Ten years ago Mats Sundin signed with the Canucks

[TheTotalPackage]

That was already 10 years ago?!

 

[ottomaddox]

A career low.

 

[Saekk]

Truly a Canuck legend.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

Sundin is my all-time favourite Leaf, and the Canucks are my second favourite team, but I was cheering against both vehemently. I held no resentment against Sundin and I don't blame him one bit in how the whole thing transpired, but it would have made me sick to see him lifting the Cup in anything but the blue and white with the 'C' on his chest.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

21 years ago Mark Messier signed with the Vancouver

Vancouver fans after remembering that

 

[bobbyking]

Good lord I'm getting old

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Top 5 bald player to ever play the game?

1. bobby hull
2. sundin
3. getzlaf
4. mark napier
5. alex auld

 

[Troubadour]

1. bobby hull
2. sundin
3. getzlaf
4. mark napier
5. alex auld

I'm not sure if Mats totally fits in with this crowd. Once his hair started going, it went faster than Bure on the breakaway, but here he is at the 96 All Star competition racing against Turgeon:



And while he had a high forehead and his locks did not look exactly luscious, even at 25, they still looked better than most of Bobby Hull's toupees. The sort of flow Mess would literally mess people up to have.

 

[sr edler]

Mats Sundin had an underrated golden boy flow to his hair as late as 1996. Interesting.

Also in this commercial (apparently from 1998) where he's rollerblading the streets of Toronto against Mitch Marner.

 

[wetcoast]

Normally when anniversaries come up like this I think "man, was it really that long ago?" but for this it seems like it's been longer than that for some reason. What a weird time for the Canucks.

That's what I was thinking as well.

Too bad that Sundin missed that time as he looked a half step behind for much of the season.

Another victim of the salary cap.

 

[Phil Parent]

Unless I'm mistaken, weren't his rights acquired by the Habs just before free agency and he actually considered joining them despite being a huge Leafs legend?

That would have been something.

Or did that happen after this contract with the Nucks?

Those guys you associate with Montreal / Toronto going to play for the other side is never not weird.

Gilmour and Plekanec come to mind.

 

[Troubadour]

Also in this commercial (apparently from 1998) where he's rollerblading the streets of Toronto against Mitch Marner.

Edgy ad and even edgier comment

 

[MXD]

Unless I'm mistaken, weren't his rights acquired by the Habs just before free agency and he actually considered joining them despite being a huge Leafs legend?

That would have been something.

Or did that happen after this contract with the Nucks?

Those guys you associate with Montreal / Toronto going to play for the other side is never not weird.

Gilmour and Plekanec come to mind.

Frank Mahovlich is totally not weird... to me at least.

 

[Big Phil]

Mats Sundin had an underrated golden boy flow to his hair as late as 1996. Interesting.

Also in this commercial (apparently from 1998) where he's rollerblading the streets of Toronto against Mitch Marner.

Wow....that does look a lot like Mitch Marner. Okay seriously, Marner is a time traveller.

Also, I wish Mats hit like that a bit more.

Anyway, I remember the Sundin to Vancouver thing. This was when he was treated poorly by the Leaf fans because he wouldn't waive his no-trade clause. Tucker, Kaberle and no word of a lie Kubina also had no trade clauses, but they all blamed Sundin. Thanks to John Ferguson Jr. for those horrible clauses to begin with, but at least Sundin deserved his.

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

I thought the Leaf fan reaction to his shootout winner in his game back in Toronto was nice:


EDIT: It seemed like he had a pretty significant impact on that team, even in a short period. Would have been nice to have had him for one more season.

Ive often wondered that too. That Canucks team went through three circuses of a playoff series in a row against the Hawks starting with the playoff run that Sundin was there for, and you kinda have to wonder if they wobble so much in big situations from 2009-2011 with an experienced vet like Sundin still with the team. Maybe that was the one signing they could have made that would have made the difference to win the cup over that span, although IIRC Sundin would have needed to take a much smaller contract in 2009-10 to fit in under the cap.

Unless I'm mistaken, weren't his rights acquired by the Habs just before free agency and he actually considered joining them despite being a huge Leafs legend?

Ive never understood why teams trade away real assets just to own a UFA rights before they hit free agency. Yeah sure, you get to talk to the player before anybody else and make your stupid pitch about how amazing your city is, but the whole point of free agency from the players perspective is the leverage that having multiple potential buyers gives you to raise the price. I dont care how amazing your powerpoint presentation hyping your city is, no player with a brain is going to bite on the first offer in that situation

 

[Franck]

I remember watching a Rangers broadcast during the autumn before he signed with Vancouver when the speculation was in full force, one of the colour commentators or studio panellists was absolutely convinced that Mats would sign with the Rangers and insinuated that there would be something wrong in his head if he didn't...

Anyway, I remember the Sundin to Vancouver thing. This was when he was treated poorly by the Leaf fans because he wouldn't waive his no-trade clause. Tucker, Kaberle and no word of a lie Kubina also had no trade clauses, but they all blamed Sundin. Thanks to John Ferguson Jr. for those horrible clauses to begin with, but at least Sundin deserved his.

Mats guest-hosted a Swedish radio show a couple of years after he retired, one of the things he brought up was how that moment where both the organisation and the fans wanted him out was the first time in his career where it really hit him that in the NHL hockey is a business. He also pointed out how that incident highlighted how North American fans differ in perspective from Europeans, in Europe the idea of an organisation actively and openly trying to force an iconic figure of his stature out would be almost unthinkable and a captain staying loyal and going down with his sinking team would be commended as a self-sacrifice by someone with a strong team-first mentality, in the NHL he was instead vilified and accused of being selfish.

Anyway, this thread reminded me just how much I miss Mats Sundin, both the majestic big centre with a scoring touch he was on the ice and the tremendous leadership presence he was off it, his retirement left a void in Swedish hockey that still has not been filled.

 

[Big Phil]

Mats guest-hosted a Swedish radio show a couple of years after he retired, one of the things he brought up was how that moment where both the organisation and the fans wanted him out was the first time in his career where it really hit him that in the NHL hockey is a business. He also pointed out how that incident highlighted how North American fans differ in perspective from Europeans, in Europe the idea of an organisation actively and openly trying to force an iconic figure of his stature out would be almost unthinkable and a captain staying loyal and going down with his sinking team would be commended as a self-sacrifice by someone with a strong team-first mentality, in the NHL he was instead vilified and accused of being selfish.

Anyway, this thread reminded me just how much I miss Mats Sundin, both the majestic big centre with a scoring touch he was on the ice and the tremendous leadership presence he was off it, his retirement left a void in Swedish hockey that still has not been filled.

I thought he was treated unfairly with that whole thing. I don't like when people are forced out and vilified. Sundin gave his blood and sweat to the logo. I have a friend who for the longest time ranted about Sundin, really only until now when the Leafs started to be good did he stop, about how he should have "taken one for the team" and been traded. We had one of the worse GMs in the history of the NHL for a brief time, that's who you blame. Ferguson Jr. got us in that mess. Not Sundin. Believe me, there were a lot of Leaf fans that loathed how he was treated.

 

[NoMessi]

Mats Sundin is a hero. The captain of our golden generation and probably our best national team performer of all time.

I like how he paid for the Olympic Gold Celebrations from his own pocket. "Common now lads, Ill show you a celebration" - Sundin, probably.

 

[Stephen]

I remember watching a Rangers broadcast during the autumn before he signed with Vancouver when the speculation was in full force, one of the colour commentators or studio panellists was absolutely convinced that Mats would sign with the Rangers and insinuated that there would be something wrong in his head if he didn't...



Mats guest-hosted a Swedish radio show a couple of years after he retired, one of the things he brought up was how that moment where both the organisation and the fans wanted him out was the first time in his career where it really hit him that in the NHL hockey is a business. He also pointed out how that incident highlighted how North American fans differ in perspective from Europeans, in Europe the idea of an organisation actively and openly trying to force an iconic figure of his stature out would be almost unthinkable and a captain staying loyal and going down with his sinking team would be commended as a self-sacrifice by someone with a strong team-first mentality, in the NHL he was instead vilified and accused of being selfish.

Anyway, this thread reminded me just how much I miss Mats Sundin, both the majestic big centre with a scoring touch he was on the ice and the tremendous leadership presence he was off it, his retirement left a void in Swedish hockey that still has not been filled.

I'm sorry to hear that Sundin felt betrayed by the Toronto organization and fanbase that way. Certainly many of us wanted him to stay here and didn't see his being traded to the Montreal Canadiens as the linchpin to their rebuild. In the end it was something like Mikhail Grabovski, Chris Higgins and a 1st round pick that probably would have turned into Louis Leblanc. We could have afforded to be sentimental and loyal to the captain for that terrible package.

 

[tmlfan98]

To this day the Canucks are my second favourite team because of this signing. Sundin was my favourite player growing up and I was shocked that the Leafs were stupid enough to let him walk for nothing (this was also before I knew about the Muskoka 5 story). So as the Leafs trudged through the Ron Wilson era I found myself watching a lot more Canucks hockey even after Sundin retired.

 

[FrozenJagrt]

This whole situation was painful for me. I was just a kid when Sundin was playing, so I grew up idolizing him. Knowing that he was leaving my team hurt. Knowing the organisation actively tried to force him out hurt. Knowing Brian Burke was the one who shut the door on a possible return hurt. And to this day, there is still a group of Leafs fans who treat Sundin like a villain for this whole situation, that hurts.

The man was and remains pure class. Unlike some other captains the team has had over the years, he never quit on the team, never had a bad thing to say about them, never complained. Seeing him in a Vancouver sweater will never sit well with me

 

[LeafsNation75]

This whole situation was painful for me. I was just a kid when Sundin was playing, so I grew up idolizing him. Knowing that he was leaving my team hurt. Knowing the organisation actively tried to force him out hurt. Knowing Brian Burke was the one who shut the door on a possible return hurt. And to this day, there is still a group of Leafs fans who treat Sundin like a villain for this whole situation, that hurts.

The man was and remains pure class. Unlike some other captains the team has had over the years, he never quit on the team, never had a bad thing to say about them, never complained. Seeing him in a Vancouver sweater will never sit well with me

The only thing I never liked about the whole situation was is how Sundin said he didn't believe in being a rental player and wanted to be with a team from the start of the season, which is why he refused to be traded during the 2007-2008 season. Now maybe his opinion changed when Brian Burke closed the door on possibly re-signing him, still let's not forget that on July 1, 2008 Sundin could have signed with Vancouver when he was offered 2 years and $20 million. So I think that's why some Leafs fans didn't like how it happened when Sundin signed during the regular season.

 

[Killion]

Vancouver fans after remembering that

.... this. Then and now. Pretty much says it all.

 

[Voight]

If he had waived his NTC in 2008 the Leafs would have bene able to get a nice rebuild package for him. However it was his choice to stay the full year and he earned that right.

 

[VanIslander]

Note: Ryan Kesler moved to RW on his line that season and earned his first of five Selke finalist nominations.

(Gawd was Sundin a floater. He was a blimp in the sense of mobility not body fat.)