Ramblings - Sundin

[MXHockey]

\"The Toronto Star is speculating that Mats Sundin may not make a decision until midway through the season a la Scott Niedermayer. He has not been skating in the offseason to keep in shape, so his hockey future is quite cloudy\"

When reading today\'s ramblings I couldn\'t help but wonder that if the above is true, it makes Sundin a bit of a hypocrite.

When he refused to waive his no-trade clause and go to a contender last year, part of the reason was he believed that winning a championship is a full-season process, and that he didn\'t believe in the \"rental player\" concept.

How is being a \'rental player\' any different than being that guy who signs half-way through the year or later (Selanne, Niedermeyer, Forsberg) on a playoff bound team.

Not trying to start a Sundin-bash thread, and think he\'s a great player, but just felt the ramblings brought out an interesting point.

[Bass56]

I agree with you buddy! It\'s one thing to contemplate retirement in the offseason, but it shouldn\'t take you a year to fully realize if you want to play for an extra season or 2... At least, if he had made his intentions clear in the first place, it would have been more understandable, but it seems like he\'s always pushing back the deadline to let the hockey world know what he will do!

[NYR9394]

It\'s the Roger Clemen\'s syndrome that has infected sports. The \"I dont wanna go through pre-season and i\'m not too thrilled about playing the entire regular season either.\" Clemens only wanted to get paid for working 3 months. I dont know if thats the case with Sundin, or even Niedermayer last year, but it sure looks like it. It\'s not right to keep any number of teams waiting on your decision. It just sucks because players with merit are really taking advantage of the situation. At least Sakic made a decision before training camp. He\'s ready for the hustle & grind of an ENTIRE SEASON W/TRAINING CAMP. I give him a ton of credit for that.

I bet you that Sundin KNOWS that he\'s coming back. He just wants an extended summer break in addition to seeing how free agency played out for the teams he was interested in. I dont care if you have merit or not, you dont keep teams waiting on your decision to return half way through the schedule just because you can. If anyone one of us were asked to consider a job offer at any level of any profession, I doubt our would-be employer would give us 2,3,4,5 months to consider.

Lastly, His heart wont be breaking to leave Toronto when some moron team pays him $9-10 million dollars.

[ramprat]

whatever, i think and I know I\'m not the only one. That a players at Sundins level should commit to a season by Mid-Sept. I complement JOE. He manned up. Selanne started a bunch of crap and its rolling down the hill and seems to be getting bigger. All they have say is that they will play. When? sometime this season. About? After All-star break? maybe. Whatever. Sundin will come back and look like Brett Hull after the lock-out. A bag of hammers.:silly:

[Shao]

The late comers have proven one thing.

They don\'t come back at their peak. Missing training and most of the season doesn\'t put you in line with the rest of the league.

Clemens was selfish. Selanne was focused on family. Sundin was just like Neidermayer. Uncertain about playing.

But I\'m with you guys. 5 months should be enough time for one to decide if he wants to play or not.

[Shoeless]

\'The Toronto Star is speculating ...\" was about as far as I needed to read.

[Bighabfan]

Shoeless wrote:

\'The Toronto Star is speculating ...\" was about as far as I needed to read.

:laugh: :dry:

was it that knob Strachan?

[NYR9394]

Shao wrote:

Selanne was focused on family.

Yea, thats why I give him a pass. Having a kid is such a life changing experience and it really has to make you ponder the future.

But im positive that Sundin will be back. The only other thing I could think about is maybe he is waiting for the team that he really wants to go to, to clear up cap space. Btw, If he\'s really wants to sign with a winner, why is he asking for $10 million a year? Shouldnt you take less to fit under a team\'s cap? Dont let Sundin fool you, this is ALL about SUNDIN.....then the Cup.

[kovalchuk17]

im certain hes going to play and we\'re all just being duped into waiting for him when hes probably already made his decision
he doesnt have any injury concerns. the current era of the game has players going into their 40s and clearly he doesnt have a problem getting a job. he doesnt have selanne\'s \'im having a baby\' excuse so he should definitely be playing