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Mats Sundin: First-Ballot Hall of Famer!

ZBBM

ZBBM

Active member
I know, I know, there's a general thread on the class of 2012 but I've been waiting 3 years to create a thread with just this very title.

Congratulations to Mats.  Easily my all-time favorite.  Not only a great player, but a superlative sportsman and outstanding individual.  He is the pride of the Toronto Maple Leafs!

EDIT: I just had the privilege of updating his Wikipedia page with the news.
 
Congratulations Mats!  You'll always be #1 in the hearts & minds of the LeafsNation. 

Below is a quote from Sundin (from Yahoo! Sports)...

"There are no fans in the League, or in the sports world, who deserve a championship as the Toronto Maple Leafs fans do for their support over the years," he said.

GO MATS GO!!!
 
Mats Sundin is my childhood!

Watching Leafs games with a lot less knowledge of hockey

little to no attention to the rumour mill

having the Leafs make the playoffs every year and watching as Toronto went crazy with passion

Learning what it means to be a sports fan and getting the taste in your mouth for what rooting for a team feels like as an innocent child

Then I hit adolescence and lost my innocence around the same time the Leafs lost their talent.

Mats Totally deserves it though!
 
I really do miss him so much.  He was so consistent, so good seemingly all the time, that I definitely took him for granted while he was in Toronto.  Looking back, he really was a gem.
 
All time best Leaf! Since I started following the Leafs in the late 70's early 80's I would put my top 5  All Time Maple Leafs as the following

1. Mats Sundin
2. Wendel Clark
3. Doug Gilmour
4. Darryl Sittler
5. Tomas Kaberle

Unless I am mistaken the only Leaf before my time that would crack the top 5 is Dave Keon....
 
Capital Leaf said:
All time best Leaf! Since I started following the Leafs in the late 70's early 80's I would put my top 5  All Time Maple Leafs as the following

1. Mats Sundin
2. Wendel Clark
3. Doug Gilmour
4. Darryl Sittler
5. Tomas Kaberle

Unless I am mistaken the only Leaf before my time that would crack the top 5 is Dave Keon....
Click to expand...

I think Salming should be where you have Clark, Sittler where you have Gilmour, Clark where you have Sittler and either Cujo or Felix where you have Kabs but, if nothing else, I don't think there can be an argument about #1.
 
Nik? said:
Capital Leaf said:
All time best Leaf! Since I started following the Leafs in the late 70's early 80's I would put my top 5  All Time Maple Leafs as the following

1. Mats Sundin
2. Wendel Clark
3. Doug Gilmour
4. Darryl Sittler
5. Tomas Kaberle

Unless I am mistaken the only Leaf before my time that would crack the top 5 is Dave Keon....
Click to expand...

I think Salming should be where you have Clark, Sittler where you have Gilmour, Clark where you have Sittler and either Cujo or Felix where you have Kabs but, if nothing else, I don't think there can be an argument about #1.
Click to expand...

These are interesting debates but it's hard not to be biased against the earlier players: Keon, Bower, Duff, Kennedy, etc.  Maybe if we did Top 5 lists by decade, that would be better.

But anyhow, no, there is no real debate anymore about who's #1.  (Despite the list I saw recently in a TO paper (?) that had Sundin at #11....  ::) )
 
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
These are interesting debates but it's hard not to be biased against the earlier players: Keon, Bower, Duff, Kennedy, etc.  Maybe if we did Top 5 lists by decade, that would be better.
Click to expand...

I'm very comfortable weighting lists like that very heavily towards the modern day. I think it's just an acknowledgement about the way professional sports have changed. Guys don't work second jobs in the off-season anymore, they spend it training with Gary Roberts. Goaltenders are no longer the fat guys on the team(NJ Devils notwithstanding) and get to wear masks. Hardly anyone smokes.  Acknowledging those truths doesn't make those guys less good in their day.
 
Nik? said:
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
These are interesting debates but it's hard not to be biased against the earlier players: Keon, Bower, Duff, Kennedy, etc.  Maybe if we did Top 5 lists by decade, that would be better.
Click to expand...

I'm very comfortable weighting lists like that very heavily towards the modern day. I think it's just an acknowledgement about the way professional sports have changed. Guys don't work second jobs in the off-season anymore, they spend it training with Gary Roberts. Goaltenders are no longer the fat guys on the team(NJ Devils notwithstanding) and get to wear masks. Hardly anyone smokes.  Acknowledging those truths doesn't make those guys less good in their day.
Click to expand...

Good points.
 
Champ Kind said:
I really do miss him so much.  He was so consistent, so good seemingly all the time, that I definitely took him for granted while he was in Toronto.  Looking back, he really was a gem.
Click to expand...

Man, you hit the nail on the head.  I miss him a lot!  Wish we had another Mats on the team right now.  *crossing fingers that his future son will don the blue & white in a couple of decades*
 
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
These are interesting debates but it's hard not to be biased against the earlier players: Keon, Bower, Duff, Kennedy, etc.  Maybe if we did Top 5 lists by decade, that would be better.

But anyhow, no, there is no real debate anymore about who's #1.  (Despite the list I saw recently in a TO paper (?) that had Sundin at #11....  ::) )
Click to expand...

Keep in mind, this is just "Capital Leaf's top 5." Now,  I wouldn't argue against Sundin as anyone's #1 and if he happens to like Clark at #2, so be it... Good for him. "My" #1 happens to be Salming with Sundin a very close second but when recognizing it's just a personal thing, the really isn't any room for debate.   
 
Never a doubt in my mind that he would be a first-ballot HOFer!

Congrats Mats! Well deserved for all the incredible work you did here as a player and especially as captain. Leading by example and always, always facing the press - even the times when it must have been not so easy to do that. Well done, sir.
 
Sgt said:
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
These are interesting debates but it's hard not to be biased against the earlier players: Keon, Bower, Duff, Kennedy, etc.  Maybe if we did Top 5 lists by decade, that would be better.

But anyhow, no, there is no real debate anymore about who's #1.  (Despite the list I saw recently in a TO paper (?) that had Sundin at #11....  ::) )
Click to expand...

Keep in mind, this is just "Capital Leaf's top 5." Now,  I wouldn't argue against Sundin as anyone's #1 and if he happens to like Clark at #2, so be it... Good for him. "My" #1 happens to be Salming with Sundin a very close second but when recognizing it's just a personal thing, the really isn't any room for debate.   
Click to expand...

I'll never forget Borje!  One of the greatest Leafs!
 
How can you forget a smile like that . Congratulation Mats                       
Sundin_Mats_2_L.jpg
 
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