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So I was reading that Mario was inducted into the order of Canada yesterday and it got me to thinkin about Stevie. I want to take nothing away from Mario because I became a big fan of his later in his career but I dont know if he deserves this honor and if he does then Stevie certainly also deserves to get it. Some fans will remember that Mario refused to play for Canada MANY times in his career and played his entire career in the US. When its all said and done Stevie has more career points, more World Championship and Olympic medals, more Stanley Cups and also managed the team that just won the Gold in Vancouver.

Sounds like a plan We fans must help kronwall in any way we can

With kronner you never know ... I think we all must pray now for him to stay healthy

Ken Daniels is the s***

so they knocked two years off it? It's still cap circumvention. I guess now it's just more in line with the existing contracts that circumvent the cap.

Yzerman is 6th all time scoring in NHL history,one of 3 players to ever score 155 points in a season (guess who the other two are), three Stanley Cups, Pearson, Conn Smythe, Selke, and an Olympic Gold Medal. People talk about how much more Lemieux would have done without the bad back and cancer. Wonder what Yzerman would've done with a good knee for the last 15 years of his career. 30-40 seems a bit low. This just in, Stevie gives Canada the Order of Yzerman. Country bows and feels unworthy.

Most anti-climatic big name free agent signing ever.

The right words cannot be found right now. :nonono: Wow.

And I think those two deserve it.

Fine by me. The guy scored 50 goals in junior.

Yeah theres a reason why NHL network counted down the top 10 power forwards of the 90s and had Roberts, Shanny, Lindros, Neely, Tkatchuk etc. Yeah knowing something about hockey makes you an enforcer slappy now

Apparently, a person who realizes that power forwards have been historically equated with fighting by those around the NHL, is an enforcer slappy.

I said before, I was going by the definition of a forward who uses his strength and size as his primary tool to create offense. Jokinen doesn't rack up the PIMs like Stevens did, but if you take away the "you have to have a ton of PIMs" definition and just make it a big strong guy who uses his strength as a major tool, then Stevens wasn't even the primary PF on his line. He was secondary to Lemieux and he received a lot of offensive help from not NEEDING to crash through guys. Jokinen has spent almost his entire career playing solo, and using both his size and skill to post impressive offensive numbers. If he fought 3 times a season, he'd be universally considered an elite power forward.

Like any other term, it must evolve to fit the times. Eva more or less has it right: a power forward is a large and/or strong dude that uses his strength and body as a primary tool to get the job done. This involves a lot of physical play, such as being the go to guy in the corners, going to and occupying a position at or near the front of the net, and making a hole in the opposition's defense with said physical presence. Note that while hitting is part of physicality, physicality =/= hitting. Hence, in today's NHL, players like Franzen and Holmstrom fit the term power forward. While they do not compare entirely to the power forwards of yesteryear, they occupy a role that most closely resembles that of said players tailored to the rules and gameplay of today's NHL.

The power forward. A skilled, strong offensive player capable of grinding in the corners, screening in front effectively without being easily displaced, and using their size and strength to overwhelm the opposing defensive players. For one, I've never considered fighting a required part of being a power forward. And to require it now, when fighting in general is rare, is even more ridiculous. How many fights happen per season? Probably fewer than happened per-TEAM in 1993. So physically powerful scoring forwards (maybe that's where the name "power forward" came from?) are basicallywhat we're looking for. Well for one, Shayne Corson wasn't, not did I ever consider him, a power forward. Excellent defensively? Sure. Great Grinder? Definitely. Power Forward? No way. He wasn't good enough offensively to get that title. Some guys in the league now who could be called a PF? Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, Lucic, Iginla, Jokinen, E.Staal, Nash, Hossa, Morrow, Franzen, Zetterberg, Holmstrom, Kopitar, Latendresse, M.Richards, Doan, Downie, Backes, Malone, Lecavalier, Ovechkin, Malkin, Horton, Thornton A lot of those guys don't fit the "Score 30 goals, hit a ton, fight, get 200 PIMs" mold that a lot of people seem to have. I know some people wouldn't consider a lot of those guys power forwards. But these are all examples of players who will regularly use their physical presence as an offensive tool To compare based on my definition; yes Kevin Stevens was a good player, yes he had a good shot. But realistically, Jokinen has to use his body more to create offense, while Stevens could simply sit back and take the incoming pass from Mario Lemieux. Lemieux is another example of a power forward. He was physically large even for today's NHL, and played in a much smaller league, so a majority of his offense came from simply skating right through-over?-the defense and doing whatever he wanted. Granted, even in his later years, Lemieux was still far more offensively dominant than anyone else could hope to be.

Well said! Its a discussion board after all, isnt it? I'd definately put Franzen on that list!

Yeah, I don't think the fact that some people will disagree is a valid reason to not have the discussion. Just try to at least consider everyone's points rather than getting all bent out of shape. Anyway, I don't think I've followed hockey seriously long enough to address the topic, but let me ask a question of Bruise and anyone else who wants it: do you think the decline is due to changing rules/trends in the NHL, or is it more that this type of player is rare and by chance there just aren't as many in the NHL at the moment?

Bert used to be a legit power forward. He doesn't play with half the edge that he used to. Then don't participate.

kinda like every topic.....

1. Nicklas Lidstrom 2. Peter Forsberg 3. Mats Sundin 4. Borje Salming 5. Henrik Zetterberg 6. Kenta Nilsson 7. Daniel Alfredsson 8. Markus Näslund 9. Håkan Loob 10. Bob Nyström

s*** storm... commence!

Lemieux was 5x the player as Yzerman ever was.

Yeah that might be hyperbole. Maybe 4 times better. That sounds pretty good.

Sorry, Sir. I have to neg you for that comment.