A Mimico Plugger Still Plugging

AP FILE PHOTO

Shanny returns.

"I almost felt like a bridesmaid in Mats Sundin's wedding."

So says Brendan Shanahan, and with good reason. Indeed, it's been a little hard to understand why a 37-year-old forward with 555 career goals was so sought after for the past six months while a 39-year-old winger with 690 career goals and three Stanley Cup rings fell, it seemed, right off the radar screen.

For Sundin, there was no end of speculation as to where he might end up. For Shanahan, well, there was no speculation, really, for weeks upon weeks, and certainly no sense that this was a player who was viewed as a difference maker, a player for whom teams would clear salary cap room to obtain even if it meant dumping players to do it.

Sundin ended up signing with Vancouver Dec. 18 for a deal that will pay him more than $5 million this season, including a $4 million bonus payable today.

Shanahan, on the other hand, agreed to a deal with New Jersey this week for a pro-rated $800,000 salary, which means he'll gross about half that figure.

"They told me what they could afford, and I said I'll take it," chuckled Shanahan in an interview with The Star yesterday.

While there was a possibility Shanahan would play his first game with the Devils tonight against Columbus, he put himself down as "probably doubtful." When he practiced with the club on Thursday, he was the extra forward on a line with Bobby Holik, Jay Pandolfo and Mike Rupp, a humbling experience, one might think, for the future Hall of Famer.

"I just don't see it that way," he said. "I'm not an idiot, so I know I've had a good career. But I grew up feeling like a plugger from Mimico, and I still feel that way."

When he does play, he'll wear No. 18 for the Devils, not the No. 11 he wore as an 18-year-old for the Devils in 1987 nor the No. 14 he wore with the Red Wings and Rangers.

When given the option of a few numbers with New Jersey, a Devils trainer pointed out that Shanahan had worn No. 18 with Team Canada in the 1991 Canada Cup, and Canada had won that event.

So No. 18 it was.

Why it took so long for Shanahan to become an NHL employee again, particularly given the fact that he wanted to play all along while Sundin was ambivalent, is a complicated tale. Basically, he expected that Rangers GM Glen Sather would clear cap room for him in the fall, and when that didn't happen, he went out searching for work, hoping to find a job with a team that would allow him and his young family - three children under the age of 7 - to continue living in Manhattan.

"I didn't want to take that away from them," he said. "As a dad, I didn't want to do that."

There were other offers, including three, Shanahan says, that he could have accepted but would have meant have to move away from his family for the hockey season. The Devils had expressed some interest early on, and he and GM Lou Lamoriello, who had drafted him more than two decades earlier, kept in touch.

There were no bad feelings left over from the summer of 1991 when Shanahan left as what was then known as a Group One free agent for St. Louis. Lamoriello, of course, netted Scott Stevens as compensation. Their relationship continued through the years, and when Shanahan did play his 1,000th NHL game for Detroit in New Jersey, after the game he autographed his own jersey and gave it to Lamoriello as a gift.

"I did joke that Group One free agency had actually been good for him," said Shanahan. "He got Stevens for me, and the next year he got Dave Barr and Randy McKay for Troy Crowder."

In recent months, Shanahan had trekked up to the Rangers training facility on a daily basis to pull his gear out of a storage locker and skate on his own, hoping to get another NHL chance.

"Even when we weren't necessarily getting headlines and being the target of talk radio, I knew we had good teams pursuing me," said Shanahan. "Mats was the captain in Toronto for a long time, and he's a great player who has had a great career. But I didn't want the kind of scrutiny he had, didn't want to use it as a way to drum up interest and put pressure on general managers.

"(Sundin) was tring to decide whether he wanted to continue his career. I always knew I wanted to play, and I always thought it was going to be next week."

Sundin has had a bumpy start with the Canucks, registering one goal and one assist in five games, with a minus-4 rating. For Shanahan, as with all aging players, there's the uncertainty whether the hands will still be there for him.

"I know I'm known for scoring, but I also know I can kill penalties and I know how to win," he said. "But I've always felt I had something to prove. Can I do it again? Can I do more? Can I still do it?"

Happily for one of the game's better guys, we'll now get to find out.

Comments

[Shanahan is miles above Sundin]

You cannot even compare the 2. Shany has heart, soul and an excellent work ethic while the lazy swede had decent numbers on a crappy team.

[Buck16]

Here's hoping Shanny gets the 10 he needs for 700. It would be a great achievement for a great player.

[Lewis McClain]

This guy knows how to win. That would not be acceptable to the ownership here...A game between the Marlies and Leafs would be competitve, and i believe the Marlies win...

[Lost In Alberta]

Nice comparisons between the two. One point I'd add, is that Shanny is willing to go within a week of signing, while Sundin took nearly three weeks after he signed to play for the Canucks. Funny that.

[Tabber]

Gee, I don't know, Damien, maybe you should be asking your fellow media members. I haven't paid much attention to either of them, but since the media are the only source of information, I'd say they're the ones to ask. So, Damien, why have YOU not paid attention to Shanahan while paying so much to Sundin? Ball's in your court, maybe you can conduct a survey amongst your peers to find the answer. Or is it as simple as that Sundin played in the supposed hockey Mecca with more media following the sport than anywhere else?

[Warren Z.]

Hey, "Shanahan is miles... whatever", nice to know heart, soul, and work ethic is decided by people's passports, eh?

[Sam Midhurst]

Damien,

The reason Sundin receives more recognition than Shanahan is simple:

The GTA is hockey-crazed. Sure NY is a huge market, they have good fans, and it's a much larger city than Toronto...

but the fan intensity isn't comparable.

Because of the fan interest, there's much more media scrutiny in Toronto and Canada as a whole. Shanahan points out the scrutiny in one of his quotes.

Intense fanbases in Toronto and Vancouver, along with more media scrutiny for Sundin, makes the move a big deal.

If Shanny had been the Leafs captain it would have been the same way.

[Brian]

I think calling Mats a lazy Swede is a bit harsh, first off he has not played hockey in how many months and another important thing to consider is the Western Conference. Mats has played his entire hockey career in the East so that in itself would be a major adjustment. The skill level, speed and size is greater in the West.
Give Mats at least 15 games then he will be fine.

[ray brewer]

Mats isn't lazy, he's overrated..Canuck fans gave him a standing ovation when he scored his first goal..He is probatly the only point a game player in NHL history that gets an ovation for a goal my grandmother could've scored..

80 million dollar man Mats isn't going to do diddly in Vancouver...He plays his worst when he plays with decent wingers...The worm will turn in Vancouver..The fans will be begging for a guy like Shanahan..

The big difference between the two is quite simple..Shanahan in Canadian and plays like one..Sundin is a swede and doesn't have the moxy to lead his teams to anything..Ask the Senators..Alfredsson has led them to a fight to finish dead last..Sundin, Sedin twins and a few other swedes won't lead your team to anything but disappointment..

[Tim]

I'm a Rangers fan & hold Shanny very dear as the consummate professional hockey player. He's everything you'd like a hockey player to be. That said, without question, he's slowed quite a bit the past couple of years and was just never the same player after that awful collision with Mike Knuble. He still has a great, accurate shot but otherwise...sorta lumbers on the ice.

Sundin, for all the ridiculousness surrounding him, still has a fair bit more to offer a team.

I hope Shanny plays great though & proves me wrong - against every team except NY.

[Sundin the lazy swede]

Mr. potato head (aka sundin) will be chased out of vancouver at the season's end when the vancouverites realize that they have been duped into thinking that sundin is some kinda superstar. After which he will retire cause no other team will want him (well the leafs maybe). Again Shanahan and sundin are polar opposites and cannot be compared.

[DamienCox]

Good morning, Damien here. . .just wanted to ask Ray Brewer above a quick question. If its all about nationality, and how Canadians are better than Swedes, and how "Sundin, Sedin and a few other Swedes won't lead your team to anything but disappointment," how is it that Detroit managed to win the Cup last year with a team dominated by Swedish players? And if Sundin doesn't have the "moxy" to lead his teams to anything, how did Sweden, not Canada, win the 2006 Olympics. Just wondering.

[ST]

I think a big reason for the difference would have to be the fact that Sundin scored 78 points on a weak team while Shanahan scored 46 points on a competitive team. Many people have been curious as to what Sundin could do with some decent linemates. He won a gold medal, has been remarkably consistent throughout his career, and seemed revitalized last season. He can be dominant and clutch. Shanahan will probably be clutch until he's 50, and he is an amazing player with tons of heart, but he can't take over a game like Sundin still can.

[kwilson]

Hey Damien, I enjoyed your rebuttal to Mr. Brewer. I was thinking the same thing myself.
First of all, Brendan only has 650 goals, not 690. I thought 690 was kind of high so I looked it up. He has 690 assists, not goals. Secondly, there is no comparison between the hockey playing abilities of these 2 players. Sundin has always been the go to guy on his line, whereas Shanahan has been a complementary player. When Shanahan played in St. Louis he was a fierce, take no prisoners style of player. He played that way for a while in Detroit but it didn't take him long to morph into a perimeter player. He would let Yzerman, at 185 pounds, dig the puck out for him and take a pounding, instead of the other way around. Whenever Shanahan plays against elite players (i.e World Cups and Olympics and Colorado) you barely notice him. For a long time he's seemed more interested in padding his stats than playing hard. It's probably one of the big reasons he signed with the Rangers. Sundin has never had guys like Yzerman and Federov and Larionov to feed him the puck. If he did, he wouldn't have to put up with the negative comments he's always received from guys like Mr. Brewer. I'm not a Leaf fan by the way, I'm a Red Wing fan, so I've watched Shanahan play a lot of hockey over the last 12 years.

[Warren Z.]

This is starting to sound like sour grapes. It's like the good looking girlfriend who left you on bad terms and all of a sudden she's incredibly ugly. Being a Leafs fan myself, I just don't see how seemingly everybody else let their emotions cloud their judgement.

[No Glory]

I think most of you are Missing the point here. Shanny said himself that there were more than a few teams interested in him. However, the difference was that Shanny didnt make every little detail public in order to drum up more interest and ultimately a much larger cheque. From Sundin's perspective, he accomidated the media throughout the whole circus..now maybe he had more information requests then shanny maybe he didnt..we'll never know. Seeing both players decisions play out I would say that Shanny was gentleman throughout..he had preferences because of family and Sundin also had his (money???). Just the way Sundin carried himself was like he's a superstar..n if u do that then the attention u get is merited...if u dont perform upto superstar standards then its on u. Shanny has rings and is still humble playing on a checking line.

[dogloc]

glad to see shanny back ,he deserves better &a bit more cash compared to some of the players in the nhl he's head &shoulders above 50% of them