Short of stature? Doesn't matter in the new NHL

	At 5-11, Petr Prucha makes a nice complement to 6-2 teammate Jaromir Jagr. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
	MAILBAG Darren Eliot will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Let's here it for the little guys.

If ever there was a measure of the positive effect of the more stringent standard applied to the rule book regarding the use of the hockey stick as a leverage tool in defending, it is the production by numerous players of smallish stature.

Not that this is entirely new to the NHL. Size and scoring have never had a direct correlation. Martin St. Louis is the reigning NHL MVP and he stands no more than 5-foot-9. Marcel Dionne was as prodigious a point producer as you'll ever find and he probably gave an inch to St. Louis. And though Wayne Gretzky grazed 6-foot in height, his reed-like build never allowed him to dominate physically.

Granted, Gretzky and Dionne were special players who flourished at all levels. But this season, there seems to be a proliferation of productivity from players who were previously contributors, but not necessarily go-to guys. Two guys that stand out are Brian Gionta in New Jersey and Jason Blake for the Islanders.

Gionta leads the Devils with 17 goals and 30 points and is third in the NHL in power play goals with 10, trailing Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk and the Rangers' Jaromir Jagr. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but when it comes to goal scoring, I defy anyone to boast that they felt Gionta would be on a list with those two.

Yet, there he is -- all 5-7 of him. And Gionta's production might just have secured him a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team. The same is true of the 5-9 Blake. His 13 goals is tied for the Isles lead and he's ahead of his previous best pace of 2002-03 when he netted 25 goals for the full season. He, too. has a good chance of representing Team USA in February.

Blake's teammate, 5-11 Shawn Bates, also was angling for an Olympic spot with 10 goals in 17 games before being injured. Similarly, Pierre Marc Bouchard -- 5-10 and 180 pounds soaking wet -- has seen his production increase this season. He and Brian Rolston lead the Minnesota Wild in scoring, yet Bouchard plays four fewer minutes per game.

If you think those examples are a stretch (no pun intended) because they are players with NHL experience and some track record of success, then refer to the list of slight-of-build rookies finding their way to the score sheet.

Marek Svatos , 5-11, 175, fills the net better than he fills out his Avalanche jersey, potting 14 goals to lead the team. The Rangers' lithe Petr Prucha at 5-11, 170 pounds, has 13 goals -- second on the Rangers behind Jagr -- and has the best shooting percentage among NHL rookies.

More examples? What about Kyle Wellwood in Toronto, or Jussi Jokinen in Dallas? Both fall short of 6 feet tall, but both are contributing on winning teams with solid veteran core players. On defense, Duncan Keith is playing more than 21 minutes a night, even at 6-foot, 187 pounds, historically undersized for that position.

The key for Keith? He can skate. So can all the others mentioned. Aside from their lack of size, that is the one defining attribute these players share.

And that is what today's NHL is all about ... as it should be.