Are query 1) == 2) in terms of estimated query plan AND actual plan? (can statistics affect the actual plan here, ever?)

declare @cat int -- input param from prc

...

1)

select * 
from A as a
  join B as b
    on b.id = a.id
    on b.cat = @cat
  join C as c
    on c.fid = b.fid
    on c.cat = @cat
  where a.cat = @cat

2)

select * 
from A as a
  join B as b
    on b.id = a.id
    on b.cat = a.cat
  join C as c
    on c.fid = b.fid
    on c.cat = b.cat
  where a.cat = @cat

It seems to me that these should logically be equivalent and the execution plan should always be the same regardless of actual difference in tables. And adding more conditions either in join, or where, or add more tables to join shouldn't change this.

Are there cases this is not true?