Mats Sundin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Position Center
Shoots Right
Nickname Mats, Captain Clutch, Sudden
Height
Weight		 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
231 lb (105 kg)
NHL Team
F. Teams		 Toronto Maple Leafs
Quebec Nordiques
Nationality Flag of Sweden Sweden
Born February 13, 1971,
Bromma, SWE
NHL Draft 1st overall, 1989
Quebec Nordiques
Pro Career 1989 – present

Mats Johan Sundin (born February 13, 1971, in Bromma, Sweden) is a Swedish professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League.

His Swedish nickname is "Sudden", in reference to his surname and his uncanny ability to come up with the big plays in overtime. Sundin is currently the all-time leader in overtime goals with 15, the latest coming on October 14, 2006, against the Calgary Flames; a short-handed shot from the point gave his 500th goal of his career.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

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.[1]. He was the first European-born player drafted first overall in NHL history.

Sundin played in the Swedish 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.

On June 28, 1994 Sundin was traded along with Garth Butcher, Todd Warriner and a first round draft pick (acquired by Quebec in the 1992 Eric Lindros trade) to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Wendel Clark, Sylvain Lefebvre, Landon Wilson and a 1994 1st round pick.

During the 1994 lockout he once again played for his Swedish club Djurgårdens IF.

Sundin became the 16th Maple Leafs captain in 1997, becoming the first European player in Maple Leaf history to hold that honour. He is the second-longest active serving captain in the NHL, next to Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche. He is the longest non-North American born captain in NHL history.

Sundin used his off-time during the 2004-05 NHL lock-out to return to his native Sweden. In March of 2005, he announced that he would not participate in the 2005 World Hockey Championships, which took place in Vienna/Innsbruck, Austria. Sundin has also made the NHL All-Star Team in nine consecutive seasons and been a Second All-Star Team Centre twice (2002 and 2004). In the opening game of the 2005-06 season on October 5, he took a puck to the face which fractured his lower orbital bone. He returned to the line up on November 5, 2005, exactly one month after sustaining his injury which caused him to miss a total of 12 games.

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, he led them to a gold medal with a 3-2 victory over Finland in the final.

Sundin is the only player in the NHL to have scored at least 70 points (excluding lock-out shortened season in 1994-95) in each of the last 13 seasons. Sundin has also distinguished himself as the longest-serving European-born captain of an NHL franchise in league history. He has also played at least 70 games in every full length NHL season of his career. He has led the Leafs in points in every year he has been with the team except 2002-03, when Alexander Mogilny beat him by 7 points.

He scored his 500th career goal on October 14, 2006, in overtime, in a 5-4 win against the Calgary Flames. The goal was his third of the game, and a short-handed overtime game winner.

On November 6, 2006, Sundin suffered a minor tear in the ligament of his elbow and was expected to be out for 3-4 weeks. He returned to action on November 25 against the Boston Bruins, several days earlier than expected.

[edit] The broken stick incident

On January 6, 2004, in a game against the Nashville Predators, Sundin's stick broke on an attempted shot and he threw it away in disgust. Instead of hitting the glass, the stick went over and into the crowd. The NHL reacted by giving him a one-game suspension. The game he was suspended for was an important match against the Leaf's main rival, the Ottawa Senators.

During the game in Toronto, Sundin's good friend and fellow Swede Daniel Alfredsson's stick broke, and immediately he faked a toss of his stick into the stands. This caused an uproar with the Maple Leafs, in part because they had also lost the game badly, by a score of 7-1. Alfredsson dismissed the Leafs' reaction calling it an over-reaction. This incident has added to the rivalry, and Leafs fans continue to hold hostility towards Alfredsson. Sundin and Alfredsson won Olympic gold together in 2006.

[edit] Awards & achievements

  • Swedish Champion in 1990.
  • 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.
  • Gold medal at the Olympic Tournament in 2006.
  • Achieved 500 goal plateau in 2006.
  • First Swedish player to be drafted first overall in the NHL entry draft

[edit] Records

  • Currently holds the NHL record for most overtime goals with 15
  • Longest serving European captain of an NHL franchise in league history
  • First Swedish player to reach the 500 goal milestone
  • Most career assists by a Swedish hockey player (685)
  • Most career goals by a Swedish hockey player (508)
  • Most career points by a Swedish hockey player (1193)
  • Most consecutive 70-or-more point seasons (13) (excluding the shortened 1994-95 NHL season)
  • Most assists in a period by a Toronto Maple Leaf (3) (tied with Darcy Tucker)

[edit] Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1988-89 Nacka HK SEL-2 25 10 8 18 18 -- -- -- -- --
1989-90 Djurgårdens IF Hockey 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 Hockey 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 60 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 56 -- -- -- -- --
NHL Totals 1156 496 671 1167 927 83 35 39 74 72

[edit] International play

Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Olympic Games
Gold 2006 Turin Team
World Championships
Silver 2003 Team
Gold 1998 Team
Bronze 1994 Team
Gold 1992 Team

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.[citation needed]

After Turin he stated that he didn't expect to return to the national team, and the game winning goal. Forsberg to Sundin to Lidstrom who slapped a laser into goal is by many Swedes considered the Grande Finale, thank you and good bye of the 'Golden Generation'. On August 14, 2006, Sundin stated to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that if it feels right and the 2006-07 NHL season ends early he sees a possibility to play for Sweden in the 2007 World Championship.[2]

Sundin has played for Sweden in:

[edit] International statistics

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

[edit] See also

[edit] References & notes

  1. ^ NHL.com Players - Mats Sundin. NHL.com. Retrieved on 2006-11-28, 2006.
  2. ^ Sundin tänker om (Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved on August 14, 2006.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Mike Modano		 NHL First Overall Draft Pick
1989		 Succeeded by
Owen Nolan
Preceded by
Doug Gilmour		 Toronto Maple Leafs Captains
1997-		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../m/a/t/Mats_Sundin_d502.html"