The Legacy of Sundin

It was a different hockey world when Mats Sundin made history.

His status as the first European ever selected No. 1 in the NHL draft back in 1989 was no small achievement, you should remember. Back then, Euros weren’t necessarily seen as players that could be trusted to be franchise players despite the success players like Jari Kurri had already experienced. The Iron Curtain had yet to fall, so players from Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union were all but unreachable.

The year before, Teemu Selanne of Finland had been drafted 10th overall, the only European taken in the top 30. In the ’87 draft, every single player selected in the first round was a Canadian.

But in ’89, Sundin was still a slam dunk as the first pick. He was that much better than the rest of the world’s teenagers and he made history.

Twenty-years later, Sundin has hung ‘em up, a year too late, as it turns out. Had Sundin retired in the spring of 2008 as a Maple Leaf, the farewell would have been spectacular and his reputation would have been unsullied as one of the best Leafs of his generation.

Going to Vancouver for one unsuccessful half-season surely didn’t destroy Sundin’s legacy, but it did hurt it, made him appear interested only in cashing in one more time but unwilling to make the sacrifices necessary to compete in the world’s toughest hockey league.

As it turned out, he couldn’t compete any longer, just as Guy Lafleur wasn’t the same when he came back as a New York Ranger, and just as Theo Fleury couldn’t crack the Calgary Flames roster this spring.

Once you check out, it’s hard to check back in. And while Sundin didn’t check out in the summer of ’08, it seemed he was dragged back to the rink, persuaded to play one more season by advisors, friends and family. His heart never seemed to be in Vancouver, although as always he said the right things, and he made not the slightest difference to a Canucks team that fell to Chicago in the post-season.

But if you remember all the seasons before that, Sundin had one heck of a career, a terrific ride. A Hall of Fame experience.

He scored 564 goals and added 785 assists in the regular season, and added another 38 goals and 44 assists in 91 playoff games. He was remarkably consistent and durable. He was more explosive in his early years with Quebec, but after being dealt to the Leafs in one of the club’s most controversial deals that sent captain Wendel Clark to the Nordiques, Sundin gradually evolved into a reliable power centre, usually a point-per-game player, and one who developed into a solid playoff competitor after being questioned for his playoff grit in Quebec City. Strangely, the team never found the perfect fit for him as a linemate, and looking back over Sundin’s long career one sees a series of different players rather than one winger who was always there riding alongside the splendid Swede.

The absence of a Stanley Cup ring injures the resume, but only slightly. Sundin did, after all, win three world championship gold medals with Sweden and the 2006 Olympic gold as well, certainly team achievements that are worthy of being in the same conversation as winning the Cup. Some will slam Sundin for being unable to bring the Cup to Toronto, but on those teams, with those players, it’s worth asking: Who could have?

The debate over whether he was a great Leaf captain, or a pedestrian one, will go on for years. He wasn’t as fiery as Doug Gilmour, and was surely never particularly popular in Toronto, never as beloved as Clark, Gilmour, Curtis Joseph or Tie Domi. Insiders would tell you, however, that he always cared about his teammates and tried to do the right thing while working for an organization that could at best be described as flighty and easily distracted.

The other mark against his name by many Leaf fans will be his status as the leading member of the infamous Muskoka Five, the group of Leafs that included Darcy Tucker, Bryan McCabe, Pavel Kubina and Tomas Kaberle who collectively refused to waive their no-trade clauses in the winter of ’08 to allow interim GM Cliff Fletcher to trade them for draft picks and futures as the team stumbled through another non-playoff season.

Sundin insisted he believed the team could make the playoffs and didn’t want to join a Cup contender partway through the season, a claim undercut months later when he joined the Canucks in late December for the second half of the NHL season. In the end, it mattered little, for he couldn’t help the Canucks just as he wouldn’t have been able to help the Leafs. He was finished.

Five years from now, Sundin should be a first ballot Hall of Fame selection. But the Leafs shouldn’t wait that long to raise his No. 13 to the rafters of the Air Canada Centre. Next season, perhaps, would be perfect, just to make doubly sure he’s committed to retirement. The Leafs like to do these things in pairs, so put up former captain Rick Vaive’s No. 22 at the same time, an oversight that requires correction.

Both were outstanding Leafs and outstanding leaders. That no Leaf is currently viewed as worthy of wearing the captain’s “C” is, really, an indirect but significant tribute to both men.

Comments

[Wardo]

I watched Sundin's games in Toronto virtually since he arrived. Hundreds.

I never understood why the search was always on for a winger for Sundin. They had it backwards.

The best winger for Mats Sundin might have been a guy like - Adam Oates, for instance. Or Marc Savard, he would have been ideal a few years ago. No kidding, those guys are centres - but Sundin was always a shooter, not a setup man, ill-suited to the role of a passing centre. He was a winger who could win 50%+ of his faceoffs, with a heavy shot from the point, a quick snapper from the circle, or the stability to bull his way in close for a tasty rebound. If he'd had a guy like Savard riding shotgun, he would have been a 50 goal man for the Leafs.

[David]

Mats Sundin: a great player, a great Leaf, and a great captain who maintained his poise and class despite playing for a dysfunctional organization that couldn't or wouldn't put players of comparable ability on the ice.

[Jason Wryghte]

Sundin was a first line person, a great captain from the personality point of view, especially in Toronto. But he was miscast as a first line centreman. He was a first line right winger, or second line centreman. He's a borderline hall of famer, like Bernie Federko or Clark Gillies. If he makes it, OK, if he doesn't, shrug.

[CanadianinCali]

Sorry to see Sundin go, I always enjoyed his game. Although a point-per-game is nothing to sneeze at, I wonder how much better his numbers might have been had he not played the bulk of his career in the Dead Puck Era...

Great blog Damien, keep it up!

[Jim Jack]

Mats Sundin was surely the most talented Leaf I have ever watched. The problem is Mats did not bring his talent to the rink every game and he especially failed to "bring it" come playoff time. Can you ever remember Sundin with fire in his eyes the way you remember Keon, Sittler, Lanny, Wendel, Gilmour, Tucker, Domi, even Joseph. This why Mats will be an outsider looking in at true Maple Leaf heroes. Something always told me that teams captained by this man were lazy in a country club and not really up to the big challenges they faced. Mats did himself much harm to Leaf fans by finishing his career as a Canuck. Let them retire his jersey.

[Johnnyk]

A good solid journeyman.
Never in the top 10 of anything.
Forget the expansion-inflated stats.
Raise his jersey with Pat Boutette's.
BTW, George Armstrong wasn't about points. He was about leadership of a great team that COULD PLAY HOCKEY(and I'm a Habs fan from the 50s).

[2nd Guess]

Habib, I understand what you're saying in preferring that Sundin be honoured by Colorado, but the Avalanche is a really bad example of a franchise honouring its history. It's one of only 3 teams (of which I'm aware) that have not retained their retired numbers after relocation -- the others being Washington in MLB and Baltimore of the NFL (although the Ravens -- the former Cleveland Browns -- at least handed off their honoured numbers to the new Browns).

If you can imagine, Darcy Tucker -- Darcy @#&%ing Tucker -- is wearing the No. 16 retired by the Nordiques/Avalanche franchise in honour of Michel Goulet. Nos. 8 (Marc Tardif) and 26 (Peter Stastny) are also in use.

Ankur, your criticism of Sundin's impact in the 2002 playoffs is not without merit. But you (perhaps deliberately) omitted the fact that -- with elimination seconds away -- it was his goal that sent the final game of the series against Carolina into overtime.

And to Idiot Leaf Fan (pause to bite tongue): your anger re Sundin's pre-lockout salary of $9 million should be directed at the MLSE knuckleheads who approved it -- or did he carry a gun into negotiations? Unlike the current performance of Vernon Wells, Sundin didn't go into the tank after securing the big deal; his numbers reasonably consistent, he delivered pretty much what was expected.

[maxman]

How about a reality check here.

Sundin wasn't traded by Quebec due to "playoff failures" as Cox claims. Sundin played 6 playoff games in four seasons with Quebec!

Sundin is a point per game player in his career. Pierre Turgeon is a comparable player statistically. Is Turgeon a HoFer? Not likely. What about Dino Ciccarelli, Doug Weight, Keith Tkachuk, Roenick, or even Pavol Demitra? Also similar stats (0.9 to 1.0 PPG). Bernie Nicholls averaged over 1.05 PPG and once scored 70 goals in a season. Not in the HoF.

Sundin's playoff record is not so good. He only played 91 career playoff games in 19 seasons! That average to less than 5 games per season and his PPG dropped in the playoffs. Not really playoff "warrior" numbers.

At the end of all this - Sundin was good, never great. Never one of the top 5 players in the league, and usually at the bottom of the top 20. How does any of this make you an "automatic hall of famer"?

[Vince]

Best player in blue and white since the day he showed up. It's rafter time, people

[John]

Mats Sundin is and will be a hof i'm sorry all you Bashers but The Hall of fame isn't always all about how many points, or cups or your leadership abilities. There is another no wait two other qualities that can put you in CLASS AND HUMBLENESS and when I think about that, two people come to mind for T.O Sports. Mats Sundin and Roy Halladay- which by the way could end up like Mats.
Sundin Bashers give your frickin head a shake!

[Kevin]

Don't blame Mats for the no-trade clause - blame management for giving it to him. All Mats did was ask for one - the team could have refused, although there's no guarantee he would have signed here without it. And I don't fault him for not bringing The Cup to Toronto - as Damien said, look at the teammates he had. Personally, I think it's a wonder he even got into the playoffs most seasons.

And to John, who compared Sundin's numbers to Armstrongs, you can't make the same comparison - they played in completely different eras - among other things Armstrong played in a time when low-scoring games were the norm, and only his last 4 seasons were over 70 games long, not the 82 that Mats had available his entire career.

Finally, let's elect Mats as mayor of Toronto - he calls the city his second home, there will be no incumbent to run against next year, and he's popular enough that he might be able to win it. And to those who say he doesn't have the right makeup for politics, just remember his comments about not wanting to be a rental player. He's already got the hypocrisy thing down pretty good - the rest of politics should come naturally to him.

[Steve C.]

If I'm not mistaken the 'Muskoka Five' label comes from Cox himself. It is lame, and was an attempt to suggest that those players selfishly cared more about spending their summers at the cottage than improving the Leaf team.

It is an especially ridiculous moniker when considering that only one of them - Tucker - actually cottaged in the Muskokas! Kaberle and Kubina go home to the Czech Republic; Sundin back to Sweden; and McCabe returns to Long Island.

[John]

Dear Mr. Cox,
It is interesting to read your article and the comments beneath and listen to how the accents are distributed over Sundin's "legacy". There is obviously a split community around him, and I think even your article is split to some extent. So that everyone can grab hold of something to identify with?

I am thinking of what you said about 'sending him to the rafters': "But the Leafs shouldn’t wait that long to raise his No. 13 to the rafters... Next season, perhaps, would be perfect, just to make doubly sure he’s committed to retirement. The Leafs like to do these things in pairs, so put up former captain Rick Vaive’s No. 22..."

Now this is not the nicest thing you could say, is it? And what do you mean by "doubly sure"? And do you seriously mean that Sundin otherwise could manage to manipulate himself into a new contract? Does that happen often in Canada or the NHL? Or is it simply about muting a crowd that otherwise could start seeing ghosts (or is it holy spririts) on the ice and start shouting his name? This is, at least to me, really a new perspective on sending jerseys to the rafters. It's a way of burying a ghost. It is uncanny.

Sure, I can understand it in many respects, but it looks to me as if you could be well off investing a little less into hockey and individual players. It isn't sound. Who could be expected to carry such a load? It must be a "deity", to quote the legacy of Sundin according to the IIHF (see www.iihf.com). And a deity is there to eventually be torn down, so that the institution might live on. It seems very predictable. I don't think one should go too far down that path, if you excuse me for saying so.

But then again, who is better suited for the Hall of Fame and the rafters than a deity? Be generous, or is that not the way you do things?

[scott]

"As it turned out, he couldn’t compete any longer"

In the last game Sundin played, a do or die playoff game no less, he tallied 2 points (1 goal 1 assist). Looks like he went out on a high note to me...

[Ray Cathode]

Exactly Chris K. - just like Yashin, I big pile of money for a second tier player that only looked slightly good because of the comparisons to the rest of the roster while playing for Toronto. Even elephant dung could shine playing next that roster. He will get in the Hall because he played for TO and no other reason - he'll be in the same hall as guys that could play and actually did something, like Sakic, Yzerman, etc. It will be a travesty to satisfy the gnawing need of Leaf fan egos.