It's been nearly three weeks since Mats Sundin signed with the Canucks but we still have more questions than answers.
EDMONTON -- So who is Mats Sundin, really?
Are the Vancouver Canucks getting that consistent producer, scorer of 12 consecutive 70-point seasons for a mostly inferior Toronto Maple Leafs club? The centreman who annually put the Leafs on his shoulders and carried a bad team further than it ever deserved to go?
Or are the Canucks buying a load of Toronto-centric fertilizer in all that "great leader" propaganda that emanates from Leaf Land? How can such a great leader never have played in a Stanley Cup game, presiding over Leafs teams that came close but always stumbled when the chance to win the East stared them in the face?
Is Sundin the last of the loyal NHLers? That bleed-Blue-and-White captain who refused to waive his no-trade clause for then-Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher last March, defending his own high moral character as a player who did not want to become a rental for some Cup winner?
Or is he the worst of hypocrites, having done exactly that this season while also breaking his own promise not to become a player who joined the league midseason?
Does he hunger for that elusive Cup? Or, is the fire out, with only his hunger for a fat NHL pay check still smoldering?
Did he pick Vancouver because, of all the clubs that pursued him, the Canucks were his pick as the best bet to finally put that Stanley Cup ring on his finger?
Or did he choose Vancouver, A: because they offered the most money? Or, B: because his chances of being back on the beach at his spring hangout in Spain before Round 2 starts in April are better with the Canucks than they would be in New York, Montreal or Philly?
Is Sundin a careful, nearly 38-year-old veteran, mindful of his physical health? Or is he dragging out his return because he is simply that Swedish Princess who loves to keep the hockey world wondering?
Will he play Wednesday night in Edmonton?
"Aah, I don’t know," Sundin said after practice Monday in Vancouver. "I think, another practice [Tuesday], we’ll see. It felt good today skating, [but] it’s how you feel tomorrow morning, maybe Wednesday morning, to see how the body reacts when you’re skating at this pace."
He says he’ll make the trip to Edmonton regardless. Or, at least, he thinks he will.
He wouldn’t want to commit too early.
"I just know from experience, coming in midseason, when guys are in midseason form, I think it is very tempting to jump in right away," he said. "Once I play I want to make sure I stay in the lineup and not have problems of any kind with groins or anything. Whenever it happens, I want to make sure my body is ready to compete at the highest level."
Was Sundin really working out with conviction in Los Angeles for all this time, while his agent J.P. Barry was negotiating top dollar on hiss behalf? Or was he busying himself with freelance poker gigs and trips abroad, living the life of the NHL Diva he has become.
Sundin’s signing was announced by the Canucks on Dec. 18. On Sunday, a full 17 days later, he practised with the team for the first time, at the Canucks morning skate prior to an overtime loss to Dallas. That made Monday his first full practice, where he skated on a line with Kyle Wellwood and Mason Raymond.
"It felt good," he said afterwards. "It’s a different intensity, a different pace when you’re out there with the whole team.
"Being not used to the pace of a National Hockey League practice, for sure you can feel the lungs. Hopefully [he’ll] get better from here."
And hopefully, by the time the Mats Sundin experiment has closed in Vancouver, we’ll find some answers to all of these questions.
