Mats Sundin
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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)
See also
- Captain (ice hockey)
- List of NHL players
- List of NHL seasons
- List of Swedes in sports
- List of NHL players with 1000 points
External links
- [NHL.com Profile]
- [TSN.ca Scouting Report and Stats]
- [Mapleleafs.com Biography and Profile]
- [Mats Sundin Sports Card Colleciton]
- [Djurgårdens IF official website (in Swedish)]
- [Nacka HK official website (in Swedish)]
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