best practice question: JOIN criteria vs. WHERE criteria

For example, consider the following queries:

DECLARE @.SomeParam INT
SET @.SomeParam = 44
SELECT *
 FROM TableA A
 JOIN TableB B ON A.PrimaryKeyID = B.ForeignKeyID
 WHERE B.SomeParamColumn = @.SomeParam
SELECT *
 FROM TableA A
 JOIN TableB B ON A.PrimaryKeyID = B.ForeignKeyID AND B.SomeParamColumn = @.SomeParam

Both of these queries return the same result set, but the first query filters the results in the WHERE clause whereas the the second query filters the results in the JOIN criteria. Once upon a time a DBA told me that I should always use the syntax of the first query (WHERE clause). Is there any truth to this, and if so, why?

Thanks.I checked the estimated execution plan and they were identical when i used a hard coded value instead of a parameter (@.someparam)

however,

when I used a parameter there was suddenly an execution difference.

The second query stored data in a temporary table. Thats something you'd definately want to avoid if you could. It also mis-guessed at the estimated row count.|||What tool did you use to check the execution plans? I checked it out with MS SQL Query Analyzer and saw no differences in execution plan when using a variable. Do you have example sql?

Thanks for the help!|||Always check the plan. And remember the plan *will* change as the stats for the table change. So make sure you've got a representative set of data.