JimEIV said:
exception to the rule ???
I just went ahead and name 45 players + Sakic + Oates + Yzerman + Domi + Tucker Thats and even 50!
That will fill 2 teams entire roster and if I look harder, I garuntee I can find AT LEAST another 30 or so players!!! Like
Doug Weight Height 5.11 -- Weight 200
Shawn McEachern Height 5.11 -- Weight 195
Stanislav Chistov Height 5.10 -- Weight 195
Tyler Arnason Height 5.11 -- Weight 208
Robert Reichel Height 5.10 -- Weight 185 -- Shoots L
Calle Johansson Height 5.11 -- Weight 200
Lyle Odelein Height 5.11 -- Weight 210
Alexei Morozov Height 6.00 -- Weight 179
Brian Holzinger Height 5.11 -- Weight 190 -- Shoots R
Martin Straka Height 5.10 -- Weight 174 -- Shoots L
Thats 60.....And
Marc Bergevin Height 6.00 -- Weight 185 -- Shoots L
Wes Walz Height 5.10 -- Weight 180 -- Shoots R
Kip Miller Height 5.10 -- Weight 190 -- Shoots L
Jason Krog Height 5.11 -- Weight 191 -- Shoots R
Mike Sillinger Height 5.10 -- Weight 200
Mike Danton Height 5.09 -- Weight 190 -- Shoots R
P.J. Stock Height 5.11 -- Weight 183 -- Shoots L
Mathieu Schneider Height 5.11 -- Weight 187 -- Shoots L
Andreas Dackell Height 5.10 -- Weight 191
Brian Gionta Height 5.07 -- Weight 160 -- Shoots R
Thats 70 and notice I didn't even get to goalies!
You might want to go back to the drawing board on the "exception to the rule" theory.
The number of players you're quoting isn't really all that impressive.
Lyle Odelein, 5'11" 210 lbs - I don't consider him small just because he's an inch or two below league average, Lyle's still a big boy.
Doug Weight, Calle Johansson, Mike Sillinger, Tyler Arnason, all 200 lbs plus.
A guy's not small because he's under league average in height or weight. I'm not saying you're wrong, but narrow your list to anyone who's under 185 -190 lbs... and anyone under 5'10" unless they're particularly skinny - this isn't basketball - 2 or 3 inches isn't going to make THAT big a difference in physical play if you've still got the bulk and strength to throw behind it. Given the width and breadth of your examples - they hold very little credibility, so you may want to narrow them down to players who are much more obviously "undersized".
I'm not saying small players don't have a place in the NHL - if they can hack it, great. I DO think small teams have problems though. A small guy on a line with 2 average to large guys isn't all that big a handicap - if you put Comrie, Straka, and St Louis on a line against Lindros, Laraque, and Bertuzzi (sorry, I didn't spend any time putting together equivalently skilled lines, just contrasting sizes - but you're intelligent enough to get the point) - Comrie, Straka, and St Louis are going to wear out pretty freaking quick.