A player makes a chech and in the process loses his stick. The stick is not broken. The referee picks up the stick and places it on the shelf along the boards. This does not seem proper as it takes the stick out of play in effect penalizing the player who dropped it because he was not aware where it was. Any thoughts?

Just did a game last night. Player lost stick and abandoned it. I moved it along the boards so the but end and toe were on the ice, and the stick propped against the boards. Why? As an official I am always aware of my skating lanes being clear, especially for my safety. Then, you can truly not worry about your skating and focus on the play and players.

Notice I said the player had abandoned the stick. For an official to move a stick before a player has abandoned it, would be improper. If another player was to do this, the official could assess an "interference penalty" to that player. So timing is important however, I can relate to an official that wants to get the stick out of the way for safety reasons.