Sundin looks back in ‘Home and Away’

TORONTO – Mats Sundin was successful a acquainted place. Everything was besides precise different.

It was February 2009. The erstwhile skipper of the Toronto Maple Leafs was backmost successful his 2nd location — lone this clip arsenic a subordinate of the opposition.

Sundin had signed with the Vancouver Canucks aft 13 seasons nether the brightest of spotlights successful hockey’s biggest media market.

The Swedish centre jolted retired of his edifice furniture that acold Saturday morning. Sweat dripped down his brow. In his mind’s eye, a script had conscionable played retired successful the Leafs’ locker room. The assemblage was roaring. His squad needed him.

And Sundin’s skate laces kept breaking.

“For a squad captain, there’s nary worse feeling,” helium writes. “It’s my cleanable nightmare.”

That country opens Sundin’s publication “Home and Away,” which tracks a way that began with his parents and 2 brothers extracurricular Stockholm and yet led to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

He dives into the pressures and anxieties of being the archetypal European selected No. 1 wide astatine the NHL draft, getting traded by the Quebec Nordiques to Toronto for franchise icon Wendel Clark, and the turbulent extremity to his clip with the Leafs.

It’s those campaigns with the Original Six nine — including the past 11 arsenic skipper — that marque up the bulk of Sundin’s engaging prose alongside co-author Amy Stuart.

“The Maple Leafs’ past is agelong and storied and complicated,” helium writes. “Leafs Nation is bigger than hockey. It’s its ain universe.”

Sundin arrived successful Toronto successful 1994 aft the commercialized for the hard-nosed Clark. Things didn’t spell according to program early. There was a feeling successful galore hockey circles backmost past that teams with an abundance of European endowment couldn’t win.

“The archetypal years were a shock,” Sundin said successful a telephone interrogation from Stockholm. “Wendel Clark, the astir fashionable Leaf astatine that constituent … being traded for him. A batch of challenges to effort to gain the respect of the fans.”

That respect would yet come.

Sundin ended up arsenic the Leafs’ all-time person successful goals (420) and points (987), though existent skipper Auston Matthews is connected people to smash some marks. His 1,349 points crossed 18 NHL seasons ranks 30th successful league history.

Team success, however, would ne'er genuinely materialize with Toronto.

There were a fewer memorable playoff runs and a travel to the 2002 Eastern Conference final, but Sundin wasn’t capable to get a nine with a Cup drought dating backmost to 1967 implicit the hump.

And past with his vocation winding down and Toronto obscurity adjacent to contending successful the wintertime of 2008, uncomfortable questions astir his aboriginal started to swirl. A media circus ensued.

Sundin had a no-movement clause successful his contract. General manager Cliff Fletcher, who made the woody for Clark successful 1994, was backmost with Toronto and aiming to retool the roster.

The seasoned enforcement met with Sundin astatine the team’s edifice earlier a crippled successful Carolina and asked if helium would hold to beryllium dealt to a contender.

Sundin understood the situation, but the Leafs weren’t that acold retired of a playoff spot. He declined management’s petition with the commercialized deadline looming.

“Why it was adjacent harder was that I had a truly beardown season,” Sundin told CP. “And aft 13 years with the team, 11 years arsenic the captain, determination was truthful overmuch effort and volition to effort to triumph a Stanley Cup arsenic a Toronto Maple Leaf.

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“It felt similar the close happening to do.”

He besides understood the concern of the game.

“Toronto had a accidental to get immoderate youth,” continued Sundin, who present lives successful Stockholm with woman Josephine and their 3 kids. “But I ever saw myself trying to triumph that Cup for the Maple Leaf fans.”

The club, however, failed to marque the playoffs and Sundin missed the extremity of the play with an injury. He took the summertime to contemplate his adjacent move, which helium thought was retirement.

But yet the occurrence reignited, Sundin got backmost grooming and signed with the Canucks.

Fast-forward a fewer months aboriginal and helium was receiving a lasting ovation astatine Air Canada Centre successful Toronto.

Later that night, the crippled was connected his instrumentality successful the shootout. There was nary accidental Sundin would miss.

“I spent 15 years imagining my past crippled successful Toronto,” helium writes. “In my imagination version, my last crippled was playing for the Stanley Cup. We triumph the Cup successful beforehand of a location crowd, and an full metropolis unleashes earlier our eyes.”

Sundin played his last NHL play successful Vancouver. The Cup ne'er materialized, but that nighttime was special, if not strange.

“I did people the winning goal,” helium adds later. “But it wasn’t the imagination ending. There’s nary Cup to hoist, lone a formation to catch.”

This study by The Canadian Press was archetypal published Oct. 21, 2024.

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“Home and Away.” Mats Sundin with Amy Stuart. Simon & Schuster Canada, 308 mages, $39.99.

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