Mats Sundin

Position	Centre
Shoots	Right
Height Weight	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 231 lb (105 kg/16 st 7 lb)
NHL Team F. teams	Free Agent Toronto Maple Leafs Quebec Nordiques
Nationality	Sweden
Born	February 13, 1971 (1971-02-13) (age 38), Bromma, SWE
NHL Draft	1st overall, 1989 Quebec Nordiques
Pro career	1989 – present

Mats Johan Sundin (born February 13, 1971) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who most recently played for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League (NHL). At the end of the 2007–08 NHL season, he was 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 and was traded to the Leafs in 1994.

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.^[1] 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 4th, 1990.

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.^[2]

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 fourth of the game, over Kiprusoff's blocker. 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 special rights to negotiate with him until then.^[3] On the day of free agency, the Vancouver Canucks offered Sundin a two-year $20-million dollar contract which, if signed, would make him the highest paid player in the NHL. The Rangers, Canadiens and Leafs also made contract offers. Attempting to entice him to sign with the Canucks, numerous Vancouver businesses have extended Sweden-centered special offers, such as a Volvo and IKEA products.^[4]

In late October, Sundin began training in Los Angeles, stating he desires to be in top condition before signing with any team.^[5]

International play

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.^[6] 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,^[7] 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.

Sundin has played for Sweden in:

• 1989 European Junior Championships
• 1990 European Junior Championships
• 1990 World Junior Championships
• 1991 Canada Cup
• 1992 World Championships (gold medal)
• 1994 World Championships (bronze medal)
• 1996 World Cup of Hockey
• 1998 World Championships (gold medal)
• 1998 Winter Olympics
• 2001 World Championships
• 2002 Winter Olympics
• 2003 World Championships (silver medal)
• 2004 World Cup of Hockey
• 2006 Winter Olympics (gold medal)

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.^[8] 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.^[9] However, Sundin and his longtime girlfriend Tina Fagerström 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."^[10] 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.^[11]

In September 2008, Sundin announced an endorsement deal with PokerStars. He will be playing under the username "MatsSundin" and will donate any earnings to charity.^[12]

Records

NHL

• Currently holds the NHL record for most overtime goals (15, shared with Jaromir Jagr)
• Ranked 22nd all time in career goals (555)
• Ranked 34th all time in career assists (766)
• Ranked 30th all time in career points (1321)
• 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

• On November 27, 2007, in a game against the Montreal Canadiens, Sundin became the first player to score 400 goals for the Maple Leafs.
• On October 11, 2007, in a game against the New York Islanders, Sundin passed Darryl Sittler as all time leader for career points and all-time goals for the Toronto Maple Leafs
• Second player to record 20 goals in each of his first 16 seasons (shared with Marcel Dionne)
• 1st all-time in goals scored for the Toronto Maple Leafs
• 1st all-time in points scored for the Toronto Maple Leafs
• 2nd all-time in assists for the Toronto Maple Leafs
• Most assists in a period by a Toronto Maple Leaf (3) (tied with Darcy Tucker and Matt Stajan)
• Most consecutive games with at least one point to start the season (15)^[13]

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

International

See also

• List of NHL players
• List of Swedes in sports
• List of NHL players with 500 goals
• List of NHL players with 1000 points
• List of NHL players with 1000 games played

References

External links

• Mats Sundin's NHL player profile
• Mats Sundin's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database