Taking one for the team: Mats Sundin has sacrificed his personal numbers this season for the greater good of the Maple Leafs

Hockey Digest, May, 2003 by Ashley Jude Collie

WITH THE NHL'S GREATEST players assembled at the 2002 Winter Olympics, Team Canada coach Pat Quinn surprised many when he called Swedish center Mats Sundin the best player at the games.

Sundin continued his stellar NHL play last season after the Olympics, ending up with 80 points (tied for fourth overall in the NHL) and 41 goals (tied for second). It was the ninth time in 12 seasons that Sundin scored 30 or more goals.

Sundin's record speaks for itself, even if the modest Sundin doesn't. The fact is the 32-year-old Toronto captain is by far the highest-scoring Swedish player in NHL history. With close to 1,000 career points, Sundin is several hundred points ahead of Swedish compatriots Peter Forsberg and Niklas Lidstrom.

A shoulder injury in December put Sundin out for six games, ending the fourth-longest active consecutive games streak in the NHL at 269 games, but Sundin is still expected to rack up his 10th 30-goal season in 2002-03. This time, though, it won't be enough for a top-10 scoring finish. And to date, Sundin has never won any individual NHL awards or a Stanley Cup like fellow Swedes Forsberg and Lidstrom.

But all that doesn't seem to faze Sundin.

Former Leafs captain and club legend Darryl Sittler, who had his No. 27 jersey retired in February 2002, calls Sundin an "outstanding captain and a great player" and says he expects that Sundin's jersey will be retired one day, too.

"That's a huge compliment coming from Darryl," Sundin says, "I don't look at it that way, but definitely my goal is to be the best I can be. I look at some of that stuff [like personal stats] and I'm proud of that. But I think [they] mean more once you retire, something you can look back on."

In spite of his career scoring numbers, it never has been about personal records or accolades for Sundin, who personifies the team concept. In fact, he's essentially been taking a hit on his personal numbers this season in order to lead to his team to the ultimate goal--the Stanley Cup.

The Leafs started the season 6-10-2 and decidedly out of an early playoff position. But Sundin's teammates credit him with turning the season around by holding a team meeting in which the soft-spoken captain laid it on the line. "He told us how we had to play," says Leafs enforcer Tie Domi. "Mats doesn't say much but when he does, everyone listens."

When a player of Sundin's stature and talent speaks up about simplifying the game, about playing smart defense-first hockey, his teammates better prick up their ears.

"I think, as a team, we all realized early in the season that we needed to change something here if we wanted to get back in the ballgame," Sundin says.

"There's no way around it for our team. I don't think we have a team that can go out and win [just with offense]. That's how it's been the last three or four years when we've had success, it was by making sure we looked after the defensive end first, and then we have the horses up front to score some goals."

It's defense and sticking to your system that garners success in the playoffs. So, with Sundin leading the way, the Leafs tightened up, got on a hot streak, and hauled themselves up into a solid playoff position. Toronto now has designs on making it back to the Conference finals--where its season ended last year--and then taking it one step further to the Cup Finals.

Even though Sundin will still average about a point a game for the season, he won't come close to wining the Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading scorer. And even though he plays in Toronto, the hotbed of Canadian hockey, Studin's superior consistency barely rates a blip compared to the headlines that other European players like Jaromir Jagr, Alexei Kovalev, and Pavel Bure garner on lesser teams.

But Sundin keeps moving up the franchise's statistics ladder. With 650-plus points, he's steadily closing in on Sittler's 916 points in a Toronto uniform. He's already second in game-winning-goals, approaching the team high 63 goals by Dave Keon.

"I don't really know why I've scored so many winning goals," Sundin laughs. "Being at the right place at the right time helps, I guess."

Sundin has been the team's leader longer than any Leaf since Sittler, and he's settled into his role as the first European captain of the storied franchise.

Overall, the present Leafs have a decidedly European flavor, with as many Europeans as Canadians on the roster. While Sundin has played with a number of linemates this season in Pat Quinn's flexible system, the all-European line of Sundin, Alex Mogilny, and Nik Antropov--the Leafs top three points scorers heading into the season's stretch run--ignite some fireworks whenever they are on the ice together. Their slick passing and deadly sniping, plus Antropov's added bonus of also being a center, helps give Quinn a deadly troika for the playoffs.

"The good thing for me is Nik is comfortable playing center and being down low in our end--whoever gets back first can play down low," Sundin says of the 6'6" Antropov, who is finally coming into his own after two serious knee injuries, "I'm really impressed with the way he's been playing. I like playing with him. Boy, he's a big strong guy. He's going to be a force in this league.