Mats Sundin

Mattias Johan Sundin (Born - February 13 1971, Bromma, Stockholm) is a Swedish Professional Hockey Centerman in the National Hockey League who has played for the Quebec Nordiques and Toronto Maple Leafs. His Swedish nickname is "Sudden", in reference to his surname.

Playing career

Sundin was drafted in the 1st Round, 1st overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft (from the Swedish Allsvenskan (hockey) club Nacka HK). He was the first European player drafted first overall in NHL history.

Sundin made his NHL debut with Quebec during the 1990-91 NHL season, finishing second on the team behind Joe Sakic with 59 points. Sundin led the Nordiques with 114 points in 1992-93. During his time in Quebec Sundin was considered one of the league's premier young players.

On June 28, 1994 Sundin was traded along with Garth Butcher, Todd Warriner and a draft pick acquired by Quebec in the 1992 Eric Lindros trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Wendel Clark, Sylvain Lefebvre, Landon Wilson and a 1994 1st round pick.

Sundin became the 16th Maple Leafs captain in 1997, becoming the first European player in Maple Leaf history to hold that honour.

On January 6, 2004, in a game against the Nashville Predators, Sundin's stick broke on an attempted shot and he threw it away in disgust. Instead of hitting the glass, the stick went over and into the crowd. The NHL reacted by giving him a one-game suspension. The game he was suspended for was an important match against the Leaf's main rival, the Ottawa Senators.

During a later game in Toronto, Sundin's fellow Swede Daniel Alfredsson's stick broke, and immediately he faked a toss of his stick into the stands. This caused an uproar with the Maple Leafs, in part because they had also lost the game badly, by a score of 7-1. Alfredsson dismissed the Leafs' reaction calling it an over-reaction. This incident has added to the rivalry, and Leafs fans continue to hold hostility towards Alfredsson every time he plays in Toronto. Sundin and Alfredsson won Olympic gold together in 2006.

Sundin used his off-time during the 2004-05 NHL lock-out to return to his native Sweden. In March of 2005, he announced that he would not participate in the 2005 World Hockey Championships, which took place in Vienna/Innsbruck, Austria. Sundin has also made the NHL All-Star Team in nine consecutive seasons and been a Second All-Star Team Centre twice (2002 and 2004).

In the opening game of the 2005-06 season on October 5th, he took a puck to the face which fractured his lower orbital bone. He returned to the line up on November 5th, 2005, exactly one month after sustaining his injury which caused him to miss a total of 12 games. Sundin currently holds the NHL record for most overtime goals with 14. He began the 2005-06 season tied with Sergei Fedorov, but moved ahead with a game winner against the Montreal Canadiens on November 26.

Sundin is the only player in the NHL to have scored at least 70 points (excluding lock-out shortened season in 1994-95) in each of the last 13 seasons. Sundin has also distinguished himself as the longest-serving European-born captain of an NHL franchise in league history. He has led the Leafs in points in every year he has been with the team, save 2002-03, when Alexander Mogilny beat him by 7 points and averaged over a point-per-game while Sundin had only 72 in 75 games.

His finest game in the Leafs' uniform came on Tuesday, April 11, 2006 when he had 6 points (4 goals and 2 assists), and won 27 of 37 faceoffs, against the Florida Panthers in a desperate attempt to keep the Leafs' playoff hopes alive. It was not his career-high in goals and points in a game though, as he scored five goals and seven points on March 5, 1992 versus the Hartford Whalers. In the 2005-06 season, he also recorded his 800th point for the Leafs, surpassing other Leaf legends.

Awards & achievements

Elitserien World All-Star Team - 1991, 1992, 1994, 1998
World Championships All-Star Team - 1992
World Championships Best Forward - 1992
Canada Cup All-Star Team - 1991
World Cup of Hockey All-Star Team - 1996
Played in NHL All-Star Game - 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
Olympic Tournament All-Star Team - 2002
NHL Second All-Star Team - 2002, 2004
Olympic Tournament Gold Medal Winner - 2006

Records

Currently holds the NHL record for most overtime goals with 14
Longest serving European captain of an NHL franchise in league history
Most career assists by a Swedish hockey player (671)
Most career goals by a Swedish hockey player (496)
Most career points by a Swedish hockey player (1167)
Most consecutive 70-or-more point seasons (13)

Career statistics

National Hockey League Statistics

			Regular season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1988-89	Nacka HK	Alls	25	10	8	18	18	--	--	--	--	--
1989-90	Djurgårdens IF Hockey	Elit	34	10	8	18	16	8	7		7	4
1990-91	Quebec Nordiques	NHL	80	23	36	59	58	--	--	--	--	--
1991-92	Quebec Nordiques	NHL	80	33	43	76	103	--	--	--	--	--
1992-93	Quebec Nordiques	NHL	80	47	67	114	96	6	3	1	4	6
1993-94	Quebec Nordiques	NHL	84	32	53	85	60	--	--	--	--	--
1994-95	Djurgårdens IF Hockey	Elit	12	7	2	9	14	--	--	--	--	--
1994-95	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	47	23	24	47	14	7	5	4	9	4
1995-96	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	76	33	60	83	46	6	3	1	4	4
1996-97	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	82	41	53	94	59	--	--	--	--	--
1997-98	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	82	33	41	74	49	--	--	--	--	--
1998-99	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	82	31	52	83	58	17	8	8	16	16
1999-00	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	73	32	41	73	46	12	3	5	8	10
2000-01	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	82	28	46	74	76	11	6	7	13	14
2001-02	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	82	41	39	80	94	8	2	5	7	4
2002-03	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	75	37	35	72	58	7	1	3	4	6
2003-04	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	81	31	44	75	52	9	4	5	9	8
2005-06	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	70	31	47	78	56	--	--	--	--	--
NHL CAREER TOTALS			1156	496	671	1167	923	83	35	39	74	72

International statistics

Year	Team	Event	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1989	Sweden	EJC	6	5	4	9	8
1990	Sweden	EJC	6	6	2	8	14
1990	Sweden	WJC	7	5	2	7	6
1991	Sweden	CC	8	2	6	8	8
1992	Sweden	WC	8	2	6	8	8
1994	Sweden	WC	8	5	9	14	4
1996	Sweden	WCH	4	4	3	7	4
1998	Sweden	Oly	4	3	0	3	4
1998	Sweden	WC	10	5	6	11	6
2001	Sweden	WC	2	0	1	1	2
2002	Sweden	Oly	2	0	1	1	2
2003	Sweden	WC	7	6	4	10	10
2004	Sweden	WCH	4	1	5	6	0
2006	Sweden	Oly	8	3	5	8	4
Senior Int'l Totals			65	31	46	77	52

International play

He has represented Team Sweden at various international competitions, such as the World Cup of Hockey and the Olympic Games, and has held the position of team captain for the national squad for the better part of the last decade. Sundin is widely recognized as one of the top players in the world in these international competitions, and has added a highly impressive list of accomplishments to his credentials as a result of his outstanding performance in the 2002 Winter Olympics and 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Sundin has won three IIHF World Championships with Sweden in 1991, 1992 and 1998. Sundin finally clinched a gold medal with Team Sweden in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

A picture of his 'figthing face' when Sweden turned 1-5 into a 6-5 win over Finland during IIHF WC game has become iconic.

After Turin he stated that he didn't expect to return to the national team, and the game winning goal. Forsberg to Sundin to Lidstrom who slapped a laser into goal is by many Swedes considered the Grande Finale, thank you and good bye of the 'Golden Generation'.

Played for Sweden in:

1989 European Junior Championships
1990 European Junior Championships
1990 World Junior Championships
1991 Canada Cup
1992 World Championships
1994 World Championships
1996 World Cup of Hockey
1998 World Championships
2001 World Championships
2002 Winter Olympics
2003 World Championships
2004 World Cup of Hockey
2006 Winter Olympics (gold medal)

External links