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Inside the NHL

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The Maple Leafs will go as far as captain Mats Sundin takes them

By Kostya Kennedy

The Maple Leafs fan is a bit like Linus on Halloween. Each spring the fan waits not for the Great Pumpkin but for the Stanley Cup to come to Toronto. Like Linus's, his is an enduring hope -- the Leafs last won the Cup in 1967 -- and for the past several years it has hinged upon the play of a 6'4", 220-pound center with a jack-o'-lantern face. Mats Sundin's wide brow and jagged teeth have lately been complemented by a pair of scabbed lips, which were bloodied during the Maple Leafs' sweep of the favored Senators in Round 1. "There are high expectations in Toronto, and a lot of responsibility falls on me," says Sundin, 30, who was the team's leading scorer in each of the last seven seasons and its captain the past three. "I welcome that."

The Maple Leafs will go as far as captain Mats Sundin takes them. Lou Capozzola

No one, aside from goalie Curtis Joseph, who had two shutouts against Ottawa, was more responsible for Toronto's triumph. Playing a robust game, Sundin tied for the Leafs' series lead with four points and two goals, averaged more than 20 minutes of ice time a game and squashed the Senators' top center, Alexei Yashin, with a thundering check. Sundin's overtime goal won the opener 1-0, set the tone for Toronto's play for the rest of the series and led linemate Steve Thomas to say, "It's so good that he got that goal. He's under so much pressure."

The pressure comes because Sundin is the Leafs' highest-paid player ($7.5 million) and because Toronto tends to go as far as Sundin takes it. Last year his seven points spurred the Leafs past the Senators in the first round. When Toronto played the Devils in the second round -- as it will again this year -- Sundin was held to one assist, and the Leafs fell in six games. "We follow him," says enforcer Tie Domi, "and we believe in him."

Having Domi's support is crucial in Toronto, where Sundin's image suffers because he does not come from the blood-on-your-jersey mold of the beloved Maple Leafs captains who preceded him, Doug Gilmour and Wendel Clark. This season has been particularly trying for Sundin, who was unsettled by rumors that he would be traded for Flyers center Eric Lindros or Kings defenseman Rob Blake. Sundin's stated mission -- that he wanted to finish among the NHL's top five scorers -- went unfulfilled, and he wound up 38th in the league, with 74 points. Toronto struggled too, and at 37-29-11-5 barely made the playoffs.

Sundin was among the most intense players at practice last Saturday, and at one point he barked at a teammate who had made a sloppy pass during a drill. "It's been a roller-coaster season for me, and now is the time to make it better," Sundin said after the workout. "It's O.K. that I have critics. They want us to win the Cup, and they expect me to help deliver it. I expect that too."

Issue date: April 30, 2001

For more Inside the NHL see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, April 25. Click here to subscribe to SI.

 

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