Day 45, Rule 45

The game: Pittsburgh vs. Tampa Bay.

Why I chose it: The defending champs face off against a team on the comeback trail. Plus, it's loaded with players who are about to become Olympians.

Pit stop for: The Switzerland vs. Russia World Junior Game. The Portland Winterhawks' own Nino Niederreiter just scored the game-tying goal with 32 seconds to go - it's going to OT. There's a crowd cheering just for him. And...here it comes....he just scored the game winner after two near-miss attempts. The Swiss team has never beaten the Russians at the world juniors. With this victory, they move on to the semi-final medal round.

The rule: Section 6, Physical Fouls. Rule 45, Clipping.

Number of sections in the rule: 6.

Definition: Clipping is the act of throwing the body, from any direction, across or below the knees of an opponent. A player may not deliver a check in a "clipping" manner, nor lower his own body position to deliver a check on or below an opponent's knees. A minor penalty can be assessed for clipping, but if you do it with intent to injure or actual injury occurs, it's a major, match or misconduct.

My favorite highlight: 45.1, Clipping. The above definition and the following: An illegal "low hit" is a check that is delivered by a player who may or may not have both skates on the ice, with his sole intent to check the opponent in the area of his knees. A player may not lower his body position to deliver a check to an opponent's knees.

The final score: Tampa Bay 3, Pittsburgh 1. Major dilemma: I don't know whether to be happy for Tampa for the continuing comeback or sad for the Pens' loss.

Morals of the story:

The game: Hello! I always thought this move was charging. I see guys do it and I'm like, why? It's not like you can say you just fell down. This "is what it is." You do it, you're toast.

Life: I think I saw a few women do this during the post-Christmas shoe sale at Nordstrom. Girlfight on a Saturday afternoon shopping excursion - you don't want to get in the middle of that. But what if you did? What would be the penalty? A minor penalty shall be assessed to anyone desperate enough to do this to save $10 on boots, in the form of forfeiting said purchase all together, along with any sale coupons. A major penalty of not being able to return to the store for the half yearly sale will be assessed if the offending shopper injures anyone in the attempt to clip another customer.

Next up on 1/3: Section 6, Physical Fouls. Rule 46, Elbowing.