Mats Sundin Is a Maple Leaf...and Should Stay a Maple Leaf

Pucker Iles — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 03:45:10 -0500

It is a disturbing trend to see and hear the many Leaf fans and media alike trying to toss captain Mats Sundin overboard as if this season's fiasco is his fault.

This guy has been in the Leaf family for a long time and has poured his heart and soul into the Toronto franchise. Does he deserve this treatment?

Perhaps he is better off somewhere else, but that is up to him to decide. If you are married and have kids would you abandon them when the going got tough?

I doubt it...if you did you would be an asshole, or even worse, an Ottawa bandwagon-jumper, I mean Senators fan.

Leaf fans are loyal, maybe to a fault, but that is what being a part of Leaf Nation is all about. We know we haven’t won since 1967...we have been reminded of that a couple times over the last 40 years. But when

the team finally wins, all the years of staying loyal will pay off in a big way. As Mats said himself, it’s about the journey to the Cup, not just winning it.

To all those fans and media who think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence and think that the Leafs will all of a sudden be contenders if we trade him, take a look at the likes of Phoenix, LA, and other perennial bottom feeders. Sure they have great prospects in the organization but they have been saying that for years and it still hasn’t gotten them anywhere near the playoffs.

This guy deserves to retire a Leaf, as the all-time leader in goals and points and who knows what other records he might break in the next few years. With a couple young stars (like Stamkos) to help Mats carry the load, who knows? Maybe even a Cup a couple years down the road.

But to throw him overboard and treat him the way he is being treated right now is classless—which has become another disturbing trend in Leaf Nation.

Start to think for yourselves, Leaf Nation, and stop following the media and taking their word as gospel. This is the same media who always found something wrong with the Leafs when we were contenders in the conference.

It sells papers but it doesn’t mean it’s the right way to run a franchise.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Sinking Ship or Ice Breaker?

Pucker Iles — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 06:18:34 -0500

Here we are at the half-way point of the NHL season and it can be either simple or painful when trying to explain the Toronto Maple Leafs season so far. Depending on whether you are an optimist and view the Stanley Cup as half full or a pessimist and view it as half empty.

A pessimist would look at the standings and point out the fact that the team sits near the basement of the Eastern conference. A pessimist would realize they have no chance of reaching the post season where as an optimist would suggest that they are only a short winning streak away.

The truth lies somewhere in between.

A playoff berth is certainly within reach, yet it’s hard to imagine a team that cant seem to win two games in a row making up the necessary ground to do so. This situation really puts management in a bit of a pickle.

Should GM John Ferguson Jr. blow the team up as the pessimists would suggest?

Should he trade their long-time captain and the face of the franchise for draft picks and prospects and shoot for a lottery pick in next year's entry draft a la Philadelphia Flyers?

Or should they go the route of the optimist and stay the course, strive to reach the post season and win one for that same captain who has poured his heart and soul into this franchise?

So far this season, the Leafs have shown that they can compete with anyone and make John Ferguson Jr. and Head Coach Paul Maurice look like brilliant hockey minds. Then the very next night they turn in a stinker and have Leaf's nation calling for their heads.

JFJ has failed to provide Sundin with enough support and has handcuffed this team from augmenting what they already have due to long, expensive contracts given to mediocre players. Maurice has failed to motivate this team to play a full 60 minutes blowing third period leads on countless occasions. Unable to keep the team on an even keel, getting perhaps too high after just one win an underestimating opponents.

Under the Pat Quinn era, if the Leafs weren’t as skilled as their opponent, you knew they were going to show up and give the opposition a run for their money based on team toughness and heart. Just ask the Ottawa Senators during the playoff runs in the late 90’s early 2000’s.

However this team is not Pat Quinn’s but instead John Ferguson Jr.'s (and Richard Peddie’s, but that’s a completely different story for another day). There doesn’t seem to be the mental or physical toughness each and every night needed to make the post season let alone compete for Lord Stanley’s Mug. But I have seen glimpses of it, and I know it's there.

Will they rally, get their dismal Power Play going, which used to be their bread and butter and work together as a team to give captain Mats Sundin what he truly deserves, or will they waste an all-star performance by their captain and continue this bus ride to the basement? They have until February 26th to prove to their fans and themselves that they are not a sinking ship, but merely breaking the ice in their path, or there will be some serious changes made, both on the ice and upstairs.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Pucker Iles

Mats Sundin Is a Maple Leaf...and Should Stay a Maple Leaf

Toronto Maple Leafs: Sinking Ship or Ice Breaker?