Remember that fantastic Dana Carvey character from Saturday Night Live? No, not The Church Lady. I'm talking about The Grumpy Old Man, who redefined the word "cantankerous" before John Tortorella provided the definitive redefinition a few years thereafter.

Carvey's character was satirizing the romanticizing of the past that, for many people, always accompanies the passage of time; indeed, for The Grumpy Old Man, no aspect of the modern world could ever compare to the glory days of his youth.

Why am I bringing this up?

Because Peter Forsberg's hockey career appears to be enjoying yet another fist-through-the-dirt episode a la the classic horror film Carrie.

Because, slowly but surely, the whispers of another NHL comeback from him are growing louder.

And mainly because I don't want any more NHL fan bases to suffer through another high-risk/low-reward saga that has been Forsberg's hallmark since 2006.

Before that, there was no doubt the Swede deserved to be recognized as one of the game's all-time greats. He was as fearless and fearsome as Eric Lindros, without the menacing physical frame (or the willingness to drive Bob Clarke to an early grave) of the man he once was traded for.

In terms of on-ice creativity and bred-in-the-bone determination, Forsberg had few peers. Anyone who watched him emerge as arguably the planet's most electrifying playmaker during his halcyon days in Colorado knows full well how much more dominant he would have been if he spent his 20s in today's more talent-friendly NHL.

Unfortunately, that kind of conjecture isn't worth the breath or brainwaves spent on it, because the reality is Forsberg's career arc peaked during a period where his opponents were permitted to do everything short of mace-ing and maiming him on the ice.