“The Finnish journalist suggests that Mats Sundin just may be the best Leaf ever.”

The entire column after the jump. This and more in Off The Post in the fall.

The best ever

Once again, hockey history came and pulled the rug out from underneath me when I least expected it. And once again, it shouldn’t have been a surprise, in any way or measure.

I guess I knew it, too. I just didn’t think about it.

Yes, I’m talking about Mats Sundin, of course. Mats Sundin, the captain of one of the most legendary and fabled sports teams. Mats Sundin, the World champion, the Olympic gold-medalist, the number one draft pick. Big Mats.

Mats Sundin, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ all-time career leader in goals and points.

That’s the part I really hadn’t registered.

I thought the Original Six top scorers were all born in Canada in the 1930s, had no teeth, wore no helmet, bailed hay all summer long, and were tough as a diamond in the winter. Which was cold, cold, cold.

The other Original Six top scorers are Rod Gilbert (Rangers), Ray Bourque (Bruins), Guy Lafleur (Canadiens), Stan Mikita (Blackhawks), Gordie Howe (Red Wings), and Paul Kariya (Ducks).

Wait, that’s seven…

Anyway, Sundin is tough and his teeth have been remade a couple of times, but a lot has changed since the 1970s.

The first European number one draft pick becomes the first European Original Six top scorer. He’s played 1,236 games in the NHL. That’s 1,190 more than he’s played in the Swedish Elite League. He’s made a fantastic career in the NHL – combining it with stints on the Swedish national team, flashy and solid enough to make him a national hero, Captain Mats, if you will, in Sweden, too.

Sundin is The Man, and the perfect poster boy for the internationalization of the NHL, and hockey.

And now he’s The Man in Toronto as well. While I’m happy for him, and happy for yet another European breakthrough, I’m a little bummed at the same time. See, Sundin just ripped apart one of my greatest hockey stories. I’ve often – way too often, if you ask some of my friends – told the story of the greatest line I’ve ever played on.

That’d be the one with three centers. Me. Eric Lindros, and Darryl Sittler. I was a 23-year-old overweight retired hockey player. Lindros was 16, and Sittler 40 (Up until right now, I always thought he was really old!) and we were playing pickup hockey in Orillia, Ontario.

When I tell that story somebody always asks, “Who’s Darryl Sittler?” And up until yesterday, my comeback has been, “Only the Leafs’ greatest scorer ever.”

I’ll have to change that to something about the Hall of Fame. Maybe I can call Sittler the best Leaf ever?

Turns out I can’t. The Hockey News celebrates its 60th anniversary by listing the best players in the histories of each team. Sundin doesn’t make the list. Neither does Sittler. Syl Apps gets the nod.

Teemu Selanne is on the list. The best Duck ever.

Selanne, Apps, Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, Bobby Clarke, Bryan Trottier, and Ilya Kovalchuk.

The times, they are a-changing.