Check out my latest on nhl.com, or read it here, after the jump.

Fair Game

According to an urban legend, being the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs is the most enviable job in hockey – and by extension, in the world. Being the leader of the most hockey-crazy town in the world would bury a smaller man.

Not Mats Sundin.

He was unpopular when he arrived – being traded for, um, Leafs captain Wendel Clark – and he seems to be at the receiving end of the fans’ wrath now, at the end of his career in Toronto.

It was Cliff Fletcher who made the Wendel Clark trade in 1994, bringing Sundin into town, and it was Cliff Fletcher who now wanted to drive him out of town.

“Letting Wendel go was maybe the hardest trade I ever made in my whole career,” said Fletcher, “because of what he meant to the Leafs and even my emotional attachment to him. But it was a trade that anybody in my position at the time had to do because it was in the best interests in the long haul of the team.”

He could have just replaced the name with Mats, and send out the same quote as a press release yesterday.

In between, Sundin has played almost a thousand games wearing the maple leaf, he’s scored over 400 goals, and almost a thousand points, averaging more than a point a game. He’s been the captain for the last 11 years, leading the team on and off the ice.

Do a Google search with “Sundin demands a trade.”

That’s right: “Your search – ‘Sundin demands a trade’ – did not match any documents.”

Do another one: “Sundin criticizes management.”

“Your search – ‘Sundin criticizes management’ – did not match any documents.”

Whoops. Maybe the Canadians spell it differently. Let’s try again. “Sundin criticises management.”

No, nothing.

And you know why.

He’s played with some “interesting” linemates over the years, and he’s delivered. For crying out loud, he’s played on the same line with Tie Domi, and still scored goals.

The last time I checked, the Leafs were selling, for example, the Leafs TV on their website, using the Sundin image. And I can understand that. I would, too. Sundin is the face of the franchise, and has earned that place with his play, his engagement, his passion for the game, and – yes – for his loyalty to his team and the city of Toronto.

Sundin has played and lived in the city for the last 15 years or so. At 37, he’s basically lived there half his life. When he says he considers himself a Torontonian, it’s easy to believe.

If the Leafs management were afraid of losing Sundin for nothing next summer, they probably should have showed Sundin some class going about it. Making their request to waive his no-trade clause public, the Leafs threw Sundin under the bus. Sundin found himself in a lose-lose situation like never inside the rink.

You would think that he had deserved better. That the no-trade clause the club gave him when he signed his one-year deal last year, was, in fact, a statement of the Leafs’ commitment to the man that has been there for the club for 15 years.

It was, instead, just the “business of the sport,” as Cliff Fletcher said.

Although, later the same day he had announced he’d stay, Sundin just got back to work, and scored the game-winning goal against the Senators.

Goal number 414 as a Leaf.