Yet Another One-Sided Result

In a world junior tournament decided by one lopsided result after another, we've come to expect some ugly scores.

But nobody expected the usually powerful Russians to be at the wrong end of one.

The Swedes pounded the Russians 5-0 today at the Ottawa Civic Centre, opening up a 4-0 lead in the first period and coasting to an easy win, clinching first place in Pool B in the process and earning a bye into one of Saturday's semfinals.

The Russians received awful first period goaltending from Danila Alistratov, who coughed up four goals on 11 shots before being replaced by Vadim Zhelobnyuk. The Russians came into the tournament carrying the tragedy of playing without forward Alexei Cherepanov, who died tragically in a KHL game in the fall, and looked spiritless and non-competitive on the day.

Nikita Filatov, dangerous earlier in the tourney, had a chance to score early but otherwise was held in check by the Swedes, who got a 31-save performance from goalie Jacob Markstrom, a Florida Panthers draft pick, for the win.

The lone sour note for the Swedes on the day was an apparent shoulder injury suffered by captain Oscar Moller. The Los Angeles Kings prospect was crunched into the end boards early in the second, left the ice hunched over in pain and did not return.

The Swedes, losers in last year's gold medal game to Canada, appear to be good bets to return to the final. They dropped a 4-2 result to Canada in an exhibition tilt last month, but have been finding their feet on North American soil ever since.

Mr. Harper Goes to Scotiabank Plaza

Canada’s No. 1 hockey fan? Or an embattled politician who knows when it’s a good idea to rub shoulders with increasingly famous teenage hockey players?

You be the judge. Prime Minister Stephen Harper did visit with members of Canada’s national junior team this morning before practice amidst a forest of Blackberrys, guys and gals talking into their sleeves, pistol-packing security types and even a bomb-sniffing dog. Harper gave the team a puck with his signature on it along with a five-minute chat, while the junior nats gave him a red Team Canada jersey with his name along the shoulders.

Pretty standard stuff.

Can’t tell you what the PM thought about all of this as there was more furtiveness to his visit than even Mats Sundin’s Garbo-like arrival in Vancouver yesterday. Harper was barely seen and certainly not heard from, so his thoughts on the Canadian goalkeeping situation or whether Angelo Esposito should stay on John Tavares’ line were not available.

But you can look for pictures of a smiling Harper with Tavares, Cody Hodgson and the boys. That’s what this was all about. Don’t think the junior nats needed the pep talk.

Other questions from this week’s WJC goings-on:

Q: Damien,

Can you please explain why goal differential is so important? I don’t understand how it can be when there are no ties in the round robin portion of the tournament.

Dave Mooradian

A: There are no ties in the game, but you could have had three-way ties in the standings, although that’s no longer possible. That’s when goal differential could have kicked in.

Q: Hey Damien,

I am just curious, what's the knock on Taylor Hall? He wasn't selected for Team Canada juniors. Is it because of his age?

Mike Shelley, Moffat

A: Doubt there’s any knock at all. This is a tournament for 19-year-olds, and the competition for spots this year was fierce, even with eight eligible players in the NHL. It may have simply been that the skillfull Hall didn’t offer an element the Canadian team lacked with players like John Tavares, Cody Hodgson, Jordan Eberle, etc. Hall will undoubtedly get his shot next year.

Q: Mr. Cox,

Two parts:

1) Why doesn't the Junior tourney just clip down to a four team tournament? Maybe with some sort of qualifying tournament or games some months before the big show. It seems pointless to invite filler to get demolished by the top four.

2) Why would Canada run up the score to 15 against a hapless opponent? I remember tourney's and games I was in, even at the Junior level, where the coach would tell us to make the extra pass, and hold off a little when destroying a team. In some instances, the scorekeeper would stop putting the goals up on the board. The point was to show some class, and give the opponent some dignity.

Ian Donnelly, Toronto

A: With four teams, you’d have a hard time putting together a decent schedule for television, and TV numbers and revenue helps drive this event. It’s barely a tournament at that number. Eight teams seems to be the number that makes the most sense. Don’t forget, there is a B Pool tournament in the fall/early winter in which teams not currently in the A Pool can qualify for next year.

In terms of running up the score, well, at that point they had to because of the silly goal differential rule. Best suggestion I’ve heard is to only allow teams to add a maximum five goals, so getting to 15 would be pointless. That said, you’ve got to play the games, and having Team Canada try not to score would have been more boring than watching them try to score as many as possible against the hapless Kazakhs.

Q: Hi Damien,

If you were the Leafs and picking first and the draft was tomorrow, who do you take and why? From a Leafs perspective (yes, I dare to dream). I'd say Tavares. He looks really good and we already have our rock on defence Schenn. Or would you take Victor Hedman for a twin towers on defence? That's tempting too.

Jason Johnson, Toronto

A: I wouldn’t base the choice on what the Leafs have now, that’s for sure. You take the best player, regardless of position, and besides, the Leafs lack depth at either position. Right now, I couldn’t say which would be the better pick. Both look like big-time players that would play on your roster for years to come. A much tougher choice will come at No. 3, with a host of players competing to be the player taken after Tavares and Hedman.

I’m not trying to be evasive. But I just don’t have a strong preference between Tavares and Hedman at this point. The only thing I would say is that 6-foot-6 defenceman who can skate and move the puck are rare indeed.

Q: Damien,

Lots of positive words about Pat Quinn's "stabilizing influence" with the Juniors. I still feel that although he is an excellent coach, that the head coach of the Junior team should be seen as a developmental position. A young coach who shows the abilities to pull together groups on a short schedule and win gold in this tournament, and then go on to have success in the pros would be a logical Olympic head coach candidate. I hope this does not begin a trend of brining in older out-of-work NHL coaches for the junior team instead of treating this tournament for what it should be - an opportunity to develop people who can contribute to National success at the highest level.

How do you weigh in on this topic?

John B., Brampton

A: The job of the Canadian junior coach isn’t to develop players in a two-week window. It’s too win the gold, period. You bring in the coach that gives you the best chance to win, and in this case, with Benoit Groulx quitting the job late in August, Quinn was probably the best choice given his success with the under-18 program. But I don’t think this is the start of a tread – it was more of any emergency situation.

Q: Hi Damien,

James Van Riemsdyk of the U.S. jr's looks like a player with a real good NHL career ahead of him. I understand he's a Philly prospect. I know the Flyers were willing to give up a rather large package for Tomas Kaberle last year. Do you think they'd still be interested in Kaberle for Van Riemsdyk and a first rounder? Any idea if Kaberle is ready to waive that no trade, or if this is a Burke style trade? Am I dreaming in technicolour when I picture the Leafs actually gaining these type of young promising players (as they obviously seem dead set against getting a shot at either of the two great ones available in the draft).

Bradley Meldrew, Toronto

A: I think Van Riemsdyk is precisely the kind of prospect the Leafs would love to land in exchange for Kaberle, Nik Antropov or one of their veteran players. Whether they can pull that off depends on a variety of factors, and you can ask the same about whether Minnesota might be willing to sacrifice Colton Gillies to get a veteran or whether Montreal would consider dealing away P.K. Subban if they could enhance their Stanley Cup chances. I believe Kaberle and Pavel Kubina will waive their no-trades, and Burke’s ability to translate those players into assets for the future will be his first major test as Leaf hockey boss.

Instead of his regular Thursday hockey mail bag, Damien Cox is taking your questions and comments about junior hockey and will answer a selection all week in his blog. Whether it relates to the Maple Leafs, Team Canada, or any European hotshots, send a note to Damien and check back every day for the answers. Click here to send Damien a question.

Get Ready For Another Senseless Slaughter

If this was women's international hockey, there would be no shortage of opinions this morning that it was a joke, that the scores and the nature of competition was making a mockery of the sport, that only a few of the teams involved really have a change to win it all and so the entire competition should be scrapped.

Watching Canada romp to victories of 8-1 and 15-0 in its first two games at the world junior championships over the weekend has been, to be charitable, anything but interesting. You can expect more of the same tonight against the Germans, with a New Year's Eve tilt against the Americans likely to be Canada's first confrontation with a meaningful opponent.

Throw in the three pre-tourney games Canada captured by a combined score of 18-5 over Sweden, Finland and Slovakia, and you have a gap between the world's top junior teams and the lesser countries that appears to be growing.

Not unlike the women's game.

Really, we're back to where we were about 15-20 years ago with the world juniors. Back then, it was countries like Switzerland and Germany taking one-sided beatings at the hands of Canada, Russia and Sweden. Both those countries got better, and the Swiss even captured a bronze medal a decade ago in Helsinki.

But now the Swiss aren't even in the A Pool any more, and the Germans don't seem to be making signficant progress. Ditto for Slovakia, which appeared a few years ago to be a country on the verge of joining the top echelon of teams, and now the Czech program seems to have dipped since last winning gold in 2001. The notion that former Soviet republics like Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine would quickly develop into modern hockey powers based seems to have been ill-founded.

Instead of his regular Thursday hockey mail bag, Damien Cox is taking your questions and comments about junior hockey and will answer a selection all week in his blog. Whether it relates to the Maple Leafs, Team Canada, or any European hotshots, send a note to Damien and check back every day for the answers. Click here to send Damien a question.

Canada or Russia (in its various forms) have won 16 of the past 20 world junior tournaments, which some might argue makes essentially this a two-team competition. That said, both Sweden and the U.S. appear to have gold medal-worthy squads in Ottawa this year, and the Swedes were in the final last year, so a four-team competition is probably more accurate. By the time this competition gets to the playoff round, it should still be well worth watching.

Sadly, the advent of under-17 and under-18 world championships, rather than helping other nations become more competitive with the major world powers, has instead had the unintended effect of making the better nations even better.

It's time for Canada, and the IIHF, to start figuring out some answers to this problem. In fact, with the tournament not set to return to Europe at all until 2013, there's a danger that this competition will lose its lustre as an international event - in some countries it never had it - and instead come to be seen as a tournament that can only be sold in Canada or U.S. cities bordering on Canada and is filled with lopsided scores and uneven competition.

This much seems clear. Expanding to 12 teams from the current format of 10 teams is not the answer. Can't imagine the folks who bought tickets for yesterday's 15-0 demolition of Kazakhstan feel like they got their money's worth.

Since the Open Ice Summit of 1999, Canada has re-focused its hockey efforts on skill and skill development, and the results have been impressive. A decade ago, Canadian junior organizers would never have dreamed of icing a team like this year's that has little size and few bangers but is dominated by smaller, faster and highly skilled players. Where once Canada was all about the dump-and-chase, it's clear Canadian teams have as much skill as any other country now that the game has been able to breathe a bit in this country.

The dinosaurs aren't gone, of course. But they're a little less dominant, although now you can hear them beating their chests, saying that critics who ever said there was anything lacking in Canada's approach to the sport have been proven wrong.

Nonsense. The Open Ice Summit marked a change in Canada's attitude to the game, and now we're developing more high-end skilled players than ever before. NHL teams looking for players to run their power play no longer have to hunt down a group of Europeans - Canadians can do the job nicely. Junior teams around the country are less reliant on imports for skilled players than was once the case.

Changes in the sport and its rules have also opened the doors for a different approach to the game, and Canada, by being willing to admit 10 years ago that it needed to rethink its approach, has benefitted enormously, particularly at the junior level.

Problem is, what the world junior championships did not need, really, was for Canada to get better. It needed a bunch of other countries to catch up, and that's just not happening.

Christmas Mail Bag

Not surprisingly, people still want to talk about Mats Sundin.

In fact, this chatter is going to continue right through Sundin’s visit to Toronto with the Vancouver Canucks Feb. 21, and who knows, maybe even through next summer again if Sundin goes through another one of his thoughtful periods.

Don’t forget, he’s only signed a one-year contract. Yessir, this entire drama could be played out AGAIN next summer and fall, with Sundin considering his future and sifting through potential offers. Slowly. Deliberately.

So don’t worry you won’t get enough Sundin talk over the course of the next few months. It could go on a lot longer than that.

Now on to our Christmas mail bag. And Merry Christmas to all our faithful readers/contributiors and their families.

Q: Hi Damien. I'm happy that Mats Sundin has signed with Vancouver. Canucks' fans seem rather excited, and rightfully so. However, I'm curious to know if you can think of any player in recent memory who signed with a team mid-way through a season and had a demonstrable impact on the team's playoff run? Thank you.

Chris Clay, Mississauga

A: Funny, but I remember Reijo Ruotsalainen, a clever finish defenceman who made a habit of showing up late in NHL seasons, twice for the Edmonton Oilers, and once for the New Jersey Devils. With the Oilers, Ruotsalainen arrived late in the 1986-87 and 1989-90 regular seasons and then was part of Edmonton clubs that went all the way, winning the Stanley Cup.

As a Euro free agent, it seemed he could come and go pretty much as he wanted, and he got a couple of rings out of it. If that’s recent memory, he would be might. But generally speaking, it just doesn’t happen much any more, both because NHL regulations and waiver rules make it tougher for players to move in and out of the league. Peter Forsberg has tried, but few have been able to do it and make a difference.

Q: Am I right or am I wrong? With respect to Mat Sundin, I speculate that he simply wanted to play out his days loyally in Toronto. Knowing that Wilson and Burke would eventually not want his services, Fletcher tried to unload him. Sundin became disappointed in the procedure. Mats quietly honoured his contract, team and fans by finishing the year. He would have continued to play for the Leafs, but the management abandoned him. Understandably depressed, he chose to possibly retire instead of going to another team. In due course his passion bettered him, so if it can't be Toronto, he took some time to decide on which team to play. Vancouver is the closest sweater in colour to the Leaf uniform he wore with pride. Fans should be preparing his banner to be honourably raised to the rafters of ACC.

Wayne Wheeler, Schomberg, Ont.

A: Well, we can all speculate what exactly happened with the Leafs. Fletcher didn’t know in February that Burke would be the GM or Wilson the coach, so he wouldn’t have been able to try to deal Sundin based on their thoughts. He just wanted to dump all the highly paid vets, but couldn’t. It’s clear the way in which he was dealt with upset Sundin, but he couldn’t have come back to Toronto even if he wanted after Burke replaced Fletcher. It no longer really matters anymore how he felt, only that he’s a Canuck. But I agree that his number should and will one day be honored at the ACC.

Q: Unfortunately Mats Sundin has now joined the infamous list of players that have declared their love for the city and intention to stay at the trade deadline only to jump the next season leaving the team with nothing. Carlos Delgado, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady and A.J Burnett are just some of the names from recent memory that had the opportunity to be forever loved by the people who follow their respective teams, yet are now perceived as villains. Will this also be the way Mats Sundin will be remembered?

Ryan Peterson, Oakville

A: I sure hope not. But you know what? Sundin was never particularly beloved by the Leaf Nation, who preferred the likes of Tie Domi and Darcy Tucker. Take from that what you will. But I have a hard time believing any serious person could see Sundin as a “villain” for the way in which he left town. If there were any villains, they sit in the executive offices at the ACC.

Q: I really disagree with your video clip stating that Mats was never the player to bring the cup to TO. I think for years he was, but the leafs never did anything to surround him with team he needed to do it. There is no doubt that Mats single-handily won some playoff series for the leafs (Phillie and Pittsburgh in the same year) but there was never really a team to back that up. Do you honestly think he wasn't able to produce a cup or was it that he never had the support in TO?

Jeremy Hamilton, Kingston (Toronto originally)

A: I no more agree that Sundin never had good teams or players to play with in Toronto than I believe the notion that Pat Quinn couldn’t coach young players when he was with the Leafs. Look at the long list of quality players that were acquired by the Leafs during Sundin’s tenure, from Alex Mogilny to Brian Leetch to Gary Roberts to Curtis Joseph and Ed Belfour, there’s no question that Sundin did have talent around him at different times. Just not enough.

Q: Hi Damien, The last thing anyone needs is another Mats-related question, especially now that he's finally settled on a team and it seems Toronto can finally put this whole Sundin saga aside. But I'll ask one anyway. There's been chatter in these parts about Roberto Luongo being wooed to come to Toronto when his free agency hits. Do you think that Sundin playing with Luongo now may have some sort of positive influence in nudging him our way when the time comes? Mats talks up how great the city is and how he enjoyed his time, and since we have some stable management in place as well as management Luongo is familiar with from Vancouver, I'd like to think there may yet be a silver lining for Leafs fans with Mats in Van City. Your thoughts please.

Daniel D., Thornhill

A: Never heard this one. Can’t imagine Luongo will base any part of his ultimate decision on what Sundin thinks.

Q: Wow, did you see the Leafs game against Boston? Can you remind me why Montreal let Micheal Ryder go? Tim Thomas had a bad game, but statistically is one of the best net minders this season, AND Boston has Manny Fernandez waiting in the wings. Is there another team in the NHL with as deep of a goaltending duo? Finally, Phil Kessel is my front runner for the Lady Byng, you know, that award Mogilny could not be bothered to accept several seasons ago. He also has a shot on the Maurice Rocket Richard award. Who do you see challenging Kessel for the Byng, other than maybe Zach Parise or Patrick Marleau? Could Datsyuk go for a repeat if he picks it up in the scoring department over the last 50 games?

Arthur Bailey, Toronto

A: I think Montreal’s goaltending tandem is as good or better than Boston’s. Anaheim has a good pair. Vancouver, obviously, has very good depth in net. I could go on, but the fact is that nobody is quite sure what Fernandez is any more in terms of a quality NHL goalie because he just hasn’t played.

Re the Lady Byng, to be honest, I don’t have the faintest idea who the top candidates would be, nor to I particularly care. Along with the Selke Trophy, the Lady Byng has, in my opinion, become somewhat of a consolation award for NHL players. I think its time of relevance has come and gone.

Q: With the Leafs in rebuilding mode, there is a lot of talk about getting rid of Nik Antropov for prospects or picks. I'm not sure I agree with this. Antropov is a proven centre and is still young. What sense does it make to trade him away for the unknown. No one is going to give us a top 5 pick for him, so we will be basically trading a decent young centre away for an unknown player that may never be good enough to play in the NHL. I have no doubts that Antropov will be a steady 30 goal performer for the years to come and at about $3-4 Million a year in today's hockey world is not a bad salary for a good smart player.

Mr. Confused, Toronto

A: I agree Antropov is a good player. But right now, would you want to sign him for 5-7 years for between $5-6 million per season? That’s what it would take to get him to skip unrestricted free agency at this point. I just don’t see him as a player you would want to commet $30-40 million to, and the Leafs just can’t afford to lose yet another veteran asset without getting something significant in return. So Antropov has to go before the deadline.

Q: If the Loonie continues to lose value against the US dollar, will we see the return of the Canadian Assistance Program in addition to any revenue sharing? If the Canadian Assistance Program returns, what kind of stress will this put on the remaining profitable teams who must also be feeling the pinch as Peddie as admitted already? If the global financial crises worsens, at what point does even Bettman admit that contracting hugely unprofitable teams will save the profitable teams and the league? Will Bettman save the geese laying the golden eggs, or will he cut off his nose to spite his face?

TJ Edwins, Guelph, Ont.

A: That’s a lot of questions. At this point, I can’t imagine the U.S. teams re-instituting the Canadian Assistance Program. The six Canadian teams are among the NHL’s most profitable, and there are too many U.S. teams struggling to even consider propping up their Canadian brethren. That said, you do have to wonder when the league’s more solvent outfits will grow weary of supporting the Nashvilles and Atlantas of the world.

Q: Damien, I think people would love an article on what exactly it would take to land another NHL team in Toronto. This is far fetched to alot of people, why should it be? There is a demand for it and the franchise would be successful. I think it would take a player like Lemieux or Gretzky to lead a group of investors to make this more than a pipe dream. People want to hear what it would take for this to happen

Mark Wolf, Waterloo, Ont.

A: Mark, I’m feeling Christmas-y, so I don’t want to come down hard on you for this one. I understand why people are intrigued by the notion, but as far as I can tell, this is never going to happen. It’s like the Spadina Expressway. Throwing it out there every once in a while may create conversation, but it doesn’t mean anything.

Every Thursday, Damien Cox answers your questions in The Spin, only at thestar.com. Click here to submit a question.
**Note: please follow the link above to send a question to Damien. Questions posted in the comments section may not make it to the mailbag. Thanks.**

A Chance, But Not the Only Chance

Presumably, the Maple Leafs have recalled Justin Pogge to have a look at him this time, not just jerk the kid around.

That's what they did last year when, with the team on a west coast swing, Pogge was hurriedly recalled from the Marlies and told to meet the team in San Jose. He caught a flight, rushed into town, took the morning skate and then didn't even dress for the game.

Right after, he was sent back.

Boy, that must have been a satisfying experience.

But at least the Leafs learned whether he could catch a flight, right?

Idiotic, is what is was, and so was making him watch for almost the entire AHL post-season while Scott Clemmensen played, which became even more idiotic when Clemmensen was unceremoniously dumped after the season so Curtis Joseph could become the latest in a long string of Leafs to have a second tour of duty in Toronto.

Well, now Pogge's back. Nobody knows if he's ready, but you can't say the Leafs haven't been patient with the young netminder.

In fact, after a tradition built on rushing kids to the NHL, it remains rather remarkable (peculiar?) that Pogge stands out as a prospect given time to develop in the minors.

One wonders if, for example, a young player like Alex Steen might have benefitted from a similar apprenticeship.

But back to Pogge.

Hopefully they'll actually let him play this time. Forget Joseph. Pogge should be in the net tonight against Atlanta and tomorrow against Dallas.

So what if he bombs? It's the start of getting an idea whether he can play in the NHL, and that's what this season should be about for any number of players.

If you're going to take a hard look at Jaime Sifers and Jeremy Williams, might as well take a hard look at Pogge, too.

We're past the point, folks, where you should worry about wrecking the kid by rushing him to the big league's too fast, right? After all, he's 22, not 19. The AHL is very different from the NHL, more scrambly to be sure, and it might be that Pogge will find the style of play more helpful to his game.

But who knows?

If he doesn't play well in this stint and has to go to the minors, well, hopefully the Leafs will give him another shot somewhere down the road.

See, this doesn't have to be a make-or-break opportunity for Pogge. It's just a chance.

Straight Ahead, No More Stopping

Call it Liberation Day. Liberation, that is, from the contagious nonsense that going backwards can produce forward momentum.

It's been the scourge of Toronto in 2008. First Cliff Fletcher, then Don Matthews, then Cito Gaston, then Paul Beeston.

Matthews was a complete disaster, and one suspects that when it's time for Gaston and Beeston to move out and on again, they won't have made the Blue Jays even a shadow of what they used to be.

Fletcher? Well, we've explained how that was at best a neutral exercise for the Maple Leafs, and at worst a negative sidetrack, with pointless and wasteful trading away of draft picks.

Indeed, on his own the Silver Fox tried to do an everything-old-is-new-again trick, bringing back 41-year-old netminder Curtis Joseph in the same way Punch Imlach, in his second go-round, brought back Carl Brewer.

Joseph, brought in as a favour to friends while Scott Clemmensen was dumped, has been so bad that Ron Wilson didn't even want to talk about him last night. Watching him kneeling on the goal line last night as Phil Kessel snapped a puck over his shoulder was just, well, unfortunate to watch.

Right now, his main value seems to be as that of a brake whenever the team starts to experience more than a game or two of success and threatens to pull too far ahead of Tampa and other eastern doormats.

The final and official departure of Mats Sundin, then, should end all this silliness once and for all, at least as far as the Leafs go. I was still getting emails this week from people wondering if maybe, just maybe the Leafs might yet sign him, or do some sort of sign-and-trade magic.

Well, it's over. Time to move on. Brian Burke did the second he arrived in town.

(Of course, we may not have actually seen the very last of Sundin as a Leaf. No team likes to brings former stalwarts back like the Leafs. Wendel Clark was traded and came back. Ditto for Doug Gilmour, once as a player and once as an executive/minor league coach. Darryl Sitter eventually joined the front office. Rick Vaive worked for Leafs TV. So it would be unwise to totally rule out one more jaunt in blue-and-white for Sundin someday.)

There's no point even discussing Sundin anymore from a Leaf point-of-view. This is now about Luke Schenn and rebuilding and finding ways to get more Schenns, not finding a way to get back to the playoffs as soon as possible.

It was that sort of thinking that got the Leafs into the mess in which they're currently locked.

Still, it's remarkable to hear people accuse Sundin of hypocrisy and disloyalty as he exits. He was as loyal to the Leafs as they ever were to him. This was a team that tried to browbeat him into waiving the very same no-trade provisions it had given him, and yet standing by the terms of his contract was interpreted as treason by some.

And hypocrisy? There are those who say that because Sundin said last season he didn't want to be a rental and join a new team partway through the season means his decision to join the Canucks now is hypocritical.

Not even close. First of all, what one of us out there might have thought one way about their job situation last February, and very differently today? Adults change their minds. Working people change their minds. Millionaire athletes change their minds.

That doesn't make it hypocrisy.

Moreover, given that the Canucks have left open cap room specifically earmarked for Sundin since the summer, you could argue that team has been waiting for him all along, as though he was a shadow teammate.

If he wins a Cup in Vancouver, good for him and good for them. Let's face it, there's a long history of Leaf players going on to great team or individual success after leaving the club, from Gerry Cheevers to Bernie Parent to Randy Carlyle to Doug Jarvis to Craig Muni to Larry Murphy to Dave Andreychuk. If Sundin has the ultimate success with the Canucks, it certainly doesn't alter Leaf history.

It should, however, help make the way of the future abundantly clear to anyone who seriously believed this year's team could make post-season play or that this mess could be fixed quickly by Burke.

The absence of any player who could yet be designated as a successor to Sundin as captain should make it crystal clear to one and all that this team is one step ahead of an expansion outfit.

This is going to take two or three years of pain, pain that could be worth it if good decisions are made and patience is exercised. By the March trade deadline, well-known Leafs (Nik Antropov, Nik Ponikarovsky, pehaps Tomas Kaberle) will be gone, and new prospects and picks will have been acquired.

Given a choice between a 37-year-old Sundin and a new management team headed by Burke, sensible people would have chosen Burke every day and twice on Sunday. But having Sundin linger in his indecision left a scent of hesitation in the air.

No longer. Liberation from old thinking should be gone for good.

Hopefully, most people won't choose to diss Sundin now that's he's definitely gone. He was durable and effective for all of the years he was in Toronto, a pleasure to deal with from a media point of view and a captain who truly cared about his teammates.

He's one of the top five Leaf players of the post-expansion era, and one of the classiest athletes to grace this city in its history. He was a throwback to the days of Apps and Kennedy, a humble, unassuming athlete who never blamed a teammate or sought controversy and notoriety ahead of the pursuit of team goals.

Praise the athletic memory of this man. We were lucky to have him.

Thursday Mail Bag

Has Mats Sundin fatigue set in?

Not one question in the mail bag about the ex-Leaf captain this week despite the fact most are expecting he’ll be picking a new team sometime this week. Or month. Or maybe next month.

It could also be that since Brian Burke made it pretty clear when he was hired that Sundin was no longer on the Leafs’ radar, there’s not much point for folks in the GTA worrying over No. 13’s future.

I always felt, and wrote, that it didn’t really matter if Sundin came back to the Leafs, or if he didn’t. Either way, it wasn’t going to change the direction in which the club was heading, and that has pretty much proven to be the case.

Now Leaf fans can set their minds fully to wondering who will be the next player to wear the “C” in Toronto, and when that might happen.

Now on to this week’s mail bag:

Q: Mr Cox,

What kind of player is a Toronto Maple Leaf? The Montreal Canadians have always been associated with speed, skill and a kind of - for lack of a better term - class. In my opinion, the Leafs have always prided themselves on a high-flying, barn-burning, tenacious, rough and tumble style of hockey. Pure "skill" players, while clearly appreciated and understood as critical to any serious Cup contender, have never really succeeded as leaders on this team. Fans seem to demand something more around here. A certain "orneriness," so to speak. Of their captain, and the team as a whole.

With this in mind, and assuming you agree with my assessment, which upcoming free-agents do you think might fit this mold? When do they become available and when should the Leafs sign them? Could an early key free-agent signing or two potentially accelerate the development of some of the teams' younger players?

Louanne Platter, Dallas, TX

A: Very interesting point of view. If you go back to before the first expansion in 1967, Leaf teams were regarded as teams that were generally tough defensively and always pushed a team concept ahead of stars. Or, as Mike Walton or Frank Mahovlich might argue, they actively discouraged players from being creative and imaginative. There were always well known Leafs, from Charlie Conacher to Ted Kennedy to Syl Apps, but Conn Smythe’s clubs were about tenacity and team play, the “beat ‘em in the alley” kind of determination.

Post-67, well, it’s been a mish-mash of philosophies and attitudes, a reflection of the constantly changing management teams. Jim Gregory, with his clubs of the mid- to late-1970s, seemed to have teams that accurately reflected the Smythe model, but then that was all torn apart. Pat Burns revived that spirit again in the early 1990s, but then it disappeared again. So basically, I agree, that if there is historical prototype of what a Leaf player should be, it would be one similar to that sought out by the New Jersey Devils, Anaheim Ducks and Dallas Stars of the modern era. Big, tough, grinding players with a willingness to get their noses dirty, with quality leaders and excellent goaltending. Over the course of the decades, Leaf teams have generally not been finesse-first clubs, nothing like the Detroit Red Wings of today. Perhaps that’s been to their detriment, but more than anything, it's been a consistency of approach that has been missing. Perhaps Brian Burke, with his long-term contract, will be able to change that.

As far as free agents next summer, I don’t think the Leafs will be significant players at all. Look for them to start being active in the summer of 2010, at the earliest.

Hating Toronto Just Because

Having been born in Hamilton, it's not usually my way to defend Toronto.

Then again, having lived in Toronto for about half my life, there are times it just gets boring to hear the same people, usually the same boring voices from western Canada or Ottawa, slam the city for no particular reason other than it's their favourite leisure time activity. You know, all the same incredibly inventive "Centre of the Universe" stuff.

The Maple Leafs, and making fun of them, usually become part of the snide discussion, and fair enough. When you don't win for 41 years, people tend to notice.

But sometimes enough is enough.

In this case, it is utterly outrageous to read and hear from certain corners how wonderful and fabulous the Vancouver Canucks are for honouring former captain Trevor Linden tonight.

Don't get me wrong. I like Linden. One of the more honest players to come down the pike over the past 25 years, and a gentleman to boot.

But when the Leafs did the same thing with Wendel Clark in November, well, there was no shortage of critics cynically lashing the club for honouring one of the most popular players in team history. They sneered at Clark, suggesting only a team with a record over the past four decades like the Leafs would have to stoop so low to recognize such a player. The fact the Canadiens were honoring Patrick Roy the same night was proof to some that the laughingstock Leafs were, by comparison, bereft of real heroes.

Well, what's the difference between Linden and Clark, exactly?

Both were captains. Both were traded away and came back. Neither was one of the best players in the game at any point, or even the best at their position.

And neither brought a Stanley Cup back to their city. But they were both still heroes to many.

So why is it okay for Vancouver to fete Linden, but not for the Leafs to do the same with Clark?

Personally, I think both organizations did well to honour these players. But it rankles that the Leafs, despite all their flaws, were the butt of jokes for celebrating the career of a popular captain, while the very same writers and broadcasters are praising the Canucks for doing precisely the same thing.

Fact is, it's all about hating Toronto, and that's okay with me.

But let's just be honest about it.

Tough to Look Back

This can't be easy for Ron Wilson.

Although he's been getting solid reviews for his coaching work this season with the severely undertalented Maple Leafs, Wilson has to be feeling the extraordinary success of the San Jose Sharks.

On one hand, many of the players that have powered the Sharks to the best record ever in the NHL history after 30 games were not only coached by Wilson and his assistants, Tim Hunter and Rob Zettler, but taught their first NHL lessons by that crew.

Wilson still has ties to that organization, still talks to Sharks players, still discusses hockey matters from time-to-time with GM Doug Wilson. On the other hand, of course, the way in which rookie coach Todd MacLellan has guided the Sharks to such a powerhouse, 52-point showing so far is, to some degree, an indictment of that which Wilson couldn't do.

Maybe he'd just been there too long. Maybe some players - everybody mentions Patrick Marleau - were no longer able to flourish under Wilson's coaching strategies.

The reality of course, may also be that many of the younger Sharks - Devin Setoguchi, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Ryan Clowe, Christian Erhoff, Milan Michalek - are a year older now, and that the addition of Dan Boyle to the back end has proven to be a major plus for a team that lacked that type of presence on the back end.

Wilson's team, of course, also had some very strong regular seasons, and it will be what MacLellan can push the Sharks to do in the post-season that will really matter. He came into this job from the rival Detroit Red Wings with keen insight into what made the Sharks beatable in the spring, and may thus be able to focus on those areas when the second season begins.

Any which way you cut it, however, this can't be easy for Wilson. The Sharks must still feel like his team in many ways, and he is such a proud man you know he believes he could have done exactly what MacLellan is doing had he been given the chance.

But he wasn't.

A Mistake Waiting to Happen

Mats Sundin, it would appear, has three choices.

Two make sense. One is a terrible risk.

The risky choice is to succumb to the pull of the hockey world and announce a return to the NHL sometime before Christmas.

This, it appears, is what most believe is going to happen. And that's too bad.

See, the smarter choices for Sundin would be to either retire - which I've come to believe is what he really wants to do - or take the season off entirely and then join a new team next summer.

Jumping into the fray now is a recipe for trouble.

Still, the choices appear to be between the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks, although since Sundin, as usual, has not articulated his thought process publicly, there could be other teams involved.

But let's say its the Rangers and 'Nucks.

In New York, he would join a team that can't score and would immediately be looking for him to change that problem. He turns 38 in February and his skills are declining, as they do for all players eventually. He has been working out but to what intensity is anyone's guess, and the fact he spent the weekend in New York on a publicity trip for an online poker organization really makes you wonder how furiously he's actually pushing himself to get back to game shape.

If he returns in mid-January, he might have some immediate success, as returning players filled with adrenalin often do, but you can be sure he will have major trouble catching up to the speed of the NHL.

The Rangers, meanwhile, will have to juggle their lineup to fit Sundin under the salary cap unless he's willing to play for a pittance. They only have about $1 million of cap space, and its speculated that veterans like Petr Prucha, Michal Rozsival or even Wade Redden might have to go to make room for Sundin.

That's no way to endear yourself to a new team, particularly if its likely you'll need time to make a significant contribution.

So that's New York. Always tricky, even trickier under these circumstances.

And Vancouver? Ask any veteran who moves late in his career from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference and they will tell you of the painful adjustment required just for travel.

Mike Peca, during his brief stay in Edmonton, couldn't believe how infrequently he slept in his own bed compared to his days in Buffalo and Long Island. Entire days would be lost just travelling, something that doesn't happen in the east.

It sure didn't work well for Mark Messier, who joined the Canucks in 1997 at the age of 36. After scoring 47 and 36 goals in consecutive seasons in the Big Apple, Messier never scored more than 22 in three mostly lousy seasons on the west coast.

It's not that players from the east can't flourish in the west. Scott Niedermayer and Joe Thornton are two good example of athletes who made the adjustment. But it's a huge adjustment that gets harder with age.

But the Canucks, who have the cap space cleared already, keep pushing Sundin to play, as do the Rangers, as does agent J.P. Barry, who believes his client still has good skating miles left in him.

But it's not in Sundin's best interests, it says here, to listen to those voices. Either retire now, or spend a full off-season training and come back strong next fall, full of desire rather than reluctance.

In New York or Vancouver, he'll be looked upon to play saviour this season, and that means deliver a Stanley Cup.

And that's just not likely to happen.