ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - The NFLs officiating chief has cleared Broncos receiver Wes Welker of any wrongdoing for his hit that knocked Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib out of Sundays AFC Championship. "It was a legal hit," Vice-President of Officiating Dean Blandino said on the NFL Network on Wednesday night. On Monday, New England coach Bill Belichick blasted Welker for the hit, calling it "one of the worst plays" hed seen in nearly four decades of coaching. Without mentioning his former player by name, Belichick said it "was a deliberate play by the receiver to take out Aqib, no attempt to get open." He added, "Ill let the league handle the discipline on that play." There will be no discipline for Welker; Blandino said there was simply no infraction of the rules. Welker, coming from the right, collided with Talib, who was running from the left to stay with his receiver, a split-second before Peyton Mannings pass went off the hands of receiver Demaryius Thomas a few yards away in the first quarter Sunday. No flag was thrown. Talib left the game with a knee injury and didnt return, and Manning threw for 400 yards in Denvers 26-16 win that sent the top-seeded Broncos to the Super Bowl. "The first potential foul would be for offensive pass interference; a receiver cant block downfield before the ball is touched, so the timing is important," Blandino said on his weekly appearance on the NFL Network. He noted that as "contact occurs, the ball is touched almost simultaneously. We dont have a foul for pass interference." "The other thing, is it unnecessary roughness? Under the current rules it isnt," Blandino said. "Its not late; Talib wasnt out of the play." Given that an injury occurred, Blandino said he expects the leagues competition committee to examine the play in the off-season "and determine if there needs to be a change. But under the current rules, this is a legal play." Welker, who had a cool relationship with Belichick before leaving New England as a free agent last off-season, hasnt been available for comment this week as the Broncos wont practice until Thursday. But after the game, Welker said, "it was one of those plays where its kind of a rub play and I was trying to get him to go over the top, and I think he was thinking the same thing and wanted to come underneath and we just kind of collided. ... It wasnt a deal where I was trying to hit him or anything like that." Broncos coach John Fox responded to Belichicks stinging criticism on Monday by saying Welker is a "a great player, high integrity. I can say that we were not doing anything with intent." At 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds, Welker is 4 inches shorter and 20 pounds lighter than Talib. Hes also wearing a special helmet to guard against further head injury after missing the final month of the season with his second concussion. Hes also never been known as a dirty player. Patriots safety Steve Gregory said he didnt think Welker would deliberately try to hurt a player, saying, "I dont think anybody plays that way, especially at this level of football with two great football teams in the Broncos and ourselves." Blandino said he has spoken with Belichick this week about the play "and obviously there is a difference of opinion there and something that well continue to look at during the off-season." ___ AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org ___ Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton Cheap Hurricanes Jerseys . 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Bjoerndalen, who had failed to win any major race for two years before Sochi, writes in a Facebook entry that he is "full of energy and inspiration" after winning the 10-kilometre sprint and mixed relay at last months Olympics.WINNIPEG -- Blake Wheeler shared the joy Wednesday night. "Ive told you guys a million times, I almost get a bigger joy out of seeing other guys score than scoring myself," he said after putting away the winner at 1:42 of overtime to beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-4. Earlier, he set up Andrew Ladds second goal of the night and Eric Tangradis second goal of the season. In all, Wheeler finished the night with his 35th assist and team-leading 24th goal, cementing his position as the Jets scoring leader with 59 points. Evander Kane also scored for Winnipeg. It was a big night for the Jets as well (32-30-9), as they claimed a little more ground in their uphill climb to the playoffs. They still sit two points behind Dallas and four points behind Phoenix, which now holds the eighth and final wild-card berth. For Colorado (44-20-6), the loss let the Chicago Blackhawks move past them and claim sole possession of second spot in the Central Division after a 4-0 win over the St. Louis Blues. Winnipegs playoff hopes remain a longshot, given the teams it will face as it closes out the season, but it was a big lift nonetheless to take the season series against Colorado 3-2. "It was a big win for us, especially for the goals we gave up," said Ladd. "Were not that bad of a team. Weve played some good hockey of late and we havent got the results." As for his own game, it was also a good night with his 20th and 21st goals of the season. "First one, we had good transition out of our end and I got the puck and a little space and got a good shot off. And the second one, Wheels made a great play driving down and I found some open space and put the puck on the net again." Colorado coach Patrick Roy gave Wheeler credit for his patience in holding the puck and waiting for the right moment to score the winner. "Both teams had good chances," said Roy after his second loss in a row. His homecoming to Montreal ended in a 6-3 loss to the Canadiens Tuesday night.dddddddddddd "At the end they made a great play. Wheeler I thought made a really good play and scored a nice goal." It was the fourth time out of the five games theyve played this season that the Jets and Avalanche couldnt settle it in regulation time. Ryan OReilly, Gabriel Landeskog, Nick Holden and Cody McLeod scored for Colorado. It also was rookie goaltender Reto Berras first start since he was acquired by Colorado from the Calgary Flames at the trade deadline. Landeskog said Berra deserved credit. "I think he made some huge saves in the third when we really needed it the most," said Landeskog, who scored the tying goal for Colorado at the end of the first period to make it 2-2. "I remember my first game with Colorado, certainly a lot of nerves." It didnt help Winnipegs chances that defenceman Zach Bogosian joined the lengthy scratch list, which already included Dustin Byfuglien and goaltender Ondrej Pavelec, who are listed as day to day. Replacement Paul Postma was grabbing a cup of coffee when he got word he had to play. He responded with two assists, including one on Wheelers overtime goal. "Its not too hard to get pumped up in front of this crowd," he said. The Avalanche had their own no-shows as Paul Stastny was out after playing in Montreal on Tuesday following a four-game absence due to injury. They also lost forward John Mitchell in Montreal. But injuries and tough schedules arent uncommon at this time of year and no one was using them as an excuse. "Every teams playing a tough schedule right now and March and Aprils going to be tough for everybody," said Landeskog. Notes: Despite the disparity in their NHL rankings, the Jets and Avalanche went into Wednesdays game with two wins each in their season series, although Colorado had the only win in regulation time. Even the regulation win was decided by one goal. 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