Sundin\'s Leadership

[Shao]

Although I agree that 90% or so Leafs fans are just ignorant bandwagon jumpers, who really cares?

They are having fun cheering for a team and probably don\'t know too much about the intricacies of hockey.

Hell, I never played professional hockey so I don\'t know either.

I do know however that they never really put a decent team with him. I\'ve also heard him in hundreds of interviews and he\'s never sulked or blamed his linemates or even been moody or angry at the play of his team.

As a captain, he has put up big numbers. Bigger than any other leafs captain as he does have the points record for a leaf (no??)

People are letting this recent fiasco taint his long years with the Leafs. The franchise has been lucky to have him. Honestly. 99% of other players would have left by now or not fought as hard. The Toronto scrutiny is unlikely any other city that I know of concerning hockey. This is not an easy city to play (see Murphy, Razor, McCabe, etc..) and he handled himself with class and dignity.

I wished however that he could have made this decision by now instead of the 5+ months...

[Dakkster]

Let me put it to you like this, from a Swede\'s perspective...

Whenever Sundin has played for the Swedish national team, he has been the unquestioned captain and he has always been completely and utterly flawless in that position.

He stands up for his teammates, never whines, has the respect of everyone in the league, played through the playoffs on a broken foot a few years ago, etc, etc, etc. To claim that he is the or even one of the worst captains in NHL history or even in the NHL today is ludicrous, ignorant and outright ******ed.

If you want to blame someone for the lack of success in Toronto, look no further than Richard Peddie and the rest of the MLSE.

[duballstar014]

I\'m sure Sundin might have a sour taste in his mouth after Toronto management tried forcibly to make him do what he did not want to do - leave Toronto. IMO had Leafs brass listened the first time Sundin said he didnt want to leave Toronto, and dropped it, Mats would have signed by now. Personally I think he\'s a little sick of the drama himself and doesnt know if it\'ll be worth it another year.

To question his integrity is a little vicious though I think. I\'m not even a Toronto fan but everything I\'ve seen from Sundin has been nothing but class, respect, and dedication. What more can you ask for?

[Dakkster]

duballstar014 wrote:

I\'m sure Sundin might have a sour taste in his mouth after Toronto management tried forcibly to make him do what he did not want to do - leave Toronto. IMO had Leafs brass listened the first time Sundin said he didnt want to leave Toronto, and dropped it, Mats would have signed by now. Personally I think he\'s a little sick of the drama himself and doesnt know if it\'ll be worth it another year.

To question his integrity is a little vicious though I think. I\'m not even a Toronto fan but everything I\'ve seen from Sundin has been nothing but class, respect, and dedication. What more can you ask for?

Exactly. It was the MLSE who gave Sundin the contract with a no-trade clause. Then they have the gall to criticize him for not waiving it. Their freaking captain for a decade. Honoring contracts goes both ways. Then the Toronto media starts going insane, being just as unclassy as the Leafs management. Pathetic and shameful, from my point of view.

If Sundin had played for the Wings, he would NEVER EVER have been treated so disrespectfully. At least Mats knows that he is loved and respected back here in Sweden.

[Shao]

It was the disrespect of the organization that is causing him to take this long. He actually loves Toronto and really does want to retire here.

But he also feels he could still play and doesn\'t want to regret retiring early.

That whole fiasco with MLSE is what ruined it for him.

I still feel it shouldn\'t be a 5 month decision though.

[csculthorp]

Shao wrote:

It was the disrespect of the organization that is causing him to take this long. He actually loves Toronto and really does want to retire here.

But he also feels he could still play and doesn\'t want to regret retiring early.

That whole fiasco with MLSE is what ruined it for him.

I still feel it shouldn\'t be a 5 month decision though.

I didn\'t know you had actually talked to sundin about his stand on retirement and on Toronto? I guess case closed.

[Shao]

I\'m sorry, you can\'t see that?

Maybe you should read some more newspapers or move to Toronto and get this stuff 24/7.

Perhaps then you would understand how some of us do have insight into these matters.