I am writing this first as a Leafs fan and second as a huge fan of Mats Sundin. It has been reported that the Canadiens and Leafs have agreed to a trade for Mats Sundin.

Now Mats, if you go to the Montreal Canadiens you will be wasting the last 13 years of your life that you gave to this great city and franchise. If you go to the hated Montreal Canadiens you will lose all respect that you have gained.

I support any move you make and I understand you deserve to decide your future..However Mats, under no circumstance will I accept your move to the Montreal Canadiens. How can you even consider this ridicolous notion. You are a legend in this town Mats, you will ruin it all with one shortsighted move..I will accept if you choose to retire or if you choose to go to most of the other teams in the NHL. However if you end up in Montreal or Ottawa, I will have to boo you more than I boo the hated rivals from those cities..Please Mats dont do this to us, your great fans..We love you and you are our leader.


Think about it , before you ruin your legacy.

Thanks

As much as I hate seeing Sundin going to the Habs the salty tears of millions of Leaf fans will be worth it.

If he does go to Montreal, then he really screwed the Leafs. First not waiving his no-trade, now jumping ship to a rival.

Wait, it gets better...... after not waiving his no trade cos he 'wanted to stay in Toronto', he has since TURNED down a ONE YEAR SIX MILLION DOLLAR NO MOVEMENT CONTRACT to pursue options elsewhere. He has screwed the leafs, and their fans. Nice legacy, Mats....

I never knew this about you serge

sw

I am still not convinced that Mats has anything to do with this yet...Gainey made an offer to Fletcher and Cliff said go ahead....If and only when Sundin comes out and agrees to this, then the bashing will start...This is just unheard of what could happen if he goes to Montreal. I will not accept it, and we as Leaf fans will choose to disown the lying Swede....However I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he is nowhere close to agreeing to go to Montreal....I really hope he sees the and reads the potential backlash he will receive for this insane decision.

Mats, I still believe in you and please do the right thing.

I just don't get it. Why not just take the opportunity to play for a Cup and agree to be moved last March?

I have a lot of respect for him, but I just don't get this IF indeed this is what happens.

It would be so nice having Sundin =D

I think it's a good fit for Montreal.

But that's why I thought it made the most sense for a trade last March.

I think he wasnt very motivated at that time, now he can start fresh with another team. And I think I remember he said that to win the Stanley Cup, you should be with that team from september, not february.

Because he didn't make any more money for getting traded. As an FA, he can sell his services to the most desirable location who will pay the price he's asking.

And serge.... you need to know this about your hero...... when the leafs made him an offer, he just turned them down. No counter offer, no 'well, you say six million, we want eight'..... just a flat no. That's why cliff is so pissed. And why they are dealing his negotiating rights. BTW, the leafs only get something from the habs if Sundin signs.......

This would be such an amazing addition to the Habs. We have been unable to attract any impact FA for a couple years but now that we have finished at the top of the east, we have a star goalie and a bunch of exciting young players, we were the most offensive team in the league last year and we had the best PP, we have become a very interesting place for any FA. But on top of all that we are attractive to Mats because he wants to stay in the North East, he wants a shot at the cup and he would get to play for the franchise with the most honors in the NHL. if he came here and won the cup with MTL, who cares what Toronto fans would think, he would become a hero in the history of the Montreal Canadiens, his name would be written along with greats such as Lafleur, Beliveau, Richard, Robinson etc etc etc.

Sundin is one hell of a work horse and that has been the key missing element on the Canadiens for a long time. If we add his size an scoring ability as a center on the Habs, we would have one hell of a hockey machine in MTL. He would get the chance to play with Tanguay, Kovalev, A or S Kostitsyn, he has to realize he would be pretty lucky to get that chance for the last 2 years of his carrer.

We can all see he is fed up with the leafs. They can't manage to puyt together a competive team and are unwilling to rebuild properly. He is at the end of his carrer and needs better surroundings to retire in. They gave him a one year contract with a no trade deal and then publically stated that he refused to get traded. Toronto fans called him selfish, expecting him to want to leave, win a cup and then come back next season. Why would he want to sign the same kind of deal with them again after all that hassle last season.

Come to Montreal Mats, you wont't regret it.

so how does this negotiation work. If Sundin and MTl come to an understanding, can montreal just wait until July 1st and sign him. Or do we have to trade with Toronto to get his rights, if so what would be the asking price? players, prospects, draft picks, cash?

That would be awesome! Not only do the Habs win the Cup but they do it with one of the most loved Leafs of all-time who had to leave Toronto to win.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Leafs suck!

There is no indication that Mats would even consider talking to Montreal..Just because they have the rights doesnt mean he will talk to them..Sundin is my hero yes, however like I said if he pulled this fiasco to sign with Montreal, then I would disown him and lose all respect for him...I am still holding out hope that he wouldnt do that to the Leafs and the Leaf organization.

How is exercizing a contract right the team willingly gave you screwing the team exactly?

His agent, J.P. Barry is in montreal as we speak....

Until it officially happens, I am still giving him the benefit of the doubt..I dont blame anyone for keeping all their options open...However how dumb does Mats have to be to realize that after what he pulled last year not waiving his no trade clause(which by the way i totally supported) he will be hated in this town forever for donning a Habs jersey..

But he still could have done that after accepting the deal to Montreal or anywhere else. If his desire is to play elsewhere, why not leave then, and still go for the big bucks now. If he loves the game, why not taking a run at a Cup. He must be a big time believer in not wanting to be a rental player.
And I'd imagine he'd be able to ask for more money today if he was coming off a successful playoffs.

I have no problem with him using his clause last year, I just can't figure out his personal inclination. I guess maybe he just didn't care to leave the Leafs, but now he's changed his mind. (again, this is all IF he leaves, which i guess it sounds like he will)

Honestly, I don't know the answer to 'why'. The only reason that makes sense to me is that he sat back, watched the gong show that is the leaf's management NOT do what they said they were going to do, realized their intent is to suck as badly as possible this season, and pulled the chute.

Just curious, is the media told by their bosses to be negative about the Maple Leafs??I know we have talked about this at length, but I am sure you and your esteemed colleagues get more joy out of putting the Leafs down than praising their good moves..How about talking about:

---hiring a great coach in Ron Wilson..Probably the best coach out there.

---Good job in picking up Coates

---Great move by Fletcher to move up in the draft and get one of the cant miss shut down dman in Luke Schenn.

----Recognizing that there was something to be had from Montreal and arranging a deal just in case.

So far everything that Cliff has done, has been very good...Why not evaluate him on the positives...

Well, first of all serge, this is just my opionion, not the 'media'.
Now, can you deny that every step of the way, Cliff's and MLSE's plan has been a giant lie?
-We're going to let the new GM evaluate Paul Maurice
-We needed to clear the decks so that the new GM could hire his own coaching staff
- We wanted to build a framework for the new GM to work off of.

It's difficult to support someone who lies to you. Now, whether or not these are Cliff's lies, or he's just being told what to say, I don't know.

As far as the rest:
-Wilson: as I said when it happened... excellent hire. Too bad about the mixed messages about the 'plan'.
-Coates: if Burke is the next GM, then Coates should be fired, since he wasn't good enough for Burke in Anaheim.
- Schenn: Excellent move. And, I think a pretty good deal by Fletcher
- Sundin: His hands were tied. Yes, he has done well to scramble to get something, but perhaps if MLSE and Cliff had been honest right out of the gate about the 'plan' and not changing the 'plan' every 15 minutes, Sundin wouldn't have rejected their offer flatly. And, before you go getting excited, the most likely outcome of this deal with the Habs would be future considerations.

I appreciate your enthusiasm, serge, but honestly.... until the Toronto fans start standing up and screaming BULLSHIT, this type of crap isn't going to change. Peddie and MLSE feel they are above public opinion and don't have to answer to the fans. That's just wrong....

You are mostly correct in your assesment..However why is that you say its a lie??Plans change and evolve according to the environment of the situations that you are dealt with...I am sure they wanted to hire a GM this year, however it became obvious that next year be it Burke or a couple of other candidates were available..So I am not convinced what makes you believe that they lied???

I still respect your opinions and appreciate your input as always.

The three vastly different statements about how they're going to approach the coaching staff is very troublesome: either they're lying (which is actually the lesser of two evils) or they have NO real plan and they're just making it up as they go along. If this franchise is going to be successful in the long run, I hope somewhere in a war room in the MLSE offices, there is a chart that outlines their exact route to rebuilding this franchise, from the bottom up.
I think it's this continuing to change mission statement that may be scaring away Sundin. And I'm deathly afraid that the Leafs, halfway through the season, will believe they have a solid shot at eighth place and trade away assets for players to make the playoffs. If this team is going to be a force in the future, the chart in the MLSE office should say:
2008-09 Season T-A-V-A-R-E-S

FYP

LOL, actually Bob, I've talked to a lot of people, including David Branch, who said they were just SHOCKED at how badly Tavares tailed off in the last 1/4 of the season. So maybe you might be right!

The Toronto Star reports Bob Gainey will travel to Sweden, possibly on Wednesday, to talk Mats Sundin into signing with the Canadiens.

Compensation to the Leafs is likely to include a player on the roster, possibly Mikhail Grabovski.

The package Canadiens offered at the trade deadline - which Cliff Fletcher accepted before Sundin invoked his no-trade clause - was reportedly Christopher Higgins and the Canadiens' first-round draft choice.

I posted this link in the $10 pool thread but I'll post it here so people can click it and get a laugh


http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/team/app/?servic...rticleid=364570

The Penguin fan in me hates this idea, as I really don't want to see the Habs get any more roster upgrades.


The hockey forum poster in me loves the idea of watching Serge go completely ballistic when one of his idols suits up for the enemy.


I'm so torn

You can enjoy it all you want..I am still pretty confident it wont happen.

If Mats ends up in a Habs jersey, it will go down as one of the most selfish and bonehead moves in the history of sports. He will ruin his reputation in this town that it took 14 years of hard work to establish. He is a legend here on and off the ice, with his charitable work..However that will all be gone with one stupid move..

What charity work?

Gainey is flying to Sweden this week to close the deal..

He just won the Messier Leadership award..In the article it gives several examples of his charity work.

And I hope Gainey has a terrible flight and gets diarrhea from eating Swedish Meatballs.

I was actually poking fun at his less-than-charitable attitude towards helping the poor challenged leafs last year at the trade deadline.....

The whole story doesnt add up..Thats why until I hear from Mats, this whole Montreal thing is a waste of time..

I assure you , there are a ton of Leaf fans like myself that will make Mats Sundin's life a living hell(as it pertains to his on ice work)..We will ensure that he has no place in Leafs history. I assure you Leafs Nation is not happy with this.

Ooooh I bet Mats is worried about his legacy in Loserland.

poor, poor serge.

Well he should...Its like being married to your high school sweetheart and leaving her to marry her enemy.

I will not be hurt if it happens..I will feel sorry for him and will wish him all the worst possible outcomes. But like I said I am still not convinced .

Sundin and the leafs have missed the playoffs 3 years in a row and it doesn't look like they will make them again for at least another couple years. He now has the chance to lead the #1 team in the eastern conference to their 25th stanley cup. Easy choice really.

Get on that plane and go get him Bob!

well if your sweetheart keeps saying they are going to lose weight and get a job instead of eating bon bons and watching tv everyday while you bust your butt at work, and then says, "hey. here's the phone number of this supermodel chick that I hate and she really in to you," then you can't really blame the dude

this one made me laugh..but still not happy about laughing.

I'm sure the team will love that the fans will turn on Mats when they should be turning on the team for letting it get this bad.

who would be a better fit in Montreal right now. Sundin @ $6M for 2 year or Hossa at $10M for 5 years.

I think Sundin is the better choice, cuz Hossa isn't going to sign a 2 or 3 year contract. And say Sundin retires in 2 years or signs again but for a little less because of his age, we'll then be able to look up some of our up and comming stars like the kostitsyns and Price. Hossa would tie up alot of money in the future that we are going to need.

This will be Gainey's biggest move sice he became GM. He drafted Price, then develloped the farm to become the #1 team in the east and now he's made a great deal for an established #1 winger and is about to sign a big #1 center. Wow, all the peices will be in place soon....

I know it's been Sundin's MO to go for the 1-year deal lately but I get the feeling it's gonna take something along the lines of $14 million over 2 years to sign him.

I wouldn't have a problem with paying him that kind of money. I have a feeling we can afford Tanguay @ $5M and sundin @ $7M. We have a cap hit of $38M right now including Tanguay but without UFAs and RFAs Grabovski, A Kostitsyn, Geogres, O'byrn, Streit, Halak, Brisebois. Smolinski and Ryder are going to be history, and I don't think dandenault will stay.So we have $18M to sign Sundin at $7M, Kostitsyn at $3M (~?), Streit @ $2-3M (hard to say also) and the rest at less then $1M.

We're good to go, lets do this!

I think Grabovski is going to the Leafs if we sign Sundin. I think Smolinski, Brisebois, Ryder, Dandenault and Streit are done in Montreal. I wouldn't mind keeping Streit at a good price but he'll command too much money on the open market. I expect him to go somewhere like New Jersey.

I REALLY don't think the leafs will get that much for the negotiating rights for Sundin....