Another captain cast adrift

And so the dreary saga ends.

Another Maple Leafs captain won't play his final game with the team, something that has become a bit of a tradition in this town - in many NHL towns, to be honest.

Since George Armstrong handed the "C" to Dave Keon, it has been one captain after another either forced out of town or sent packing after being unable to lead the Leafs back to greatness. Keon, then Darryl Sittler, then Rick Vaive, then Rob Ramage, then Wendel Clark, then Doug Gilmour.

Now Mats Sundin, recipient of a one-year contract from the Vancouver Canucks yesterday.

It always ends up this way and, cynically, one might suggest it always produces a nice gate for the Leafs when the former beloved leader comes back with his new team.

In this case, it will be Feb.21 when Sundin comes to town with the Canucks. That suddenly becomes a very hot ticket, doesn't it?

Sundin's departure is more like Keon's, really, than any of the others. Heading to the Western Conference in the middle of the season after skipping the first half is almost like having Keon join the WHA's Minnesota Fighting Saints in the summer of `75 after Harold Ballard wouldn't let him be traded to the New York Islanders.

In Sundin's case, the Leafs really, really, really wanted to trade him. They tried twice and failed twice.

It had to hurt that after all he'd done, the Leafs only wanted him for what he might bring in a trade of desperation.

Still, any bad feelings there are for the player or the team will subside and one day Sundin's No.13 will join all the other honoured numbers in the rafters of the Air Canada Centre.

That's the way it should be.

Sure, the Leafs ended up with nothing for Sundin, but that was more their fault than his. He never wanted to leave.

Having Sundin join the Canucks now is actually an event that should significantly benefit the Leafs and new GM Brian Burke.

The arms race, you see, is now on.

New York didn't land Sundin, so with their puny offence still a major problem despite their fine record, the Rangers will have to start looking elsewhere for help. Ditto for other Western Conference powers keeping an eye on the `Nucks and teams like Philadelphia and Montreal that coveted Sundin can also turn the page.

The signing of Sundin, you see, breaks the log jam. Everyone who didn't get him can aggressively turn to Plan B and a team like the Leafs, who will most certainly be sellers between now and the March trade deadline, just saw their assets increase in value.

Nik Antropov, for instance, is worth more than he was yesterday. Unless Atlanta decides to trade Ilya Kovalchuk or Tampa tries to move Marty St. Louis or Minnesota opts to dump Marian Gaborik, Antropov might end up being the best forward available by the deadline.

The last time the Canucks won a lottery like this, they landed 36-year-old Mark Messier in the summer of 1997.

That didn't turn out so well, did it? Similarly, it's no lock that Sundin will either deliver a Stanley Cup or even be a major factor if the Canucks qualify for post-season play.

It doesn't matter if he's in good shape. He's got to get up to speed in a league that's playing at a supersonic pace these days and he'll have to do it while getting used to major travel for the first time in his career.

However J.P. Barry was able to sell this, there's absolutely no guarantee that Sundin will be a difference-maker any more than rental Peter Forsberg was for Nashville in the '07 playoffs.

Still, a Vancouver club that was already the ninth-best scoring team in the NHL has more firepower on paper today than it did before signing Sundin.

Interesting, really, that Dave Nonis refused to sacrifice prospects to land a Sundin-like talent last winter and has now landed as part of Brian Burke's team in Toronto, while Sundin himself lands in Vancouver.

For the Leafs, it's the official end to an era, one in which Sundin did so many outstanding things and developed from a young, talented player into a hard-nosed playoff performer and inspiring captain.

He was great to watch and always a gentleman. In the end, however, he was just another Leaf captain whose time ran out.