Rafael Palmeiro poked his finger in the air for emphasis and raised his voice with all the indignation of a man falsely accused. "I have never used steroids. Period," he told a congressional panel in March.

On Monday, nearly five months later, the Baltimore Orioles slugger became baseball's highest-profile player to be suspended 10 days for using steroids.

While he didn't deny testing positive for the drugs, he insisted that ingesting them was an accident.

"When I testified in front of Congress, I know that I was testifying under oath and I told the truth," he said during a telephone conference call Monday. "Today I am telling the truth again that I did not do this intentionally or knowingly."

The 40-year-old Palmeiro became the seventh player to fail a test under the toughened major league policy that took effect in March, rules criticized by Congress as not being stringent enough.

On July 15, Palmeiro joined Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray as the only players with 3,000 hits and 500 homers. Baseball would not say when the positive test occurred.

Without giving specifics, the four-time all-star left the impression that the banned substance was contained in a supplement that was not prescribed. He said it was an "embarrassing situation" and still did not know what caused the positive test.

"Why would I do this in a year when I went in front of Congress and I testified and I told the truth?" he said. "Why would I do this during a season where I was going to get to 3,000 hits? It just makes no sense. ... I'm not a crazy person."

Palmeiro, who is currently in ninth place on the all-time home runs list with 569, wouldn't predict whether his chances of being elected to the Hall of Fame were damaged.

"Really, that's not for me to determine," he said. "I hope that people look at my whole career and appreciate that I've given everything that I've got. ... I respect the Hall of Fame, and if they think that I'm worthy enough, I would be very honoured. And if they don't, I gave it all that I had to this game."

"I made a mistake and I'm facing it," he said. "I hope that people learn from my mistake and I hope that the fans forgive me."

Yeah - we'd be smiling too.

It was a busy day north of the border Wednesday as a number of high profile free agent signings occured as part of the new NHL CBA shakeup.

Jarome Iginla, arguably the best player in the NHL, committed his future to Calgary after signing a $21-million US, three-year deal. He could have walked away with no strings attached next summer.

Chris Pronger, arguably the best defenceman in the league, parked himself in Edmonton for half a decade, agreeing to a $31.25-million, five-year contract after the Oilers acquired his rights from St. Louis the night before.

The Oilers also swung a deal with the Islanders on Wednesday to get top defensive forward Mike Peca, sending forward Michael York and a conditional draft pick the other way.

Markus Naslund, among the NHL's top four scorers in the last three seasons and a three-time 40-goal scorer, rejected two competing offers and re-signed with the Vancouver Canucks at $18 million over three years.

Alexei Kovalev, one of the league's most dynamic wingers who seemed destined for Pittsburgh, accepted Montreal's offer of an $18-million, four-year contract.

Canadian teams weren't the only ones in action Wednesday.

The New York Islanders signed unrestricted free-agent forward Miroslav Satan to a three-year contract. The 30-year old Satan was cut loose by Buffalo last week.

In late breaking news - free-agent forward Peter Forsberg, the NHL's scoring champion and most valuable player in 2002-2003 with Colorado, has just signed with the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Swedish superstar agreed to an $11.5-million US, two-year deal which will pay him $5.75 million a year. It's believed six to eight teams were in the running but the powerhouse Flyers won out. "In the end, Peter chose Philadelphia, it was his decision," Forsberg's agent Don Baizley said from Winnipeg.

Following are the top 5 MLB Power Rankings as picked by CBS.

1.		Chicago White Sox OK, we have to hand it (back) to them. They play every game like it's Game 7. Though something tells us it will wear them out come October, you have to consider them the class of the league in the beginning of August ... for whatever that's worth.
2.		St. Louis Cardinals The injuries have taken their toll, but we say no other team in baseball can stand to lose Scott Rolen, Larry Walker, Reggie Sanders and Yadier Molina -- half of their starting lineup -- and still be cruising along at nine games up on the league's wild-card team. Amazing.
3.		Atlanta Braves It's their time of year. Forget the slow starts and slow finishes ... it's the meat of the season where the Braves put everyone in their rear-view mirror. They should be the model of all franchises, continually churning out the Jeff Francoeur(s).
4.		Oakland Athletics They went 20-6 in July. Ranking them this low might be an injustice.
5.		Houston Astros They went 22-7 in July. Ranking them this low might be an injustice as well. Andy Pettitte went 5-0 with an 0.90 ERA in the month, and he is their clear No. 3 starter, folks.

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