Listening to the Toronto sports radio call in show Thursday night, I couldn’t believe how many callers were criticizing Leafs captain Mats Sundin for admitting that as a free agent, he might not be back with the Toronto Maple Leafs next season. If a sports fan was to sit back and think about it, Sundin has been and outstanding employer for the Leafs both and off the ice since arriving in June 1994.

Through the few ups and plenty of on ice struggles, Sundin who passed Darryl Sittler last October to become the number one goal scorer in Leafs history, spent his prime years in Toronto earning less money than he could have had on the open market while playing with some average at best wingers. Putting team before individual, this 37 year-old Swede offered in the last few years to take less money so that management could have enough wiggle room in the cap to use for obtaining other players. Last season at the trade deadline, Sundin showed his loyalty and love to the Leafs organization and in the process was wrongly accused of being selfish in slowing down the Leafs rebuilding process. In my opinion, Sundin showed what’s so important in a leader and that’s character and loyalty to the sweater. Even though the Leafs were all but eliminated from the playoff race at last season’s trade deadline, this 37 year-old, who knows that his chances of winning are becoming slim, preached his loyalty for standing firm in his stand that he wants to with Toronto and not being traded. Hearing about an athlete not wanting to move is becoming a rare occurrence in sports where you see or hear about them moving to either win now (Ray Bourque to Avalanche), or to get more money. Showing how funny and fickle hockey fans are, when Bourque who was a veteran in Boston, left for the Avs in a trade deadline deal a few years ago, he was heavily criticized by some in Bean town for jumping ship. Meanwhile, here is Sundin showing his loyalty and he gets criticized for not leaving which is wrong. Being a grizzled veteran who has represented the city so professionally, Sundin definitely deserved the no- trade contract from former general manager John Ferguson and should never have been questioned but rather applauded for exercising it last February especially considering where the team was in the overall standings.

Heading into next season, I can understand Sundin being perhaps a little hesitant considering the shape the Leafs front office is in right now. Looking at the situation, Toronto still doesn’t have a general manager or a coach and we’re less than a month away from the NHL draft. It’s an unsettling situation, which I can understand can bring some uneasiness to the Sundin camp. After meeting with intern manager Cliff Fletcher on Thursday, one can’t blame the Leafs captain for being curious about perhaps thinking about moving on to a team that is perhaps more stable in the front office and behind the bench in a team such as the Detroit Red Wings. Prior to game three of the finals in Pittsburgh, Sundin received the Mark Messier award, which is awarded for leadership. Instead of fans calling in and dumping on Sundin without examining all the facts, we should be praising him for winning his first individual NHL Award. 

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