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2010 Olympics Could Be A Lure For Sundin |
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All the hockey world (yes, you are part of it) has nothing left to do but debate back and forth why Mats Sundin will or won’t sign with a team. The most often used theories that cite why the only legitimate #1 centre of this year’s notably weak Free Agent crop would not sign with Vancouver are readily available for anyone wanting to join the naysayers:
Vancouver isn’t a Stanley Cup contender and Mats wants to win a cup.
He wants to play in the East … the Canucks travel schedule is the worst in the league.
He doesn’t need the money.
These are all extremely plausible reasons as to why Sundin might not sign here, and surely they are some of the multitude of different pros and cons that he is currently mulling over for every team that has tabled an offer.
Of course there are also numerous arguments that can be made as to why Sundin might want to finish his career in Vancouver, but one that has been severely underplayed and may bear some significant relevance in Sundin’s eyes is the fact that the 2010 Olympics will be here during the last year of his pending two year deal to join the Canucks.
The importance of International Hockey to all Swedish citizens is off-the-charts, and Mats Sundin is no exception. One would have to think playing for his country one last final time, returning as captain of the defending Gold Medalists from 2006, playing in what will probably be the last Olympics that sees NHL participation, and doing this for his homeland in his new “home city” has to, at the very least, be something that he would seriously have to consider as something pretty special.
After two disastrous Olympic results in 1998 and 2002 (when Sundin was the tournament’s best player only to have the Tre Kronor get eliminated in the stunning upset to Belarus), that ended with nary even a chance to play a game with a medal on the line, the pressure on the team heading to Turin in 2006 was immense.
The relief felt, by players and fans alike, was neck-and-neck with sheer joy on the emotions scale after beating Finland 3-2 in February ’06. This was a team that was chalk-block full of wonderful talent that was in all likelihood playing their final time together as a group. The Sundins, Forsbergs, Lidstroms and Alfredsons had their collective history together of never getting it done, and the ’06 Games were supposedly going to be their last chance at winning together, and changing their legacy.
Now, here we are 2 years later (19 months away from Vancouver 2010) and Mr Sundin, still playing at a very high level, is potentially looking for two more years in a new city. In the year and a half leading up to The Games, there's a very good chance that he will already "own" GM Place and playing in front of your own fans in the Olympics on a favoured team is prettry rare happenstance. Additionally, with the exception of Forsberg, pretty much all the key players from that Gold Medal Team are still playing at a level that it would be difficult to see them still not being key guys as Team Sweden tries to defend it’s Olympic title.
Again, these guys all thought they never would be able to play again together as a team after 2006 and they went out and won, allowing an entire nation to breathe easy for the first time since Forsberg’s “Postage Stamp” shootout goal against Canada in 1994.
Forsberg, the day before the Olympic final:
"It's kind of our last chance to win a gold," said Forsberg, who came to the tournament injured but refused to stay home. "I've been playing with these guys a long time. I played with Sundin for the first time in '91. I mean, 14 years ago we got together on the national team. All the boys know it's our last chance to play together."
Without fail, all the veterans of the team hailed at as way up there on their respective best moment lists, and there were a more than a few hints made that it was more important than Stanley Cups that had been won in the past. World Championships and Olympic Games have always been the most important hockey story in Sweden, and Sundin exemplifies this more than any other player.
Sundin has represented his country 14 times internationally and has been the national team’s captain for much of the last decade, and can add three World Championship Gold Medals to the souvenir he picked up for 2 weeks in Italy a couple of years ago. Sweden has had so many great players, but Sundin resides in an exclusive club that sees the faithful worship him for how he himself worships playing for his national team as much as anything else he has accomplished.
What makes this fairy tale of a relationship between Athlete and Country even more telling is that it certainly didn’t start out so rosey when he was banned from representing Sweden in competition in 1990, at the age of 19, after he departed for the Quebec Nordiques who had made him the first European ever selected 1st overall in 1989. The absolute adoration of which he is afforded now must make the nostalgic Mats, who as he sat in his seat on the plane taking him to North America was thinking to himself that he would never be welcomed back home again, cherish the support he receives even more.
Sundin has achieved special status in his homeland where his motives are never discussed, little lone criticized or doubted. Nothing could diminish his fellow countrymen’s gratefulness and pride they have in their appreciation for who he is, more so than what he has done. It is a unique relationship and one that Sundin is fully aware of and as a result, will always have a place in any relevant decision making he makes.
Now as we head towards February 2010, Sundin is coming off what he personally describes as probably his best in the last 10 years and he is trying to confirm to himself that he does want to continue playing the game he loves. I believe he has already made that decision, and as he vacations with the fishys and his family he is analyzing in-depth the proposals in front of him trying to come to a conclusion as to where to finish off his great career.
Every team has pros and cons, and one of the pros for the city of Vancouver has to be hosting the last Olympic Games for NHL players. Surely wearing the Tre Kronor yellow with a blue C on it in the same city and rink that you have chosen to end your career in has some appeal to a guy like Sundin … there is no way the always deliberate Swede hasn’t considered what it would be like returning as Captain for his country one last, unexpected time, "at home”. Numerous reasons will account for his final decision as to where he plays, and I certainly wouldn't think this one is at the top of his list, but I would say that it is definitely on that list.
As we sit and ponder the future of whether or not Mats Sundin will actually be a Vancouver Canuck (What? A big #1 centre? What’s that?) there are a lot of credible people stating that both the Montreal and Vancouver Management Teams are very confident that they will get it done.
Obviously, at least one of those groups is going to be very disappointed. At this point it’s impossible to say, and way too many people speak of his motivations as if they know them as fact. Fact is they don’t come much closer-to-the-vest than this Sundin guy, so anyone saying they know what he is thinking is only repeating interpretation/speculation, and they are doing so with no quotes from the man himself backing up those statements.
I, on the other hand, will leave you with two quotes, made by the man himself, which may give us a peek as to what is really important to him:
“Honesty is the biggest thing I admire, respect, and look for. And it's something that's kind of disappearing in some people nowadays.”
“Winning Olympic gold against the best players in the world is certainly my greatest moment in my hockey career.”
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