Over the hill and falling fast

That's Owen Nolan in his old San Jose days. Up until 2002, he was one of the NHL's most feared power forwards. Not only was he a consistent 25-30 goal scorer, he was a hard-hitting, big-body presence that wore out every defender he played against.

Nolan just signed a 2-year deal in Minnesota worth $2.75 million a year. Don't let the numbers fool you, that's just how much you have to pay for a borderline 2nd line player in today's NHL.

Nolan is part of the "Old Guard" of the NHL. These are players who up until the lockout were considered high-profile stars, but for some reason, either due to age or rule changes, have seen much-diminished roles in today's game. Here are a few others:


Michael Peca
Markus Naslund
Derian Hatcher
Jeremy Roenick
Rob Blake
Mike Modano
Mark Parrish
Todd Bertuzzi
Mike York
Bill Guerin
Glenn Murray
Doug Weight
Alexei Zhitnik
Alexei Zhamnov
Nikolai Khabibhulin
Sergei Fedorov
Adrian Aucoin

Guys that are gone:
Jeff O'Neill
Eric Daze
Ziggy Palffy
Tony Amonte

Take a moment to remember the days when these guys ruled the NHL. You gotta wonder why these guys weren't able to continue their dominance the ways guys like Sakic, Lidstrom, Rafalski, and Sundin have.

There's a common trend here. Gone are the big, slow defenseman who relied on obstruction and holding to dominate (Aucoin, Hatcher). No more will you see small, slow guys who are wizards with the puck dominate offensively anymore (Weight, York, Parrish).

However, some of the game's stars that should thrive with the new rules have struggled as well. The likes of Modano and Naslund should have been free to skate and shoot, while guys like Guerin and Murray wouldn't have had to put up with all the obstruction in front of the net. Zhitnik and Fedorov, both great European skaters, have seen great declines in their game (I guess Fedorov's is explainable by his age).

Some of these guys are going to be driven into retirement, kind of like Amonte and Daze. Others like Modano and Fedorov have done an excellent job of adapting to their diminished 2nd/3rd line roles.

Kudos to Nolan for showing although he doesn't have the speed to dominate in today's game, he's still got the physical presence and powerplay-ability to get a respectable 2nd/3rd-line job in today's NHL. It's no wonder these guys are staying. With the ways salary has been rising, some of these guys are getting paid the same amounts now as they would have got for their superstar talent before the lockout!