Sundin departs with `bitter taste'

It took six months for Mats Sundin to rekindle his love for playing hockey and only two weeks to decide where.

That he doubted for so long whether any passion for the sport remained was entirely about the Toronto Maple Leafs. His leave-taking of this franchise gutted him. Healing that hurt required time and distance.

"Everything that happened last year, it left a bitter taste," the long-time captain told the Star yesterday, in an interview from Stockholm. "I felt the relationship didn't end in a good way, certainly not how I would have wanted."

It was the Leafs who didn't want him, not the other way around, however much the club tried to frame his departure as a free agent's choice, promoting the fiction of a door that had never slammed shut.

There was only one side that behaved with any class in this breakup, only one estranged ex who took it to heart.

"I've always tried to do what was best for the organization," said Sundin. "That's what I believed at the trade deadline last February, that we still had a chance to make the playoffs and I could help us get there.

"It didn't happen. Then suddenly I was a free agent. I've never been a free agent before, so that was all new to me."

A gallant man to the core, his Scandinavian reserve often misinterpreted as phlegmatic detachment, Sundin won't overtly speak ill of the Leafs, won't let his emotions off the leash.

"I have all the respect in the world for the situation that the Maple Leafs were in at the trade deadline," he said. "I totally respect the business end of hockey and what they were trying to do."

What's implied tacitly, however, is that Sundin doesn't think the respect was mutual after 14 uncomplaining years as a Leaf, and heaven knows there was much to complain about through that stretch. His greatest failing, perhaps, is that he didn't assert himself more vigorously, didn't exploit the power he might have wielded to change the dynamics on a club that never had quite the required components to challenge for a Stanley Cup final.

Indeed, it became necessary to rebuild from the bottom up, without Sundin as part of the equation. But there was no reason, except to deflect criticism of a franchise in full flounder, to cast Sundin as the no-trade anvil last February, when this veto was a privilege negotiated in good faith.

"As I said, I respect their position. But I also feel I made the right decision, for myself and for the team at that time."

Others have accused him of hypocrisy. Sundin's objection to rent-a-player hockey is well documented, a critical reasoning behind declining a trade last winter. Yet here he is, signing on as a Canuck with the season almost half done, providing Vancouver with playoff punch.

While conceding the inconsistency in his views, Sundin counters that the circumstances are exceptional.

"Time was running out. I realized if I was going to play again, I had to start now or I'd lose the whole season. And I did want to play. For a long time, I just wasn't sure of that. But I finally realized how much I missed the game, missed being on the ice, in the dressing room.

"When the opportunity is over, it could be over for good."

Despite what appeared at times like an NHL-wide audition tour, Sundin gave his agent the go-ahead to open hardcore negotiations only two weeks ago. By then, just two teams remained in the serious running, Vancouver and the New York Rangers.

It was not about the money. Languishing so long in indecision limbo, Sundin has actually accepted less than what was on the table in July, when Vancouver - first up to bid - dangled $20 million (all figures U.S.) on a two-year contract. Instead, Sundin reportedly took $8 million - pro-rated - and a $2 million signing bonus on a one-year deal, after which who knows what.

Sundin says he didn't want to cause team disruption, which would have happened in Manhattan, where other trades would have been necessary to clear salary-cap space. It's also unlikely he was enamoured with Tom Renney's D-first orientation. This move also avoids an Eastern Conference confrontation with Toronto.

"It's not a perfect situation, coming in this late. All the other players in the league are in mid-season form. It's going to be a while before I can compete at that level.

"But I just felt that Vancouver seemed like a good fit for me."

And there's this, which many have forgotten: Sundin's entire NHL employment has been north of the border, four years with the Quebec Nordiques before Toronto. He's a Swede but he's also a de facto Canuck.

"I've been in Canada my whole NHL career. I'm excited to be going to Vancouver, another Canadian city. They have good fans there. The team is good enough to compete for the Stanley Cup."

Sundin will arrive in La-La-Land North after the Christmas break, ready for full practices, game good-to-go just a couple of weeks after that.

On Feb. 21, the Canucks are at the Air Canada Centre. Circle the date.

It will be weird.

Says Sundin, sincerely: "The Leafs will always have a special place in my heart."