any subsequent scoring opportunity that the player fouled is able to regain. On this play, the referee applied rule 24.8 (iii) which states, The fact that he (Phil Kessel) got a shot off does not automatically eliminate this play from the penalty shot consideration criteria. If the foul was from behind and he was denied a more reasonable scoring opportunity due to the foul, then the penalty shot should be awarded. I doubt anyone would deny that Kessel was able to get a very good shot away after being hooked by big Zdeno Chara. The shot even forced Bruinss goalie Tuukka Rask to make an excellent save. Cesar Cedeno Jersey. . What the referee determined however, was that the strong hook to the right arm of Kessel by Chara twisted the Leafs attacker sufficiently and forced Kessel to cut hard to the right side as he set up and prepared to shoot the puck. From the referees perspective the forced location Kessel was placed in created a much less desirable shooting angle than had he not been hooked. As we review the play, Kessel maintained full possession and control throughout with a left hand push of the puck just off the left side of center. Kessel utilized a right arm swung with a forward to back motion in an effort to maintain full throttle speed and to keep the safest possible distance ahead of Chara. The hard tug on the right arm of Kessel did alter and twist his body posture. Kessel then executed a skate cross-over to maintain control and establish a shooting position. We could speculate as to whether Kessel intended to move to that shooting location but the fact remains that the hook did altered his posture and path to the net. In the referees judgment a less reasonable scoring opportunity resulted. Penalty shots are an exciting part of the game and provide excellent drama. The NHL has relaxed the criteria under which a penalty shot is awarded over the years and as such encourage the refs to call them. I can understand the referees decision to restore a more reasonable scoring opportunity to Kessel as a result of the hook. My take is similar to yours Pat and a minor penalty for hooking would have sufficed given the fact that Kessel did not lose control of the puck and made a great shot. We might even get some agreement from Leafs coach Randy Carlyle after Rask stoned Kessel with a solid poke-check and thwarted the penalty shot. Either way – its a judgment call, Pat. ‚ ‚ ‚