[ retrospect ]

like any other day, i spent a fair good amount of time on youtube at home. of course, one video led to another, and soon enough, i landed on some videos of a great.

mats sundin.

it just got me thinking. toronto had some great athletes in their city.

remember the line

gary roberts, mats sundin, alex mogilny
bryan mccabe, tomas kaberle.
curtis joseph

the glory days. though under sundin's captaincy the leafs never even made it to the finals, it was a hell of a team to watch. nowadays, there is no respect for the team. the leafs are almost expected to lose, expected to fall. back then? every loss was a shock. there was always a fighting spirit.

i guess it hasn't really sunk in til now that sundin is gone. i admit my attention to the leafs has dropped to a minimum in the past four years, but since i started watching hockey, sundin was there. i watched him score his nhl record 15 overtime goals. i watched as he scored the numerous last-minute game-tying goals. i watched as he took the leafs to a game within the finals. and i watched in disgust as the leafs took him for granted, and threw him on a bartering table even as he clearly said "i don't want to go anywhere."

in the end, the leafs don't deserve sundin. but at the same time, it's crushing to see him go.

all-time leafs great, mats sundin.