Originally Posted by Wongtouski (Post 6182959)

LOL why is Calgary hating.

Originally Posted by stuff99 (Post 6182750)

Along with the NY Post:

NO SHOCK, SUNDIN FOLLOWED THE MONEY

By LARRY BROOKS

Last updated: 9:14 am
December 19, 2008

IN the end, Mats Sundin made like Woodward and Bernstein following Deep Throat's advice. He followed the money.

The 37-year-old free agent center followed the money to Vancouver, accepting a pro-rated $10 million deal from the Canucks instead of less than that to live in New York and play for the Rangers New York Rangers .

Sundin followed his wallet instead of his heart. Good for him. Just one more mercenary the way pretty much professional athletes essentially are. They get it while they can, like most of us would.

Scott Gomez Scott Gomez wanted to play in New York, but the Rangers had to pay a $51.5 million toll in order to get him across the Hudson. Chris Drury Chris Drury always wanted to play in New York, but it took $35.25 million and a full no-move clause to get him into the Blueshirt he always dreamt of wearing.

It doesn't make any of them into Bernard Madoff, doesn't make any of them into villains, but of all the big-name athletes who have wanted to come to New York, only one took less to do so, and he is Brendan Shanahan.

Sundin will be playing approximately 55 percent of the season. He will earn $5.5 million from the Canucks. Had he taken the pro-rated $5.5 million from the Rangers that we're told GM Glen Sather advised Sundin's camp the Blueshirts would get to, the former Leaf captain would have earned $3.025 million.

The Rangers may not be a better team than the Canucks, but they sure play in a weaker conference and sure have at least an equally good shot at Vancouver at getting through their half of the playoff draw. Without question, Sundin would have made the Blueshirts a far more formidable opponent.

Sundin would have given the Rangers a presence they do not have. He would have given the Rangers a force opposition coaches would have had to game-plan against. He would have given the Rangers the sizzle they simply cannot capture.

No question there would have been a period of adjustment, but the Rangers would have emerged as a much stronger team on the other side had Sundin been willing to take what the Blueshirts would have been able to give him by deleting automatic scratches Petr Prucha and Dan Fritsche.

Let's face it, though. The Rangers didn't lose Sundin yesterday. They lost Sundin on July 1 when Sather had perhaps the worst day on the market since people were jumping out of windows on Black Friday of Oct. 25, 1929.

The Rangers are going to lose any chance of competing for players who become available the rest of the year unless the general manager gets down to work and begins to create cap space for the rest of the season beyond the $1 million the Blueshirts now own.

Sundin went for the money. The Rangers didn't have enough of it. Sather had better create cap space - and now - so that his team has enough of it when the next guy becomes available.

Originally Posted by Hondaracer (Post 6183150)

the fucking retards on OTR are so T.O biased..

the one fucking nerd on there is like "Yea Sundin followed the money, but I highly doubt the canucks will make the move with the remaining cap space and grab anyone, with this economy NHL teams are scared to spend and they almost certainly will not make a move because they cant, its a business and they wont spend"

it would be great to have people that actually know about the team, owners, management, etc. that could talk rather then Toronto based reporters with their heads stuck up their ass

Originally Posted by darthchilli (Post 6183066)

one of hte reasons why sundin is being bagged on is the fact that he is now a "hypocrite"
why?
at the deadline last year, said he would not waive his NTC to become a rental. What is he now? a rental.

Originally Posted by trdees (Post 6183257)

whos got the stanley cup parade all planned out already?
I know SOMEBODY on this board has.

Originally Posted by Soundy (Post 6183587)

The more I hear, the better this deal is sounding.

Sundin has stated that Vancouver has always been his first choice, ever since Gillis contacted him on July 1. It was his agent, J.P. Barry, who brought him all the subsequent offers and insisted that he give them all serious consideration, which is the smart thing for an agent to do in his client's best interests. Ultimately, he's exactly where he's wanted to be all along.

Gillis played the situation perfectly - reportedly, some other players in this game put the pressure on, which neither Sundin nor Barry appreciated. Despite fan and media criticism to attempt to force Sundin to "*poop* or get off the pot", Gillis played it cool throughout, giving a gentle nudge now and then but never knocking over the apple cart. The benefit of Gillis' experience as a player agent is really starting to show.

Blake Price (on TEAM 1040) had another Toronto sports journalist on the other night (the name escapes me), someone who spent years covering the Leafs and Sundin. According to him, Sundin is a very private guy who keeps to himself a lot (he apparently often eats alone when the team is on the road), and despite wearing the C for years, is not the "leader" type - the Leafs have always had others who filled that role (your Wendell Clarks, Doug Gilmours, Gary Roberts, etc.), until the last few years, which is partly why they've been really hurting lately. Now, he's coming to a team that already has its established leaders, where he won't have to do anything but be an offensive force, which should allow him to settle in quickly and be very comfortable playing here.

In an interview with Rick Ball yesterday, Sundin stated that he talked to Ohlund before accepting the offer, asking him what the feeling was in the Canucks locker room about him coming here. According to him, Ohlund reported that the responses were 100% positive; that everyone else he'd talked to was completely stoked about the idea. Sundin said he had been concerned about coming into a situation where he'd upset the existing chemistry in the room, but that Ohlund assured him it wouldn't be a problem here.

Sundin also accepted a reduced offer from the original $10M (whether he offered to take less, or was asked if he'd take less, hasn't been clarified yet, at least not that I've heard of), with the thought of leaving the Canucks more cap room to acquire another player or two by the trade deadline. As it stands, with contracts being pro-rated through the season, Gillis will have $2.5M-$3M to spend at the deadline. Pro-rated, that gives us room to pick up a couple of $5M-$6M players(!!) for a playoff run.

Sundin will, of course, wear #13... readily given up by Mike Brown, who will now wear #15.

Originally Posted by Soundy (Post 6183587)

Blake Price (on TEAM 1040) had another Toronto sports journalist on the other night (the name escapes me), someone who spent years covering the Leafs and Sundin. According to him, Sundin is a very private guy who keeps to himself a lot (he apparently often eats alone when the team is on the road), and despite wearing the C for years, is not the "leader" type - the Leafs have always had others who filled that role (your Wendell Clarks, Doug Gilmours, Gary Roberts, etc.), until the last few years, which is partly why they've been really hurting lately. Now, he's coming to a team that already has its established leaders, where he won't have to do anything but be an offensive force, which should allow him to settle in quickly and be very comfortable playing here.

Originally Posted by Ch28 (Post 6183728)

Elliotte Friedman

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Columnists...67086-sun.html



:bowdown:

Originally Posted by iwantaskyline (Post 6182219)

So since Bernier has only 13 pts should we also cut him? A player who's been given every opportunity to succeed with the twins? Having a minus while playing on the PK is quite understandable. If you watch any of the Canuck games you'll see Pyatt is is quite responsible defensively. I'd rather cut Brown off the team before Pyatt any day of the year.