[CliffFletcher]

In an NHL where 95 per cent of players speak in empty cliches and platitudes, I find it refreshing when a player or former player is candid. You're kidding yourself if you think every player is as selfless as his public comments make him seem to be. These are incredibly ambitious and competitive people. I prefer that the ego and criticisms are expressed openly. Fleury's belief that younger players couldn't hack the era he played is is very commonly held by other players. They're just not as candid about saying so as he is. So fault Fleury for being undiplomatic. But you're pretty naive if you think Lemieux, Sakic, Yzerman, etc. don't feel the same way. Just as Lafleur, Bossy, Clarke, etc feel the same about their era.

And he is right that Gaudreau could not play his game in that era. The rule changes (or rather, enforcement of the rules) have really opened the game up. There's no disputing that. We cheer that players like Kane and Gaudreau can play the way they do today. But the corollary is that they simply wouldn't have been as effective playing 15 years ago.

The fitness and training thing is a red herring. Yes, today's players are fitter than the players 20 years ago. Because that's what it takes to play in the NHL today, and every aspiring player knows that by the time he's 14. If that's what it took to get to the NHL in 1989, then the players back then would have been far more dedicated to fitness.