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Who is the best player in the CFL? If you asked that question on September 16th, 2012 you would have heard the name Brandon Whitaker multiple times over. That is the date of Whitakers last football game before tearing the ACL in his right knee. Nine months and 18 days later, Whitaker is slated to make his return to the Alouettes lineup as the starting running back versus Winnipeg. He just has to prove that he hasnt lost a step. Flashing back to the days after their mid-September game against Saskatchewan at Percival Molson Stadium, it was obvious the team was hurt by the loss of their most productive player. "You see a guy like Whitaker work so hard to wait for first turn and play so well for us, to end his year like this is devastating," Anthony Calvillo said two days after Whitakers injury. At the time of the injury, Whitaker took his situation in stride, focusing on his next chance. "Its frustrating, I just got to stay positive and get through the surgery, rehab and get ready for next year," Whitaker said. But was that next game even going to be with the Montreal Alouettes? Ideally, Whitaker was going to be showing off his speed, strength, agility and heart at NFL try-outs in January and February, but when Whitakers contract expired with the Alouettes after the season and he was without a home and options, he was in a tough spot. He watched the Als sign Jerome Messam in February and former NFL back Dominic Rhodes in March and draft Steven Lumbala from the University of Calgary in early May. Not knowing the ultimate effect of Whitakers knee injury, Jim Popp had to make sure the Alouettes would be ready at the running back position. The good news came on May 30th, only days before training camp opened when Whitaker signed a three-year deal with Montreal, but without the guarantee of the number one starting spot. Prior to the injury, however he was performing like the unquestioned number one, producing 631 yards rushing to go along with 49 catches, 516 yards receiving and nine total TDs in 10 games. Prorated over an 18-game season he would have had 1,147 yards rushing, 89 receptions, 938 yards receiving and 16 touchdowns. His 2085 total yards of offence would have likely put him in the conversation with Torontos Chad Owens for the CFLs Most Outstanding Player award. To put Whitakers 10-game season in in perspective, the Lions Andrew Harris led the CFL in combined passing and rushing yards with 1,900. So if Whitaker can pick up where he left off, there is no doubt hell give Montreals offense a boost in yards, touchdowns and also pass protection. Calvillo has complete faith in Whitaker within the teams blocking scheme and hes a perfect outlet whenever hes in trouble, something that was missing in Week 1 against Winnipeg. Whitaker was slotted 29th in TSNs ranking of the top 50 CFL players heading into the 2013 season, but if he is the same Brandon Whitaker of the first half of the 2012 season for the remaining 17 games and playoffs in 2013, then you will likely see him in the top five in 2014. Reds Matt Harvey Jersey . The photograph shows Parker and a French comedian making a gesture known in France as a "quenelle," which critics describe as inverted Nazi salute. Parker said in a statement released through the Spurs that the photograph was taken three years ago. Parker, who was born in Belgium but raised in France, said he didnt know at the time that "it could be in any way offensive or harmful. Reds Cody Reed Jersey . After seven wins in a row, they have to do it one more time to get into the playoffs. http://www.cheapredsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=reds-wandy-peralta-jersey . Assistant coach Glen Gulutzan said Thursday that Edler, who played Tuesday in Nashville, is out indefinitely. Wholesale Reds Jerseys . -- John Senden never imagined it would take more than seven years to win again. Reds Ken Griffey Jersey . -- The Orlando Magic have made no secret that the future of their franchise will depend on how well they can develop their young players.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. I am sitting here watching the remainder of the Bruins and Habs game. You have said on numerous occasions that referees do not decide games or in this case, series. Was that the case with Game 7? I have many calls that we could discuss but I only want to ask about the one called against Boston with 4:31 left in the game. Did that call not decide the series? That was an interference call, however to be fair, lets sit and review the game. Can you tell me that throughout the game(s) it was fair and the calls were fair? They let so much go and then make calls like snow on the goalies shoulder! When was the last time that was called? Definitely not in a Game 7! Brian Gamley Brian: First, the Montreal Canadiens were the better team on this night and deserved the win and the series. The Bruins were tight and out of sync throughout most of Game 7. If you look at the penalty called by referee Dave Jackson on Johnny Boychuk with 4:31 remaining in regulation time it is fair to determine that by the letter of the law interference was committed once Boychuk built a bridge with his stick and shoved Bournival to the ice shortly after the puck was chipped through the neutral zone. There is also some argument to make that since Bournival did not alter his path to get outside Boychuk, but instead skated a stride or two directly into the Bruins defender that contact was inevitable and no harm, no foul - resulted 130 feet from the Bruins net. Whatever you believe to be most accurate is your prerogative. I want to focus my attention on how this specific call, with the score 2-1 and 4:31 remaining in Game 7, fit into the overall standard that the refs employed throughout the game. When I do that, it is only reasonable to conclude there were too many inconsistencies to deem this a penalty at that particular time in the game. Before I explain why I believe this to be true I want to provide some background on how the officials prepare for a game of this nature and the assignment process. When approaching any playoff game, especially a deciding game or Game 7, it is vital that the officiating crew be well prepared mentally and physically. In this case, that process would actually begin at least a day before the game when the officials left home and travelled to Boston (they might have also anticipated or even been assigned to Game 7 prior to Game 6 being played in Montreal. In any event they would have likely watched that game closely on television). While the officials are responsible for their personal preparation and readiness, the series supervisor (in this case, Kris King) also has some responsibility to get the crew mentally prepared in a meeting he conducts at noon on the day of the game. He, of course, cant work the game for them so his job is more like that of a coach and motivator. Selecting the officials assigned to the game is the direct responsibiliity of Stephen Walkom, V.ddddddddddddP. of Officiating based on his evaluation process and that of his supervisors and Hockey Operations. Referee Dan ORourke has been selected to work the Stanley Cup Final on a couple of occasions. Dave Jackson returned to playoff assignments this season under Stephen Walkom after not participating in the playoffs from 2010-13 under boss Terry Gregson. The first period was crucial for the referees to set an acceptable standard and tone that hopefully the players would respond to and could be consistently applied throughout the game. From almost the opening puck drop key decisions were made on calls and non-calls that made this objective almost impossible to be maintained and achieve success. On the very first shift, Brad Marchand caught Michael Bournival with a high-stick to the head just inside the Montreal blue line that went un-penalized. Marchand then received the first penalty at 6:18 of the game for goalie interference assessed by referee Jackson. On this play, it was Andrei Markov of the Canadiens that cross-checked Marchand in the neck and caused the Bruins player to fall through the crease and contact Carey Price. The first penalty call is often crucial to set the standard and this one clearly sent the wrong message. At approximately 9:48 of the first period, Reilly Smith was given a rough ride with an obvious leg/stick trip takedown in front of the Habs net by Josh Gorges as Price caught on incoming puck. The same referee was once again in good position to see the play but chose not to call this tripping/interference infraction. At the other end of the ice, Zdeno Chara received a holding penalty following a puck battle with Rene Bourque against the boards where some detainment was exerted by Chara and a quick call resulted from Dan ORourke. These decisions set a difficult standard for the referees to maintain as it appeared the game was being worked differently from end of the ice to the other. It only took seven seconds into the second period when Brad Marchand was whistled for stopping hard at the crease and penalized for a snow-shower on Habs goalie Price. These calls are typically something that needs to be addressed early in a series and not in game seven. It would be at this juncture that some "game management" as I described in yesterdays column could be used to the refs advantage. Then at 17:06, David Krejci had his lower glove hand slashed by Lars Eller on the back-check as Krejci was attempting to redirect a centering pass from Torey Krug. Krejci had words with referee Jackson when no call was made. So now we move to the Johnny Boychuk interference penalty that was called with 4:31 remaining in regulation time of Game 7. Given all of the above events, plus the fact that Bournival did not attempt to skate around Boychuk in addition to some embellishment on the play, it would have been the appropriate time for the referee to keep his arm down and allow the play to continue. 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