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.

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.