The "role model" standard applied to pro sports is an anachronism. None of us watch the NHL to see great citizens.

We want to see great athletes. Lifestyle and personality are largely irrelevant. Games are won with talent and effort on the ice.

Besides, judging athletes as personalities is a mug's game.

A guy can sign autographs for the kids, support the local charity, have a great relationship with the media, and still be a first-rate jerk.

Or he can be surly, withdrawn, humorless, and still lead a perfectly decent life.

Too often, the personality game is twisted to suit whatever agenda is fashionable. It wasn't so long ago that plenty of folks thought Dany Heatley was a great guy. Now? Not so much.

Having said all that, we come to Joe Sakic, who announced his retirement Thursday after 20 NHL seasons.

Sakic is among the elite hockey players of the last two decades, and makes a solid case for a high ranking on the all-time list.

According to many tributes appearing in recent days, he's also a really great guy.

That wouldn't matter, except in Sakic's case all the talk about "class" and "dignity" rings true to how he played.

He had a way of going about his business that seemed to almost transcend his athletic gifts.

That quality shouldn't be over-romanticized: world-class talent, not world-class attitude, makes an athlete a star.

But it's inseparable from his towering legacy as a hockey player. You don't have to know the off-ice stories to appreciate it.

Setting aside the personal stuff, the now-former captain of the Colorado Avalanche still earns the athlete's ultimate compliment.

Through his talent and how he applied it, Joe Sakic brought out the very best in the game.

Photo: Joe Sakic at his retirement press conference (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

They don't make a lot of headlines. But in a salary cap world, a cheap free agent who can step into your lineup is a valuable asset indeed.

By my count, 16 of this summer's unrestricted free agents have signed contracts paying less than $1 million per year.

Most of them remain with the teams they played for last season.

But a few notable names switched teams at bargain prices.

Exhibit A: Brian Boucher.

Faced with almost no cap room, the Philadelphia Flyers bring in Boucher to back up their new starting goaltender, Ray Emery.

As a back-up in San Jose last season, Boucher had a better save percentage and goals-against average than Martin Biron, who was Philly's number-one guy.

Granted, Boucher only played 22 games to Biron's 55. But he had just as many shutouts (two).

If you're going to sign a goalie with a spotty track record, it might as well be the guy who will play for $925,000 (Boucher), rather than the guy reportedly seeking a multi-year deal in the $3 million range (Biron).

Other bargain acquisitions this week:

Steve Begin, who moves from Dallas to Boston with an $850,000 price tag.

Michael Rupp, who will make $825,000 per year in Pittsburgh, after leaving New Jersey.

Neither of them are saviors. But when it comes to shouldering the dirty work on the third or fourth line, Begin or Rupp make a better investment than Donald Brashear at $1.4 million for the Rangers, or Chris Neil at $2 million in Ottawa.

And if the cheap deal doesn't work out, it goes down as a negligible mistake rather than a salary cap disaster.

There's plenty left in the free agent bargain bin. Players still looking for jobs know that money is tight.

With many teams up against the cap, there are likely more cheap contracts to come in the days and weeks ahead.

Here are the most expensive contracts signed when the 2009 NHL free agent market opened on Wednesday:

Marian Hossa to Chicago: 12 years averaging $5.23 million per year.
The Blackhawks will have a formidable attack in 2009-10. Too bad their goalie is Cristobal Huet. And big salary cap trouble looms a year or two down the road.

Marian Gaborik to the Rangers: 5 years averaging $7.5 million per year.
Gaborik gets the money they used to spend on Scott Gomez. His ongoing injury troubles, sure to continue, give general manager Glen Sather the perfect excuse when the team underachieves again.

Brian Gionta to Montreal: 5 years averaging $5 million per year.
Like Scott Gomez, acquired by the Canadians on Tuesday, Gionta is a small, expensive forward whose scoring numbers have been trending in the wrong direction for the last couple of years.

Mike Cammalleri to Montreal: 5 years averaging $6 million per year.
We've all heard how the "new NHL" allows little skilled guys to thrive. The Canadiens better hope so. Cammalleri, Gionta and Gomez are all under six feet-200 pounds.

Henrik and Daniel Sedin stay in Vancouver: 5 years averaging $6.1 million each per year.
Without them, the Canucks might have been the NHL's lowest-scoring team next season. Because they come as a package and as linemates, the twins are a better investment than two random strangers with similar track records.

Mattias Ohlund to Tampa Bay: 7 years averaging $3.75 million per year.
The NHL's train-wreck franchise is now a train wreck with a decent defenseman. They'll probably trade him by Christmas.

Flames sign defenseman Jay Bouwmeester for five years, averaging $6.6 million per year.

That's good work by Calgary general manager Darryl Sutter, on both money and term.

I've expressed doubts about Bouwmeester as a Great Leader of Men on Skates. But this is about the perfect fit for him.

With Robyn Regher and Dion Phaneuf taking care of the dirty work on the Flames blue line, Bouwmeester should thrive as a skater and assist machine.

What do you imagine the general manager said to Bouwmeester as they shook hands on the contract? Maybe something like, "I guess we're both out of excuses now."

Canadiens acquire center Scott Gomez and spare parts from Rangers for winger Chris Higgins and prospects.

With Saku Koivu about to depart as a free agent, Montreal presumably had an opening for a small, overpaid centerman who doesn't score much.

If Gomez (pictured) keeps producing at last season's 58-point pace, and if defensive prospect Ryan McDonagh turns into a real player in New York, Habs fans will run GM Bob Gainey out of town with torches and pitchforks.

The deal only makes sense if Gainey finds a scoring winger to convert Gomez passes, thereby turning him into the 80-point guy he was a few years ago.

Given that defensive fetishist Jacques Martin is Montreal's new coach, a more likely scenario is that Gomez does nicely on the power play, but otherwise looks no more effective than a dozen other guys making half as much money.

Higgins, meanwhile, becomes an instant fan favorite at Madison Square Garden, simply by being the man who greased the rails for Gomez' departure. Instead of his name, he should have "Not Gomez" printed on the back of his jersey.

Dumping Gomez and his $7.3 million salary cap hit opens oodles of free agent possibilities for New York.

(Photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)