part, and I feel for Player Safety, they have to rule by the lette

Christian Horner says Red Bulls objective after the summer break is to cut the gap to Mercedes, which he says was consistently around three tenths in Germany.Red Bull moved into second position ahead of Ferrari after its double podium at Hockenheim. The result came after Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen demonstrated Red Bull can be a match for Mercedes on race pace by keeping Nico Rosberg comfortably at bay in the final stint.Team boss Horner has turned his attention towards making further in-roads after F1s four-week break.When asked if Germany was proof Red Bull is now clearly second in the pecking order, he replied: There have been ebbs and flows but that is where we are in the constructors championship at this stage in the year. There is still a long way to go, but the objective was to come into the summer break ahead of Ferrari, and now it gives everybody the chance for a well earned rest before the final nine races. There are some races on the calendar that will hopefully be favorable to us.And our objective is to try and close that gap still further to Mercedes ahead. So we were on average within .3 of a second of them [in Germany], and what was really encouraging on that final stint was that Nico was not able to make any inroads into either of our drivers on the soft tyre.Though all the teams are looking ahead to 2017 Horner is convinced Red Bull has enough coming this year to bridge the gap.We still have a few bits that we can tidy up on the car this year that are in the pipeline that have been kicked off some time ago. There is still progress that is going on with the engine, with drivability. And there is some positive things in the pipeline that hopefully can help us try to reduce that gap yet further. Discount Nike Dunk . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. Thats a sure sign that a team is in a slump and is searching for answers. "Its embarrassing to be at home and play the way we did," said defenceman Josh Gorges. Wholesale Nike Dunk . -- Al Jefferson found a groove just in time for the Charlotte Bobcats. http://www.cheapnikedunk.net/ . -- Team after team passed on Andre Ellington in the draft. Nike Shoes Dunk . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. Cheap Nike Dunk . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. TORONTO -- Pending free agents remain the biggest concern when it comes to expansion after the GMs meetings Tuesday.The Las Vegas expansion team and some of the 30 existing teams are worried about less-than-honest agreements circumventing the expansion-draft rules.What, GMs looking for loopholes? Come on.Specifically, GMs worry that Vegas could take advantage of the 48-hour window before the expansion draft in June to quietly agree to terms on a deal with a pending unrestricted free agent, then wait until July 1 to sign him, so as to pluck another player off a teams roster in the expansion draft.This would circumvent the rule that if a team loses a free agent to Vegas in that 48-hour free-agent-signing window, it cannot lose another player in the expansion draft. Some GMs worry that veteran GM George McPhee, who wasnt born yesterday, would take advantage of the situation.Conversely?George has the same concerns about existing teams doing those types of deals with players they dont have to protect, deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Tuesday after the GMs meeting.McPhee wisely worries that a team or two might do a drawer deal with a pending UFA but not officially sign it until after the expansion draft. Why? Teams dont have to protect pending free agents because they arent eligible for the expansion draft. Heres an example: If the San Jose Sharks didnt officially re-sign Joe Thornton until after the expansion draft, they could protect another player.There has to be a high level of diligence to make sure those things dont happen and to make sure people know there will be significant penalties imposed if they were to screw around with the rules, Daly said.Daly said violators of the expansion rules forgo a first-round draft pick, so penalties in the same vein would be appropriate.?New Jersey Devils GM Ray Shero insisted anyone would be crazy to attempt that type of circumvention.I certainly dont want to be involved in that because I certainly love my job and cant afford the fine, Shero said with a smile. Sure, we talked about it today [in the GMs meeting]. Those are the what-ifs? But with anything, everything has to pass the smell test with the league. You got to have some big you-know-whats to screw around with that.Rule 48 rages onAs one GM succinctly put it Tuesday, the consensus on Rule 48 is that there is no consensus.The room is split among GMs who fear that tweaking Rule 48 will further decrease the physicality of the game and those who are fearful of blindside hits -- hits to a player who doesnt see it coming -- and want the blindside language put back into Rule 48 (blindside was taken out in 2012).NHL Player Safety met with eight GMs on Monday ahead of Tuesdays full GMs meeting in order to get a head start on the raging Rule 48 debate thhat was renewed after?Toronto Maple Leafs?center?Nazem Kadris hit on the Vancouver Canucks Daniel Sedin two weeks ago.dddddddddddd That hit didnt warrant a suspension because the shoulder was hit first, so it wasnt deemed a head shot. But it was definitely a blindside hit to a vulnerable player.?Now what? Said one of the eight GMs in the room Monday when they voted on the Kadri-Sedin hit: The room was split.It will be talked about again at the March meetings, but finding consensus is proving difficult.It is the hardest part,?Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said. Im sure if you put 15 of you media guys in the room and ask to raise your hand, yes or no, youre probably going to be split on a lot of things. And thats generally the conversation here. Theres a lot of passion on both sides of the coin when it comes to hitting and making sure that is still an integral part of the game because nobody wants to see that lost. Now, certainly the mindset is players safety first. The hard part, and I feel for Player Safety, they have to rule by the letter of the rule.Added?Philadelphia Flyers?GM Ron Hextall: No one wants to see blindside hits, but when you put that blindside [language] in [Rule 48], youre going to eliminate a lot of things. You also encourage players to turn away from hits. Its not as easy and simple as people think it is. I wish it was. I think its one of those issues that needs to be looked at and studied and talked about before any rash decision is made.Colorado Avalanche GM and Hall of Famer Joe Sakic said he doesnt like hits on vulnerable players, but he added that the player with the puck has responsibility too.Theres some good, hard hits, and youve got to keep that, Sakic said. I also think its up to the players with the puck that you got to keep your head up as well. You have to have awareness.Shootout change coming?St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong proposed discussion about tweaking the shootout.My thought process was that we had great drama in Sochi with what T.J. Oshie did, Armstrong said, referring to Oshies being given and scoring on multiple shootout attempts in a game against the Russians in the 2014 Winter Olympics.The Blues GM proposed that teams use three shooters, but if the shootout goes on, coaches could deploy any shooter they want, even the same player over and over again. In other words, it would be similar to international rules.As another GM said, why do fans want to see the seventh defenseman or 13th forward take a shootout attempt when the shootouts go long? Why not put your best players in the spotlight for the whole shootout?The GMs will discuss it again at the March meetings. ' ' '