Here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished.

• The timing of stories today got us all turned around, so Puck Headlines will return on Thursday. Expect the Crosby Golden Roar vote to begin on Friday, through the weekend. Any entries you think have to make the cut, make the case in the comments here.

Preview: New York Rangers at New Jersey Devils, 7 p.m. EST. For both teams, the stakes are rather obvious: They either build momentum with a huge win over a hated rival, or they get pushed into a deeper depression with a loss. The Devils are in a 6-12-2 funk that's seen them tumble out of the division lead. The Rangers are in a three-game winless streak as they try and climb back into the eighth seed. Blueshirt Banter has a good across-the-Hudson preview.

Preview: Los Angeles Kings at Chicago Blackhawks, 8:30 p.m. EST. Game of the night, as the Blackhawks look to bounce back from an awful loss to Detroit and the Kings look to ride high after a 6-0 dismantling of the Blue Jackets. Antti Niemi(notes) gets the nod for Chicago, but the big news for the 'Hawks is the return of Adam Burish to the lineup to cause havoc and make women swoon. 

Preview: Vancouver Canucks at Phoenix Coyotes, 10 p.m. EST. The nightmare road trip from hell comes to an end! The Coyotes fans see this game as a measuring stick. The Canucks, 8-5-0 in the NRTFH, see it as their last road game until Feb. March 23. 

Check out previews and updated scores for all of today's games (like the ones in progress) on the Y! Sports NHL scores and scheds page.

Evening Reading

• Call off the dogs, tell the national guard to stand down and bring us all the way down to DEFCON 2: Sidney Crosby's(notes) stick and glove have been located. His stick? It was headed, by mistake, to the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in St. Petersburg, Russia where it would be turned into Official Ovechkin Great 8 designer toothpicks. The glove? Inside Team Canada teammate Patrice Bergeron's(notes) bag, who can't carry Crosby's jock but apparently can carry his other equipment. So does Bergeron get any Reebok bounty for this? [Kurtenblog, and check out some awesome inside the locker room shots]

• Sid is donating his $20,000 gold medal bonus to charity. [THN]

• "A New York jury has awarded $2.25 million in damages to three members of the all-girls Windsor Wildcats team involved in a fatal bus crash in 2005." [CP]

• As Puck Buddy Rhett said: "That cult that is the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament begins today."

• Touching story about the hockey community rallying around former NHL-er Jeff Christian, whose daughter is fighting for her life. [FanHouse]

• From Puck Buddy Jenn D.: "The Gwinnett Gladiators are proud to announce that they will sign two-time Cy Young Award winner Tom Glavine to be an honorary member of the team for their Saturday, March 20th home game vs. the Trenton Devils. As a member of the team, Glavine will don the familiar black, garnet and gold uniform of the Glads and will skate with the team for player introductions and for pre-game ceremonies."

• Good piece on Brian Pothier(notes) returning to DC to face the Capitals as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes. [DC Sports Bog]

• Have you ever wondered what the aftermath of a failed radio bit looks like in an NHL locker room? Wonder no more as Sportsradio 1310, The Ticket's "Scoops Callahan" tries to speak to Alex Ovechkin(notes) and gets tossed from the Washington Capitals press area (via Bob Sturm's blog). Check out a full compilation; still disappointed he doesn't dress the part.

• The other rules changes suggested by the NHL GMs: Two-ref system in the AHL and tie-breaker that would subtract shootout wins from regulation wins, which is great. [NHL.com]

• Chris Pronger(notes) of the Philadelphia Flyers on head-shot rules: "So, you're going to let up when a guy has his head down, so then he beats you to the net and scores a goal in a big playoff game or a crucial game towards the tail end of the regular season? Then, you're getting critiqued by the media and the fans: why didn't you hit him? ... It's a lose-lose if a player lets up on somebody and something bad happens against his team like a goal or penalty. You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. It's a fine line. I haven't seen the rule and I don't know what they want to institute, but any rule is going to have its ups and its downsides." [Flyers]

• Fans will have a chance to boo, er, see Rick Nash's(notes) Team Canada jersey and gold medal at an upcoming home game. [Blue Jackets]

• Chris Chelios(notes) drags his old ass back to the NHL and the Atlanta Thrashers blue line. [CP]

• Finally, you may have heard the Hershey created a giant chocolate Stanley Cup. You'll want to avoid it after seeing this. [The Cheap Seats]

Puck Buddy Comment of the Day:

Sven M. has a plan for expanding the playoffs.

I've been an advocate of the play-in idea for a while, but with this setup -

1. Top two teams from each division automatically qualify for the playoffs.

2. The remaining teams are ranked as they are today.

3. Ten plays at seven, Nine plays at eight, winners make the playoffs.

4. The two survivors are inserted into the playoff bracket and things are re-seeded as normal.

[NOTE - odds are very good that the re-bracketing does not effect the league's ability to plan the playoff schedule, as the three division winners and the best second-place team already know they'll be hosting their first round game before the play-ins. The only issue would be where the bottom four teams are going.]

Results -

1. Divisional play is truly emphasized for the first time since the league moved to the current 1-8 conference seeding, goofiness involving the Southeast division notwithstanding.

2. Four high-stakes games added to the schedule without the dilution of the playoffs caused by the proposed full tournament.

3. Season only prolonged by two days' worth of games at the most [as opposed to the full week that a tournament would likely require when travel is built in].

4. Number of playoff 'races' increased dramatically, with at least three of import in each conference [the second / third divide within the division] that did not exist before.

5. Every team outside the three division leaders would be in a fight, to either avoid having to play a play-in game or qualify for the play-in games.

6. Small rest periods granted to the top six teams as a reward for being better than the other teams in their division.

I acknowledge the downside of this proposal is that occasionally a team like Atlanta this year would get the bye in spite of being 30 points adrift of the division leader [and that my personal favourite team, the Kings, might get screwed by this idea if it was in place this year], but I think the advantages of the proposal override such a statistical quirk.

Okay, someone else play devil's advocate on this.

Wait, we were supposed to read that whole thing?

Bold Prediction: Rangers over Devils, and Sean Avery(notes) scores.

Marc Delphine was fond of the logo a volunteer had designed for his campaign for a U.S. Senate seat in Oregon: a silver star wrapped in a star-spangled banner that his designer told him evoked the letter 'D' for branding purposes.

It certainly was a memorable symbol. In fact, it was already being used by the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets, as Delphine was stunned to discover on Wednesday.

The Blue Jackets PR staff was alerted by fans over Twitter of the trademark infringement, and passed the matter along to their legal department and then to the NHL. Delphine said he received a phone call from The Oregonian newspaper about misuse of the logo, followed by "30 consecutive emails" from around the country about it.

"They were all like, 'What are you doing with their logo?' and I was like, 'I didn't make the logo!' and we pulled it immediately," said Delphine, a Libertarian candidate making history as the first openly homosexual man to run for the U.S. Senate in Oregon. "I'm not interested in any kind of infringement. We don't even need a logo."

He said a volunteer associated with his Web site developer created the logo and donated it to the campaign. As you can see, the Blue Jackets' current logo (right) was simply flipped from left to right and the red circle synonymous with the Ohio state flag was removed. Instead of a 'D' the logo actually makes a 'C' for Columbus.

Sometimes you get what you pay for, according to Delphine. "I don't know if you know anything about Libertarian candidates, but they typically don't have a lot of money coming in. I was thinking this was so nice, but it was too good to be true," said Delphine, a self-professed "huge sports fan" but not a hockey fan. "It's not very original."

The logo was removed from the candidate's official Web site, though it remained on Delphine's Facebook page as of Wednesday afternoon.

He said he hoped his candidacy wouldn't become synonymous with this logo foul-up. "If anything, I hope this raises awareness for the Columbus Blue Jackets," said Delphine.

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Boston Bruins announcer Jack Edwards threw a fit on Tuesday over the NHL's delay in doling out discipline to Pittsburgh Penguins winger Matt Cooke(notes) for his hit on Marc Savard(notes). But now that the League has announced there'll be no suspension for the blindside hit that may have ended Savard's season, we all know why they implemented stall tactics.

On Wednesday morning, hours before the announcement, the NHL's GMs made Cookie's hit illegal and suspension-worthy ... starting next season (and pending further approval). The NHL can claim consistency in not having taken any action against Mike Richards(notes) for his blindside hit against David Booth(notes) or on this Cooke hit, while promising fans that the loophole has been closed and these stretcher-ride head-checks are being legislated out the games.

You know ... next season.

NHL VP Colin Campbell tipped his hand on Cooke when discussing the hit on Fan 590 in Toronto, vehemently claiming no elbow was involved and that it was "shoulder-to-head" contact. He wasn't framing the following his as a cheap shot, and clearly the NHL's ruling is in sync with that belief:

We disagreed at the time of the hit, and disagree now. The hit came after Savard had fired the puck on net and there was intent to injure on the part of Cooke, who doesn't get the benefit of the doubt as a repeat offender. Again: Richards hit Booth after Booth made a backhand pass while skating at Richards; Cooke hit Savard after Savard shot the puck.

Cooke earned himself another suspension in our eyes, but obviously not those of the NHL. The situation will be rectified in 2010-11, but try telling that to Marc Savard. No, seriously, try to: He'll nod off in the middle of the word "rectified" thanks to Cooke.

Lyle "Spector" Richardson of Fox Sports? Check. Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period? Check, we think. Must be the return of the Puck Daddy Hockey Live Chat, in which we drop the word "rumors" after the trade deadline but are hesitant to use the word "playoffs" with about 18 games left.

Join us at 1 p.m. EST for playoff race talk, GM meetings banter, tales of Olympic debauchery and hamburger women. Bring your questions, bring your speculation and, above all, bring the funny. We'll supply the cynical answers and abrupt shifts in tone.

Pending a rubber stamp from the competition committee and the Board of Governors, the Mike Richards(notes) hit on David Booth(notes) will be an illegal hit next season. But according to a proposed rule change, so would Doug Weight's hit on Brandon Sutter from 2008.

The annual GM meetings in lovely Boca Raton ended with the suits proposing a rule change for hits to the head. From NHL.com:

The following language was agreed to unanimously by the group: "A lateral, back pressure or blindside hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact is not permitted.

A violation of the above will result in a minor or major penalty and shall be reviewed for possible supplemental discipline."

The rule goes to the competition committee of players and GMs, and then to the NHL Board of Governors if it's approved. Which, one imagines, it will be for the 2010-11 season. While the Matt Cooke(notes)/Marc Savard hit was the hot topic before the meetings -- and don't you just love this rule being approved before Colin Campbell gets around to making a decision on Cooke's mugging of Savard? -- it was Richards/Booth that inspired this rule. From NHL.com and Dallas Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk:

"We're not trying to reinvent the wheel though. We have a great game. The David Booth hit is kind of the alarming one that everyone kind of took notice of, so I think it'll be for the good of the game if we can straighten this out."

Again, this is a good step toward "straightening out" hits to the head: We were in favor of this type of incremental rule change, rather than banning all contact with the head on checks. One of our arguments against a total head-shot ban was that it creates more questions than it'll answer, because the NHL's officials and League disciplinarians are hardly arbiters of consistency or fairness. Think Ovechkin on Jagr in Vancouver: Brilliant hockey hit, technically illegal via the IIHF rules. You think that gets penalized in the NHL, even with a head-shot ban?

Yet even this blindside rule is too vague. "Minor or major penalty ... shall be reviewed for possible supplemental discipline?" Grow a pair and set a standard. Blindside hit, five-minute major and a mandatory one-game suspension. Boom: Culture changed.

Otherwise, we're still all going to be writing and reading about controversial hits/"where's the penalty?!"/ NHL Wheel of Discipline nonsense, amplified by now having a vague standard of enforcement.

But in the end: Round of applause to the NHL GMs for finally taking action on this issue, and doing so without giving Mike Milbury the chance to use the term "pansificaiton" again.

For all the facts, figures and revelations that have emerged from the 2010 Winter Olympic hockey tournament, none can equal the hilarious confirmation that Canadians fans were more dedicated to watching the gold medal game than answering nature's call.

From Pat's Papers comes this graph from EPCOR, the water utility in Edmonton, which tracked the local water consumption during the Feb. 28 gold medal game between the U.S. and Canada. EPCOR told the Globe & Mail that it saw a similar pattern during 2006 Stanley Cup final games between the Edmonton Oilers and the Carolina Hurricanes.

As you can see, consumption reached its lowest point during the medal ceremony, just edging out Sidney Crosby's(notes) game-winning goal.* It reached its highest point after the gold medal ceremony, when Canadian fans were on Cloud 9 at the same time their back teeth were apparently floating.

We imagine the inverse of this chart could be published as an accurate depiction of beer consumption in Edmonton on that day as well. Meanwhile, in other gold medal aftermath news:

• Canwest reported on Wednesday that an Air Canada flight out of Vancouver was delayed when passengers ignored calls to board while they watched the gold medal game on airport TVs. Air Canada chief executive Calin Rovinescu: "We incurred a flight delay for a reason Air Canada had not yet encountered in over 72 years of existence."

• XP Events, which handled concessions for the Vancouver Games, gambled and won: They didn't order a single item depicting a U.S. gold medal in men's hockey, but invested in gold medal hats and T-shirts from Nike in case Canada won. XP President Alan Few told Sports Business Journal (reg. required) that "a few thousand units" were sold immediately after the gold medal ceremony, and no doubt continue to move.

• Finally, a man robbed a pretzel shop in suburban Buffalo this week in a shoplifted Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh Penguins jersey. As if someone wearing No. 87 hadn't already ripped something precious from the hands of a Buffalo employee ...

Thanks to Dave C. for the pretzel bit; and roughly two dozen readers for the Edmonton water usage tips.

* Ed. Note: Story originally, and incorrectly, had lowest level of use at the end of the third period.

Ah, the sweet naiveté of September 2009, when we predicted that Victor Hedman(notes) would be the NHL's top rookie defenseman, Cody Hodgson(notes) and Sergei Shirokov(notes) were going to be impact players for the Vancouver Canucks and Jimmy Howard(notes) didn't warrant even an honorable mention.

With roughly 16-18 games left for most teams, the Calder Trophy race is fairly solidified and rather surprising ... at least in the sense that, for the second straight season, we may not see an offensive player win the rookie prize.

At least if Tyler Myers(notes) or Jimmy Howard have anything to say about it. 

Colorado Avalanche rookie Matt Duchene(notes), the No. 3 pick last summer, is going to win the points title barring a collapse. He has 47 points in 66 games, which means he's on target for around 60. The last offensive rookie to win the Calder was Patrick Kane(notes) of the Chicago Blackhawks with 72 points in 82 games.

John Tavares(notes) of the New York Islanders had to be the best offensive rookie in order to win the Calder, and he's second overall at 18 goals and 18 assists in 66 games. That's one point better than Devils-turned-Thrashers rookie Niclas Bergfors(notes) (35 in 64 games) and two better than James van Riemsdyk(notes) of the Philadelphia Flyers (33 points in 62 games).

In hindsight, Boomer Gordon of XM Radio was right: Tavares is going to be right around Steven Stamkos's(notes) rookie numbers (23-23-46); so congratulations to the Islanders for managing the hype and expectations better than the Tampa Bay Lightning did, and for what we expect will be a breakout sophomore season for Tavares in 2010-11.

With none of the offensive players dominating, the focus returns to the other side of the puck for the second straight season. Buffalo Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers still has to be the Calder favorite, even though he's cooled off offensively. He leads all rookies in ice time (23:40) and blocked shots (110), although his giveaways (71) actually place him fourth in the NHL.

Just like Tavares can't win the Calder with Duchene leading the scoring race, Michael Del Zotto(notes) of the New York Rangers (6-22-28) can't win the Calder with Myers dominating in ice time and with Del Zotto anchored by that minus-20.

If it's not Myers for the Calder, it'll be a goalie. A look at the state of that race:

Despite Washington Capitals goalie Semyon Varlamov's(notes) still-stunning record, cross his name off the list. He doesn't have the starts and is fighting for a playoff roster spot at this point in the season, and that's not exactly Calder material.

It's Jimmy Howard vs. Tuukka Rask(notes) of the Boston Bruins, and Howard has comparable numbers with a larger sample size -- although Rask will have his backers. Howard's been inconsistent in 2010, as the Red Wings try to ride him to the postseason. But his Calder buzz is growing, according to Randy Sportak of QMI (via Kukla):

The sudden talk of Jimmy Howard being a Calder Trophy candidate has a nice ring to it.

The Detroit Red Wings rookie goaltender can't listen.

"I'm not going to lie -- I hear those things, but I try to let it go in one ear and out the other," said the goalkeeper who has worked his way into be the No. 1 man for the defending Western Conference champions. "I'm not worried about it. First and foremost, we've got to make the playoffs."

If the Wings make the cut and Howard's at the helm, it's going to be interesting to see if we end up with back-to-back goalies winning the Calder for the first time since Jack Gelineau (Boston Bruins) and Terry Sawchuk (Detroit Red Wings) in 1949-51.

But it's still hard to believe this isn't Myers's trophy to lose, considering his impact all season.

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm" is the famous quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson. The same can be said for some NHL general managers who are currently down in Boca Raton, Fla., trying to convince their colleagues of changes that the League should instill in the future.

The GMs meetings are a laboratory of ideas with many failures, few successes, but plenty of open minds. Who could forget ESPN's Pierre LeBrun donning a prototype of a helmet that would provide better protection for players in a fight on Hockey Night in Canada?

In the past, these meetings were held not long before the NHL trade deadline and the GMs were a bit more focused on changing personnel than brainstorming potential rule changes. Though last year, Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland did propose setting the trade deadline during the meetings.

While headshots have been the topic du jour this week, during the breakout sessions, four groups of general managers discuss various proposals for improving the game. Coming out of these groups, many ideas gain little traction, while a few are picked up among the GMs and some find themselves presented to all 30 GMs and eventually seek the approval of the NHL's Competition Committee and Board of Governors before being enacted.

Some ideas are logical and some are result of great out-of-the-box thinking, but the brainstorming sessions are what help to jump-start future discussions and get the ball rolling on other ideas.

After the jump, we take a look at five proposals that were brought up in the breakout meetings this week and examine whether we see a future in the NHL for them. Which ones would you like to see adopted for the League, if any?

Reporting on these proposals was done over on NHL.com and via Bob McKenzie at TSN.

1. The first standings tiebreaker is changed from "most wins" to "most regulation/OT wins"

Florida Panthers GM Randy Sexton would whole-heartedly agree with this proposal. Had this been the case last season, the Panthers (3 shootout wins) would have earned the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference over the Montreal Canadiens (7 shootout wins).

GM Scott Howson of the Columbus Blue Jackets formed this proposal, which looks to minimize the impact of the shootout. It's almost a dig at the shootout, with GMs wanting teams to go for the win in regulation or overtime. The shootout certainly has its detractors among fans, but is that disdain reaching the GMs now?

This idea has some legs and is likely to be put to a vote before the meetings end.

2. Overtime during the regular season becomes eight minutes. The first half to be played four-on-four and the last half three-on-three.

Another proposal to avoid the shootout and push for games to end in overtime. With the two halves, it's similar to what we've seen in the Winter Classic during windy conditions where the final period is stopped at the 10-minute mark and both teams switch sides.

Four-on-four provides enough open ice so that it doesn't turn into a game of professional shinny. Going three-aside with an extra point on the line is silly and could force teams to play cautious so to not turn the puck over and find themselves defending an odd-man rush.

If overtime is to be changed, keep it four-on-four, but extend it to a 10-minute period.

3. The 8th seed in each conference will be won via a one-and-done tournament between teams in 8th-15th place.

New York Islanders general manager Garth Snow devised this idea, sort of piggy-backing on March Madness to create a little excitement before the real playoffs begin. Consider it the NHL's version of the NCAA play-in game where the winner would likely find themselves out of the playoffs a short time later.

The "tournament," according to Snow, would last between five and seven days, meaning the week after the regular season ends fans would be stuck watching the bottom eight teams in each conference play instead of the best in each conference. Will that get you "Cup Crazy"?

If there's something all hockey fans can agree on, it's that the one thing the NHL does right is the playoffs. Tinkering with the postseason is something that should never be done.

4. Coaches will be allowed one challenge per game.

Like the NFL, coaches could decide once per game to have a play reviewed. It's unclear if only specific plays would be eligible to be challenged like in the NFL or if anything can be reviewed. For the most part, the NHL does a good job with their review system even though a few tweaks may be needed as to what can be looked at after the fact. Referees and linesman also do a commendable job of knowing what plays should be looked at, though some extra barking from a team's bench might help in the process.

5. All-Star Game rosters are selected by two "captains."

Think of it like a really big pond hockey game between you and your friends. Ray Shero of the Pittsburgh Penguins threw out one of the more creative ideas of the week in hopes of helping to spice up the midseason spectacle that has lost its luster over time.

How the captains would be selected is up for discussion, but given the way NHL marketing has been, it wouldn't be crazy to see "Team Ovie" and "Team Sidney" replace the East/West format in this scenario.

Can't you just see the puck bunnies creating their own "Twilight" knock-off T-shirts?

It's a fun idea, but if you thought the snubs were bad using fan voting, imagine if Alex Ovechkin(notes) and Sidney Crosby(notes) were the ones making the decisions? Could Philadelphia Flyers fans hate either player more if one of their own was left off either roster?

• • •

Though many of the proposals in the breakout sessions may not get to a vote or get passed, the groundwork is now there for future discussions. Some ideas may even be brought up at future meetings with GMs coming back to the table with a few tweaks to the ideas.

Do any of those five ideas catch your eye and are changes you'd like to eventually see?

No. 1 star: Mikael Samuelsson(notes), Vancouver Canucks

After playing 531 career regular-season games without a hat trick, Samuelsson scored three goals in the second period alone as the Canucks erased deficits of 3-0 and 4-1 in what would conclude as a 6-4 victory. The Canucks won for a league-leading 10th time when trailing after two periods, not surprising when you realize they've been outscored 25-6 in the first period during their arduous road trip. Samuelsson, who scored twice on rebounds in close and also assisted on Daniel Sedin's(notes) empty-netter, has been critical of the team's tendency to fall behind. Hats off to the Swedish Olympic snub.

No. 2 star: Jarome Iginla(notes), Calgary Flames

A 4-2 win allowed Calgary to leapfrog Detroit in the race to eliminate San Jose from the playoffs for the final postseason spot out West. We'll expend a "did you know" bullet early here: Iginla's third-period, game-tying goal was his first against Detroit since March of 2004. About 90 seconds later he batted a puck out of the air and off the leg of teammate Rene Bourque(notes) for what held up as the game-winner.

No. 3 star: Scott Gomez(notes), Montreal Canadiens

Gomez led a balanced attack with one goal and two assists in a 5-3 victory over the desperate Lightning. Gomez, who has 15 points in 11 games dating back to early February, was involved in the scoring of Montreal's first three goals, as the Habs chased Antero Niittymaki(notes) before the midway mark of the second period.

Honorable Mention: Getting another shot to provide stability in the Nashville net, Dan Ellis(notes) made 30 saves in a 2-1 win over Atlanta to strengthen the Preds' hold on No. 7 in the West. … Nice homecoming for Toronto native Luca Caputi(notes), who scored to force overtime in his first home game in a Leafs sweater, an eventual 4-3 win. … Steven Stamkos(notes) set a Tampa franchise record with his 17th power-play goal and extended his team-record point streak to 17 games in a losing effort. … Henrik and Daniel Sedin combined for six points (one goal) and were a combined plus-5 in Vancouver's win. … Daniel Alfredsson(notes) had three assists as Ottawa got the best of Edmonton, 4-1.

Did You Know?: The Flyers' 3-2 win Tuesday was their 15th straight over the Islanders, the longest current string of wins by one team over another in the league.

Dishonorable Mention: Giveaways don't get much uglier than this one (video). Mark Popovic's(notes) turnover led directly to a Nashville goal as Atlanta's post-break slide continued. … Boston let three one-goal leads slip away in failing to distance itself from the pursuers in the East. … The Wings were outshot 14-4 in the third period and left the ice to a chorus of boos after being outscored 3-0 in a critical loss. … One night after Columbus registered only 11 shots in Los Angeles, Minnesota matched that futility in a 3-2 shootout loss to Florida. Actually, let's face it, they exceeded that futility, as the Wild were on home ice and had the benefit of a full 4-on-4 overtime period.

If we're going to ban hits to the head in the NHL, then Step 1 is giving every referee an anatomy text book.

As the Sportsnet announcers mention at the end of the following clip, referee Brad Meier was arguing with Ottawa Senators Coach Cory Clouston that Sens forward Chris Neil(notes) had been cross-checked on the arm by Edmonton Oilers defenseman Ryan Whitney(notes) in the first period of Tuesday night's 4-1 Ottawa win. Which would be true if Neil's arm was on the side of his head like the Rachel Dratch mutant baby from SNL:

Whitney was given a 2-minute minor for cross-checking, which is simply farcical. The only way he's not getting at least a double-minor there is if Meier ascribed to the "like Ryan Whitney would ever do that" defense.

Neil ended up playing 14:21 for the game without recording a point or a shot. No word if he kept bumping Jeff Deslauriers like a broken jukebox for the rest of the game after Whitney made him hear lumber.

Stick tap to the unstoppable Daywalk3r for the clip.