SportsFullCircle

Apparently, being indecisive has become a brand new trend among professional sports athletes. Brett Favre has certainly made this trend huge with contemplating retirement each off-season for the last few years. Then this year, when we finally think that Brett Favre is done and we will not have to go through this anymore, he comes back out of the blue. Now not only is there questions about will he play or go to training camp, but also who he will play for and what his role would be if he stays on the Packers or goes to another team.

Very early in this month, I wrote an article when I was on Sports Sector about possible NHL players that could be retiring. I mentioned Mats Sundin as one of those players. I compared Mats Sundin’s story to Brett Favre’s story in that article seeing as they had great seasons the previous year and garnered interest from other teams but could still unexpectedly retire. At the point when I wrote this article, Brett Favre was retired and mentioned how Sundin could have the same fate. A few hours after posting that article though, there was the report about Favre making a comeback hence letting the Brett Favre saga begin.

I was laughing at the time because of the irony that only a few hours after I mentioned Brett Favre’s retirement, it was announced he would make a comeback to the NFL. But I am not trying to add on more to the Brett Favre story since people are probably sick of hearing Brett Favre in the news everyday. So here is the next best story about a man who is really indecisive about his future: “The Mats Sundin Soap Opera”

Sundin’s story is very similar to Favre’s story besides the media attention each respective story gets. For people who are unaware of who Mats Sundin is, I will give you a brief history of his career. Mats Sundin was drafted in 1989 1st overall in the NHL entry draft by the Quebec Nordiques (Now the Colorado Avalanche). Sundin is regarded as a huge centre with amazing power on the forecheck and the ability to put the puck in the net. Sundin enjoyed 4 good seasons in Quebec including one 100+ point season, but then his life took a new direction.

In June, 1994 Sundin would be traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sundin would spend the next 13 years of his career, 10 years as captain, trying to end the Stanley Cup drought in Toronto. Fast forward to 2008, the Leafs have not won the Cup in 41 years and for the first time, have missed the playoffs in three consecutive seasons. The Leafs finished up in 12th place in the Eastern Conference after a horrible season of injuries and many underachievers. Sundin though had a great year without a great team behind him which has plagued him for so many seasons in Toronto.

Sundin was able to notch 32 goals and 46 assists to give him 78 points in 74 games, remarkable for a 37 year-old. But the question around Mats Sundin for months now has been: You are near the end of your career and still have not won a Stanley Cup. You can A) Rejoin the Toronto Maple Leafs and help them rebuild since but it seems doubtful they will win the Cup next year B) Join a team with a legitimate chance to win the Stanley Cup ex. Montreal or C) Stop chasing your dream and just retire.

Even without a Stanley Cup championship, Mats Sundin does have the credentials to make the Hall-of-Fame. In 1305 games, Sundin has collected 555 goals and 766 assists for 1321 points which gives Sundin a career average of slightly more than a point-per-game.

The Sundin story starts around NHL entry draft day 2008. At this point, Leafs GM Cliff FLetcher allows the Montreal Canadiens to negotiate with Mats Sundin. This indicated to fans that Sundin’s time in Toronto may be done but would he join Toronto’s biggest rival? By July 1st, he still had not made a agreement with Montreal so he became a unrestricted free agent. There was interest from the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers but then came the biggest splash of the day, a 2-year $20 million offer to play with the Vancouver Canucks. Even with this huge money offer staring Sundin right in the face, he still said he needed more time to make a decision. We come to today, almost a complete month after unrestricted free agency has started still yet to make a decision. Will he play or will he retire? Nobody still knows the answer.

Surely there is still interest in Sundin with that 2-year $20 million offer still on the table. But you would think that if he wanted to play next season he would have taken that money at least 2-3 weeks ago. Apparently, his agent wants Sundin to make a decision by this week if he wants to play or not and there is rumor this announcement could very well be tomorrow. But then again, the media has expected for Sundin’s decision since July 1st, at least in Canada, and it still has not happened. In my opinion, Sundin is better off retiring and for some reason he comes back, it will not be the Toronto Maple Leafs he goes back to. And if he announces tomorrow that he will play next season, I do not see him signing with a team until mid-August.

In my opinion the indecisiveness of Sundin’s situation is worse than Favre’s because Sundin will look pretty bad right now taking that big money contract giving the possibility Sundin is only still playing just for the money since Vancouver does not have the team to win the Cup within the next 2 years. But overall, Favre’s situation has probably been the most annoying in sports because of all the media coverage for it. But whenever you need a break from Brett Favre, there is always Mats Sundin.