Pogge debuts in style

This was either sweet payback for the Toronto Maple Leafs or merely another night's work in a splendid, pre-Christmas surge that has the club challenging to join the playoff drive in the National Hockey League's Eastern Conference.

Whichever way the Leafs view it, their 6-2 triumph over the Atlanta Thrashers Monday night had to be extremely grat-ifying. It moved the club to above .500 -- 14-13-6 -- for the first time since Nov. 13. It also avenged an embarrassing 6-3 loss to the cellar-dwelling Thrashers at the Air Canada Centre Nov. 25.

RECALLED FROM AHL

Goalie Justin Pogge earned a vict-ory in his NHL debut.

The Leafs recalled Pogge Saturday from the AHL's Toronto Marlies after Vesa Toskala aggravated a groin injury against Pittsburgh.

And though Toskala could be back in time for tonight's home encounter with Dallas (7:30 p.m., RSO), it was a promising, if uneventful, start for Pogge, the Leafs' top pick in the 2004 draft.

Toronto is now 5-1 since Dec. 8, and the offence is in high gear after an 18-goal burst on the three-game road trip.

Two-fifths of the way through the season, the club has moved to within three points of playoff territory in the East -- a position few observers felt was achievable at any stage of the season.

Atlanta goalie Kari Lehtonen returned Saturday from a 21-game absence with a back injury and stoned Tampa Bay by stopping 23 of 24 shots in the third period as the Thrashers won 4-3. Monday night, however, the Leafs scored on their first and fourth shots of the opening frame.

Alexei Ponikarovsky followed his own shot and dribbled a rebound under Lehtonen only 59 seconds into the game.

Scoring machine Jeremy Williams then one-timed Dominic Moore's feed from behind the net high to the glove-side on Lehtonen at 10:43.

It was Williams' fifth goal in six games since being recalled Dec. 7 from the Marlies.

Matt Stajan finished off a lovely, three-way connection with Ponikarovsky and Nik Antropov late in the second period to widen the visitors' lead.

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."

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.

Williams ready to rope in new job with Leafs

Jeremy Williams seems to have the aura and the skill of a natural goal scorer. He is almost scripted for it, a baby-faced young gun with a knack for getting on the scoresheet at first opportunity.

He's certainly become the answer to a hockey trivia question: Name the current Leaf who has scored in his first game over each of the last four seasons.

Novelty aside, Williams is also 24 and approaching a very real crossroads in his career. The time has come for him to shed his prospect tag and take his career to the next level by landing a full-time job in the NHL.

If he succeeds, he'll have a built in, all-Canadian Prairie background story to spice up his biography.

"I grew up on a farm (outside Regina) and my dad kept rodeo stock (horses) ... we had an indoor and outdoor roping arena and I used to do a lot of roping as a kid," said Williams, who has two goals in two games since being recalled from the Marlies, and six in 22 games spread out over four seasons since the Leafs made him their fifth choice, 220th overall, in the 2003 draft.

Williams' parents, Kevin and Joan, kept a large horse farm near Glenavon, Sask., about 160 kilometres outside Regina, that, according to a 2006 census, was a village with a population of 104.

Winter weather dropped to -40 C levels, and while Williams took up hockey, he fed horses, mended miles of fences, and stacked hay bales.

He was a natural at hockey, and at riding and roping. By the time he reached his early teens, he had to make a choice.

"I stopped (rodeo) when I was 13 or 14, because I had to make a choice about one sport or the other," said Williams, whose 13-year-old sister, Hailee, competes in high school rodeo.

"Obviously I chose hockey, and my dad wasn't happy at the time, but I think he's happy now."

Williams ultimately graduated to the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL, and while he started slowly, he was a 41- and 52-goal scorer in his final two seasons.

What began attracting scouts, and eventually the Leafs, was his shooting ability. Williams possesses a quick, NHL-quality release. He has an above-average shot that can be deadly because he can get it off in an instant from almost any angle, and in heavy traffic.

"Every since junior I was known as a shooter and I think having a farm in Saskatchewan had a lot to do with it," Williams said.

"My father made ice all the time, and it was -40 in the winter and me and my brother (Tristan) were outside, just a couple of kids shooting pucks up against the barn all day long."

The Leafs have been giving Williams "looks" over the past four seasons, but have never opened the door to a full-time job. They still want to see him develop his strength (to go up against 6-foot-4 NHL defenceman), and temper his hockey instincts to include a devotion to two-way play.

Still, the Leafs refuse to bridle Williams by placing him on a fourth line and telling him to forget offence in favour of checking. Leafs coach Ron Wilson, who has seen the Marlies a few times this season, realizes Williams shines on offence, and has dropped him on a line with speedster Jason Blake and Dominic Moore, also a gifted skater, who is solid defensively.

"We put Jeremy on a line with guys who are fast and working hard, and you do that so he'll look good, too. He won't get a chance for much offence on a fourth line," Wilson said.

Williams and fellow Marlie Jaime Sifers were recalled early last week after a weekend where Nik Hagman and Luke Schenn were lost to injury.

Both have played extremely well in their two games so far, and Wilson said they have earned a chance at another game or two despite the fact Hagman is expected to return for Tuesday's game against New Jersey.

Nonis follows Burke to Leafs

Dave Nonis succeeded Brian Burke as general manager of the Vancouver Canucks, then followed his mentor to the Anaheim Ducks.

Now he's followed Burke to Toronto.

Burke, president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, announced Saturday that Nonis has been named senior vice-president of hockey operations of the team.

"David Nonis brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to our hockey staff," said Burke. "We have successfully worked together in the past, and he has a deep understanding of contractual, legal and financial matters as well as scouting and roster management. He'll be an asset to our organization in several areas."

Nonis, 42, recently stepped down after a seven-month stint as the Ducks' senior adviser of hockey operations

Nonis joined the Canucks in 1998 as senior vice-president, director of hockey operations, after serving four seasons as the National Hockey League's manager of hockey operations. With the NHL, Nonis helped craft the 1994 Collective Bargaining Agreement and worked with the league's arbitration team, assisting clubs in preparing for arbitration, researching salaries and interpreting contract language.

In Vancouver, he worked under Burke for six years and became the Canucks' GM in 2004, when Burke left for Anaheim.

A native of Burnaby, B.C., Nonis played hockey for the University of Maine and he served as the Black Bears' captain for two seasons, leading the team to back-to-back NCAA championship tournaments and graduating in 1988. He played one season professionally in Denmark before returning to Maine in 1989 to serve on the coaching staff of his alma mater.

He earned his masters of business administration degree from Maine in 1990 before joining the Canucks staff that year working with corporate contracts, computer scouting and team services. Nonis became the Canucks' chief negotiator of player contracts and assumed responsibility for Vancouver's minor-league affiliate agreement with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League.

He directed all areas of the Canucks' hockey operations department before being tapped as the ninth, and youngest-ever, general manager of the club May 6, 2004.

Burke lists likes, dislikes

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Luke Schenn is a "building block." Mikhail Grabovski is a "skilled forward." And the Toronto Maple Leafs "need to get bigger right away."

Those are some of the observations Brian Burke made during his first week as the team's general manager.

The 53-year-old is the first to admit that his assessment is premature.

Tonight's game at Air Canada Centre against the Washington Capitals (7 p.m., CBC) will be his fifth.

But after watching the team go 2-2, there are already things that he likes and dislikes with the team.

"When I start with a team in training camp, the 20-game mark is when I make my first assessment," he said. "So I'm still learning on the fly here."

Though there is a lot Burke has gleaned in seven days on the job, a four-game look can also be somewhat misleading.

Tomas Kaberle, who was benched for the entire first period in a 6-3 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes Thursday, has no points and is a minus-4 since Burke arrived.

But the puck-moving defenceman may be Toronto's most talented player.

TRADING FREEZE

"Kaberle is a good player," Burke said. "Whether the cupboard is bare or not, I'm not going to offer an assessment like that until I get farther along."

It is unlikely that Burke, who has set a personal trading freeze from Dec. 9 to Jan. 1, will make any immediate personnel changes in the next three days.

Instead, he plans on using this time to determine which players will fill roles on the team he is building.

Burke said he is looking for skill for his top-six forwards and size for his bottom-six forwards.

"To me, it's like a symphony orchestra," he said. "You got a first (chair) file in, and she's usually elegant, and there's a spotlight on her and she's the last one to sit down. But there's a guy built like me in the back row blowing on a tuba.

"They don't start the show until we're both sitting down."

So far, the Leafs' ensemble appears to be a few performers short.

STAJAN LEADS IN SCORING

Forward Matt Stajan, who is the team's top scorer with 21 points in 25 games, was tied for 45th in the league prior to Friday night's games.

And the team has 12 players who weigh less than 200 pounds.

"With the way I like my teams to play, we need to get bigger right away," Burke said.

"It's not that we don't compete, but we don't always win the battles . . . If you've got a guy battling for the puck and he's outweighed by 30 or 40 pounds, he's going to lose that battle more than he wins that.

"So that's one thing we've got to change.

"But I don't know how we're going to change it."

Indeed, changing the makeup of a team cannot be done overnight.

Burke's predecessor, Cliff Fletcher, had deals in place to move Mats Sun-din, Pavel Kubina and Kaberle at last season's trade deadline. But all three players refused to waive no-trade clauses in their contracts.

Burke, Wilson dynamic duo

This, folks, is going to be quite the duet.

Brian Burke, about to conclude a multi-year, multi-million-dollar contract with the Maple Leafs to be their new president and general manager, will inherit as head coach his buddy and former teammate from their Providence College days, Ron Wilson.

"Shooting From the Hip" will now replace "Spirit Is Everything" as the new Leafs corporate motto.

Some days it will be fun, other days angry, a few days sarcastic. But watching Burke and Wilson combine forces for the first time in their long, successful hockey careers will be anything but dull.

Headline writers, sharpen your pencils.

Together, they represent probably the most colourful hockey duo in Toronto since the days when Harold Ballard and King Clancy used to hang out in the bunker at Maple Leaf Gardens.

"It'll either work really well," said one NHL figure who knows both Burke and Wilson well, "or it won't work at all."

Burke and Wilson like to kiddingly call each other "Lou" from the days they played for New Jersey Devils boss Lou Lamoriello at Providence, plus a few less printable names. Wilson loves to tell the story of how he and Burke actually got in a fight in practice at Providence one day. Wilson, the team star, saw Burke coming during a drill and let his stick do the talking. An outraged Burke took offence and grabbed Wilson.

The winner of the scrap? That depends on who's telling the story.

Wilson is among the most cerebral of coaches. He'll talk to you at length about being "bi-handed" like Brett Hull and how brain functions allow left-handers to shoot right-handed effectively. He loves HBO's Mad Men and reruns of Curb Your Enthusiasm, thought it was fitting to have Jamal Mayers take a ceremonial faceoff for the Leafs to commemorate the historic election of Barack Obama and loves to have evening Skype teleconference sessions with his 2-year-old grandchild.

Burke, a father of six, believes in beginning all discussions with a verbal equivalent of a ball-peen hammer to the forehead. He loves rum and arguments and is the ultimate partisan, fiercely protective of his players.

Wilson is in the first year of a four-year deal worth in the neighbourhood of $1.6 million (U.S.) per season. Burke will have a deal that runs two years longer at about $2.8 million per season. Only the Jersey combination of Lamoriello and Brent Sutter is believed to earn more.

How will they fare as a GM/coaching team? Based on their respective track records, it seems reasonable to assume they'll at least get the Leafs back to the post-season by 2010 or 2011. Wilson is one of the winningest coaches in NHL history and guided the U.S. team to its upset triumph over Canada in the 1996 World Cup, while Burke won a Stanley Cup with Anaheim two years ago.

While friends, they aren't exactly soulmates and have very different core beliefs on the sport. Burke loves blood 'n' guts hockey, while Wilson was the finesse player who competed in Europe and relies on brains and computers to coach.

Wilson's worst habit, according to some who have worked with him, is to start referring to "I" too much when the going gets tough and his players as "they." Burke is a "we" and "us" guy but also a first-class manipulator of the media.

Burke has fired big-name coaches, including Mike Keenan. He inherited Mike Babcock in Anaheim but refused to offer him more than a one-year contract, so Babcock took the hint and bolted to Detroit.

He could fire Wilson, too, but then again, he might ask him to coach Team USA in the 2010 Olympics.

For both, being employed by the Leafs is the biggest professional opportunity of their lives.

"This may work out because they need each other," one source said.

Now they just have to figure out how to read from the same songbook.