Cross check question

[DanHS]

5-2 states that 'A player may not check his opponent with his crosse in a cross-check position'. Does the prohibition extend to the entire body of the opponent or the body and crosse?

Could you deliver a legal check against the crosse of the opponent in the thrusting motion or in the 'extended' position as long as you did not hit the body? Would you consider it a cross-check (illegal) if the first contact was to the cross but then continued to the body?

I had a partner comment that he thought the offending player hit stick first but I am not sure it is relevent.

[eme]

controlled stick-to-stick contact is legal. It's when that cross-check first hits the stick and then the body that a potential violation has occurred.