Happy homecoming

Sundin excited as Leafs prepare to play Djurgarden in NHL Challenge

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- Mats Sundin became a Swedish champion 13 years ago with Djurgarden in his native Stockholm.

Since then he's played 1,004 NHL games. On Thursday, Sundin plays in an NHL uniform for the first time in his hometown as the Toronto Maple Leafs meet Djurgarden in the NHL Challenge.

"It's going to be fun, but it's not an easy game," the Leafs' captain said after Wednesday's practice at the Globe Arena.

"They [Djurgarden] have been on ice for a month, and most of our guys started last week. And the game will be played on the big ice surface."

Three of Sundin's former teammates -- Mikael Johansson, Nichlas Falk and Bjorn Nord -- still play for Djurgarden, one of the top teams in the Swedish Elite League.

The Leafs, with only four days of training, did well on the big international ice sheet Tuesday, beating Finnish League team Jokerit 5-3 in Helsinki.

Sundin was without a point in that game, the original six team's first ever outside North America. So was Alexander Mogilny, who led the Leafs in scoring during the regular season and the playoffs ahead of Sundin last season.

The Russian-born Mogilny, who has always had No. 89 on his jersey in the NHL, last played in the Globe Arena at the 1989 World Championships, won by the Soviet Union.

A few hours after the final, Mogilny left the Soviet team hotel on a small Stockholm archipelago island and defected. The next day, he was in the United States. He started his great NHL career with the Buffalo Sabres.

Sundin, 32, played his last game in the Globe Arena when Sweden beat Germany and Finland at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, won by the United States over Canada in Montreal's old Forum.

Toronto head coach Pat Quinn said Swedish goaltending prospect Mikael Tellqvist will probably start in goal on Thursday. In Helsinki, Ed Belfour and Jamie Hodson shared goaltending duties for the Leafs.

Tellqvist spent much of his rookie year with Toronto's American Hockey League farm team last season.

He gave up the controversial overtime goal scored by Anson Carter in May in Helsinki when Canada edged a Swedish team led by tournament MVP Sundin and NHL MVP Peter Forsberg 3-2 in the World Hockey Championships' final.

Toronto's three games in the Nordics -- the last is Friday against top Swedish club Farjestad of Karlstad in the Globe Arena -- are officiated by NHL referees. The games are played in accordance with the rules and regulations that govern NHL games.

The Vancouver Canucks, led by Swedish sharpshooter Markus Naslund, won the inaugural NHL Challenge in Stockholm three years ago. The Colorado Avalanche, then the Stanley Cup champions, won one game in 2001 before returning home after Sept. 11 attacks. There was no tournament last year.