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Mats Sundin

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Mats Sundin
Born (1971-02-13) February 13, 1971 (age 53)
Bromma, SWE
Height 6 ft 5 in (196 cm)
Weight 231 lb (105 kg; 16 st 7 lb)
Position Centre
Shoots Right
NHL team
Former teams		 Atlanta Thrashers & Anaheim Mighty Ducks
Toronto Maple Leafs
Quebec Nordiques
NHL draft 1st overall, 1989
Quebec Nordiques
Playing career 1989–present

Mats Johan Sundin (born February 13, 1971) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player, currently a free agent in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is the second-longest active serving captain in the NHL, behind Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche, and the longest serving non-North American born captain in NHL history. Sundin began his career with the Quebec Nordiques, but his rise to stardom in the NHL came with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team he played for from 1994-2008, and had been the captain of since 1997.

Excluding his first season and the shortened lockout season, Sundin has scored at least 70 points every year. He has played at least 70 games in every full length NHL season of his career, and has led the Leafs in points in every year he has been with the team except 2002-03, when Alexander Mogilny beat him by seven points. On October 14, 2006, Sundin became the first Swedish player to score 500 goals. As of the end of the 2007-08 NHL season, he holds the Leafs' franchise records for goals (420) and points as a Leaf (984). He is currently tied with Jaromir Jagr for the NHL record for regular season overtime goals (15).

Playing career

Quebec Nordiques

Sundin was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques with their 1st pick, 1st overall, in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. At the time he was playing in the Swedish tier two league HockeyAllsvenskan for Nacka HK.[2] He was the first European-born player drafted first overall in NHL history. Sundin played in the Elitserien for Djurgårdens IF during the season 1989-90 and won the Swedish championship the same season.

Sundin made his NHL debut with Quebec during the 1990-91 NHL season, finishing second on the team behind Joe Sakic with 59 points. Sundin led the Nordiques with 114 points in 1992-93. During his time in Quebec, Sundin was considered one of the league's premier young players. He scored his first NHL goal against the Hartford Whalers in his first NHL game on October 4.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Sundin in a trade on June 28, 1994. The Nordiques sent Sundin, Garth Butcher, Todd Warriner, and a 1994 first round draft pick (acquired through the 1992 Eric Lindros deal, traded to the Washington Capitals, used to pick Nolan Baumgartner) to the Leafs in exchange for Wendel Clark, Sylvain Lefebvre, Landon Wilson and a 1994 first round pick (used to pick Jeff Kealty). During the 1994-95 lockout, Sundin returned to Sweden to play for Djurgårdens IF. Sundin became the 16th Maple Leafs captain in 1997, becoming the first European player in Maple Leaf history to hold that honour.

On January 8, 2004, in a game against the Nashville Predators, Sundin broke his stick on an attempted shot and threw it aside in disgust. Instead of hitting the glass, the stick went into the crowd. The NHL suspended Sundin for one game. After the game, Sundin gave a brand new autographed stick to the fan that had caught the broken stick.[3]

He scored his 500th career goal against Miikka Kiprusoff on October 14, 2006, in overtime, in a 5-4 win against the Calgary Flames. The goal was his third of the game, resulting in a hat-trick, short-handed overtime game winner. On March 20, 2007, Sundin reached 900 points as a Maple Leaf with a 2 assist effort in a 2-1 win against the New Jersey Devils.

In Toronto's second game of the 2007-08 NHL season Sundin scored his 389th goal as a Maple Leaf tying Darryl Sittler's team record. In Toronto's fifth game of the season, on October 11 versus the New York Islanders, Sundin scored his 917th point as a Maple Leaf, breaking Darryl Sittler's franchise all-time record. Sundin also scored his 390th goal in the third period, breaking Sittler's other franchise record. He was voted the first, second, and third star of the game. On November 27 in a game against the Montreal Canadiens, Sundin became the first player to score 400 goals as a Leaf. On December 1, in a game versus the Pittsburgh Penguins, he broke Babe Dye's 83-year-old Toronto record when he extended his home game point streak to 15 games.

With the Leafs falling out of playoff contention, Sundin was the focus of numerous trade rumours as the February 26 trade deadline approached. On February 25, he stated that he would not waive the no trade clause in his contract. He stated that he did not believe in being a "rental player" and that if he won the Stanley Cup, he wanted to do it over the course of a whole season.

Sundin became a free agent on July 1, 2008, although the Maple Leafs gave the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers [1] special rights to negotiate with him until that date. On the day he began his free agency, Sundin was offered a two-year, $20 million contract by the Vancouver Canucks. The Rangers, Canadiens and Leafs also made contract offers. Despite previous statements that he wants to finish his NHL career as a Toronto Maple Leaf[4], he stated on July 2nd that he is "not close to being ready to make a decision about resuming my career at this time". [2]

International play

Mats Sundin
Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2006 Turin Sweden
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2003 Sweden
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Sweden
Gold medal – first place 1998 Sweden
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Sweden
Gold medal – first place 1992 Sweden
Gold medal – first place 1991 Sweden

He has represented Team Sweden at various international competitions, such as the World Cup of Hockey and the Olympic Games, and has held the position of team captain for the national squad for the better part of the last decade. Sundin is widely recognized as one of the top players in the world in these international competitions, and has added a highly impressive list of accomplishments to his credentials as a result of his outstanding performance in the 2002 Winter Olympics and 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Sundin has won three IIHF World Championships with Sweden in 1991, 1992 and 1998. Sundin finally clinched a gold medal with Team Sweden in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

A picture of his 'fighting face' when Sweden turned 1-5 into a 6-5 win over Finland during IIHF WC game has become iconic.[5] Sundin was the captain of the Swedish National Team in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Despite the controversy surrounding the team allegedly throwing a game earlier in the tournament,[6] he led them to a gold medal with a 3-2 victory over Finland in the final. After leading his team to the Gold Medal in Turin he stated that he did not expect to return to the national team. The Turin Olympics is by many Swedes considered the Grande Finale of the 'Golden Generation'.

Sundin has played for Sweden in:

Personal life

Toronto is home to an intense hockey media, and since Sundin is a private individual, he is arguably the most scrutinized athlete in the city. He regularly deflects any probes into his personal life, and he will rarely speak negatively of his teammates in public.[7] In 2006, Sundin put his four-bedroom house up for sale for a price of $6.499 million, which led to a flurry of media speculation that he was unhappy with the Leafs and sought to move (and play) somewhere else.[8] However, Sundin and his longtime girlfriend Tina Fagerstrom had parted ways, and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment CEO Richard Peddie simply commented that the real estate market was very hot, and that Sundin's house was "an awfully big house for a single guy."[9] Sundin played with the Leafs the following NHL season. On April 30, 2008, Sundin was receiving a leadership award at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic High School in Guelph, Ontario, when he announced that he and his girlfriend Josephine Johansson were engaged to be married. The two had been dating for about a year.[10]

Records

NHL

  • Currently holds the NHL record for most overtime goals (15, shared with Jaromir Jagr)
  • Ranked 22nd all time in career goals (552)
  • Ranked 34th all time in career assists (761) - tied with Chris Chelios and Bernie Federko
  • Ranked 30th all time in career points (1313)
  • First European hockey player to be drafted first overall in the NHL Entry Draft (1989 by the Quebec Nordiques)
  • Longest serving European captain of an NHL franchise in league history
  • First Swedish player to reach the 500 goal milestone
  • Most career points, goals and assists by a Swedish hockey player
  • Fastest overtime goal (6 seconds, tied with Alexander Ovechkin and David Legwand)
  • Only Swedish player to reach 1000 points

Franchise

Awards and achievements

  • Swedish Champion in 1990.
  • First European born player to be drafted first overall in the NHL entry draft. (1989)
  • Named to the Elitserien World All-Star Team in 1991, 1992, 1994 and 1998.
  • Named to the World Championships All-Star Team in 1992 and 2003.
  • World Championships' Best Forward in 1992.
  • Named to the Canada Cup All-Star Team in 1991.
  • Named to the World Cup of Hockey All-Star Team in 1996.
  • Played in the NHL All-Star Game in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 (injured) and 2004.
  • Named to the NHL Second All-Star Team in 2002 and 2004.
  • Named to the Olympic Tournament All-Star Team in 2002.
  • Achieved 500 goal plateau on October 14, 2006.
  • Achieved 1,300 points on February 5, 2008.
  • Awarded the "Mark Messier Leadership Award" in 2008.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1988-89 Nacka HK Swe-2 25 10 8 18 18 -- -- -- -- --
1989-90 Djurgårdens IF SEL 34 10 8 18 16 8 7 0 7 4
1990-91 Quebec Nordiques NHL 80 23 36 59 58 -- -- -- -- --
1991-92 Quebec Nordiques NHL 80 33 43 76 103 -- -- -- -- --
1992-93 Quebec Nordiques NHL 80 47 67 114 96 6 3 1 4 6
1993-94 Quebec Nordiques NHL 84 32 53 85 60 -- -- -- -- --
1994-95 Djurgårdens IF SEL 12 7 2 9 14 -- -- -- -- --
1994-95 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 47 23 24 47 14 7 5 4 9 4
1995-96 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 76 33 50 83 46 6 3 1 4 4
1996-97 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 82 41 53 94 59 -- -- -- -- --
1997-98 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 82 33 41 74 49 -- -- -- -- --
1998-99 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 82 31 52 83 58 17 8 8 16 16
1999-00 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 73 32 41 73 46 12 3 5 8 10
2000-01 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 82 28 46 74 76 11 6 7 13 14
2001-02 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 82 41 39 80 94 8 2 5 7 4
2002-03 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 75 37 35 72 58 7 1 3 4 6
2003-04 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 81 31 44 75 52 9 4 5 9 8
2005-06 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 70 31 47 78 58 -- -- -- -- --
2006-07 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 75 27 49 76 62 -- -- -- -- --
2007-08 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 74 32 46 78 76 -- -- -- -- --
NHL Totals 1305 555 766 1321 1065 83 35 39 74 72

International

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1989 Sweden EJC 6 5 4 9 8
1990 Sweden EJC 6 6 2 8 14
1990 Sweden WJC 7 5 2 7 6
1991 Sweden CC 8 2 6 8 8
1992 Sweden WC 8 2 6 8 8
1994 Sweden WC 8 5 9 14 4
1996 Sweden WCH 4 4 3 7 4
1998 Sweden Oly 4 3 0 3 4
1998 Sweden WC 10 5 6 11 6
2001 Sweden WC 2 0 1 1 2
2002 Sweden Oly 4 5 4 9 10
2003 Sweden WC 7 6 4 10 10
2004 Sweden WCH 4 1 5 6 0
2006 Sweden Oly 8 3 5 8 4
Senior Int'l Totals 65 31 46 77 52

See also

References

  1. ^ "Sundin's new gal pal". Sun Media. 2007-08-17. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  2. ^ "NHL.com Players - Mats Sundin". NHL.com. Retrieved 2006-11-28. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Jones, Jennifer (2004-01-11). "League made right call on Sundin". Retrieved 2007-02-11.
  4. ^ "Sundin will not waive no trade clause". TSN. 2008-02-25. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  5. ^ "Super Sudden Galen i att vinna". Aftonbladet. Retrieved April 19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Men's Hockey: Slovakia shuts out Sweden". Associated Press. 2006-02-21. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  7. ^ Dimanno, Rosie (2007-10-11). "Captain courteous, vague". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2008-05-02. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ Leitch, Carolyn (2006-05-19). "Captain's Crib". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2008-05-02. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ O'Connor, Joe (2006-05-12). "Sundin puts house up for sale". National Post. Retrieved 2008-05-02. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ Tracey, Scott (2008-05-01). "Guelph students honour Maple Leafs captain with Lourdes' National Leadership Award". Waterloo Region Record. Retrieved 2008-05-01. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "Mats Sundin breaks 83-year-old Leafs record in 4-2 win over Penguins". Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-01-21.

External links

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Preceded by NHL First Overall Draft Pick
1989 		Succeeded by

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