As Calgary GM Craig Button told ESPN.com's George Johnson: "I'd say, if you check, there are more hockey holdouts than in baseball, football or basketball."

Below are a selected few from the past three years -- long ones and short ones, ones that turned out well, and ones the parties are still recovering from. The hold out of all hold outs, Eric Lindros, isn't included as his situation had more to do with bad blood and differing interpretations of medical reports than it did with an out-of-sync sense of worth.

Players are listed with the team they had the contract dispute with, the season they held out, their statistics the season before the hold out (including points per game for skaters) and their statistics after they returned.

Still sore at a team or player about a hold out? Let us know.

The good

PLAYER	STATS
Alexei Yashin, C Ottawa Senators 1999-00 season	Before: 82 gp, 44-50-94, +16 (1.07 ppg) After: 82 gp, 40-48-88, +10 (.96 ppg)
THE SKINNY: Yashin sat out the entire 1999-00 season, the final year of his contract, in hopes that he'd become a restricted free agent. However, an arbitrator ruled he still owed the Senators a year of service. Yashin returned for the 2000-01 season and, despite all the boos, led the Senators in goals, assists and points. He was traded to the Islanders during the 2001 draft, signed a 10-year deal worth nearly $90 million and led the Islanders in goals, assists and points last season.
PLAYER	STATS
Michael Peca, C Buffalo Sabres 2000-01 season	Before: 73 gp, 20-21-41, +6 (.56 ppg) After: 80 gp, 25-35-60, +19 (.75 ppg)
THE SKINNY: Regarded as one of the best two-way players in the league, Peca -- who, unlike Yashin, was actually a restricted free agent at the time -- lowered his demand from $4 million a season to $3.5 million. The Sabres wouldn't budge from their inital offer of $2.5 million until after their captain announced he'd no longer play for them. He was traded to the Islanders during the 2001 draft, signed a five-year, $20 million deal and captained the team to its first playoff appearance since 1993-94.

The bad

PLAYER	STATS
Chris Simon, LW Washington Capitals 2000-01, nine games	Before: 75 gp, 29-20-49, +11 (.65 ppg) After: 60 gp, 10-10-20, -12 (.33 ppg)
THE SKINNY: Simon set career highs in all offensive categories in 1999-00, and led the Capitals with 29 goals. He also emerged as a player who could combine physical play with a scoring touch. Then Sampson cut his hair. After missing the first nine games, Simon returned to the lineup with a two-year $4.5 million contract in hand and a crewcut, only to discover that he lost that delicate balance between time on the ice and time in the penalty box. Not only did his offensive production fall, so did his penalty minutes (149 to 109). And he missed 10 games with a shoulder injury. He rebounded slighty in 2001-02, but his 31 points in 82 games still paled in comparison. The club picked up its $2.5 million option this summer.
PLAYER	STATS
Byron Dafoe, G Boston Bruins 1999-00, 12 games	Before: 68 gp, 32-23-11, 1.99 GAA, .926 Spct. After: 41 gp, 13-16-10, 2.96 GAA, .889 Spct.
THE SKINNY: Dafoe set career bests in wins, goals-against average and save percentage during the 1998-99 season. A restricted free agent at the time, Dafoe grew frustrated with the lack of progress in negotiations, fired his agent and brokered the deal himself, signing a three-year $9.3 million deal on Oct. 29. The season turned out to be forgettable for Dafoe and the Bruins. Dafoe didn't live up to the numbers he posted the previous season -- and still hasn't -- and missed the last 23 games of the season with a knee injury. The Bruins missed the playoffs, and would do so again the next season.
PLAYER	STATS
Vincent Lecavalier, C Tampa Bay Lightning 2000-01, training camp	Before: 80 gp, 25-42-67, -25 (.84 ppg) After: 68 gp, 23-28-51, -26 (.75 ppg)
THE SKINNY: Lecavalier signed a four-year contract during the second period of the team's 2000-01 season opener. Holding out of training camp was enough to derail him, being unceremoniously defrocked of his captain's "C" pushed him further off track. The riff between Lecavalier came to a head last season when the center requested a trade. While the two have apparently ironed out their differences, by holding out before he had proven himself, Lecavalier created an undercurrent of ill will that may linger.