Mats Sundin: Cheering Swedes, Hissing Canucks

by Ben Dover… Last night brought an end to all the hoopla regarding Mats Sundin’s return to Toronto. All week, hockey fans and pundits speculated about the reception Sundin would receive. Would he receive cheers or jeers?

In the end he got a little bit of both.

Toronto fans and the media are quite savage but not that savage. Most hockey fans in this town have a long memory. After the hurt of losing the only player they admired in recent times, they reconciled with Sundin and gave him the reception he deserved.

Coming close to tears, after a brief highlight reel on the JumboTron, Sundin rose and waved to Toronto public. In the end, he realized that he still felt some warmth in a city gripped in long cold winter. During the game though, on each touch, he received an accompanying blast of negativity.

In the Coach’s Corner segment after the first period, Don Cherry was quite miffed at why Canadians, generally, render applause for international stars who walk away, but always jeer their Canadian brethren.

Citing the recent return of Bryan McCabe, who upon stepping on the ice at the Air Canada Centre, was booed, hissed at, and spat on for the entire game. Cherry also mentioned the oft-cited fans who booed Bobby Orr, arguably Canada’s greatest player.

It is an interesting question. While McCabe did play below his best for the Leafs in his final years in Toronto, he still won National Selection and was an All-Star in his time there.

To a degree, Toronto fans still have some sore feelings about its old captain Sundin. Even though he received a great ovation at the ACC last night, there is still some hurt in the eyes of most Leafs fans.

Sundin left after thirteen years in Toronto without the Stanley Cup. Sundin is loved, but he is loved like on old girlfriend who broke your heart. Sometimes those feelings of betrayal bubble up to the surface.

The truth is that no great player, be it Gilmour, Clark, or Sittler, is honored without a touch of remorse. No player representing Toronto has held up the Stanley Cup for more than forty years. Toronto wants a Stanley Cup, the city aches for it.

When you put on a Maple Leafs jersey, your nationality disappears. You now are Maple Leaf; you now are a Torontonian. So, be you Canadian, Dutch, Australian, or from Papua New Guinea, playing for the Leafs, scoring 90 goals a season, and being the best you can be might not be enough in Hogtown.

In the end, if you leave without a Stanley Cup do not expect to be completely embraced by Leaf Nation on your return.

Mats Sundin Scores Winner As Canucks Beat Leafs In Instant Classic

by Derek Harmsworth… Unbelievable.  Unforgettable.  A moment to live forever.

These words describe perfectly the scene at the Air Canada Centre last night as the Vancouver Canucks, and Mats Sundin, rolled into Toronto to battle the Maple Leafs on Hockey Day In Canada.

Everybody and their dog had opinions all week long on what would happen last night.  How would the crowd react as Sundin, a former Leafs great for thirteen years, returned to the ice?  And to be honest, it was as advertised.  The moment he stepped on the ice, there were some cheers, and some jeers, to greet the big Swede.

The game itself had a little bit of everything.  Great chances at both ends.  Big saves by two goalies matching each other glove for glove, and pad for pad.  The action was fast paced, and the skill was on display for the full sixty minutes.  Dominic Moore almost completed a two-on-one with his feet.  It was that kind of night.

But what happened during the first television timeout, and following the conclusion of the game, will live forever.

It will live forever, etched into our memories.  It will live forever, being played time and again on sports T.V. shows and Sportscentre Top 10’s.

After countless days of hype, and a mixed reaction from the ACC faithful during pre-game, the Toronto Maple Leafs fans (and the great Canucks fans who made the trip) showed their true colours.

During the first commercial break, a video package was aired honouring Mats Sundin.  His legacy.  His time as captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

And what resulted is something no one will ever forget.

Fans inside the Air Canada Centre, and all across Leafs Nation stood up, looked on in wonderment, and gave Mats Sundin the adulation and admiration he deserved.

(Click here to watch the video)

As you see in the video, a usually quiet, reserved Sundin couldn’t help himself anymore.  the situation got the better of him, as the former Leafs captain acknowledged the fans, fighting back tears.  A fight he would lose, as his eyes welled up with pure emotion.  He stood, waved a friendly “thank you” to the fans in attendance and around the world, and tried to get back to playing.

Only he couldn’t.

As Sundin took the ice, the emotion became even more intense.  As he skated to try and clear his head, and his eyes, the linesman held the game, allowing the Leafs to shower their former king with even more respect and love.

It was pure class, and as a Leafs fan, and a fan of the National Hockey League, it was everything I had hoped it would be.  It was a perfect example of everything that is good about hockey.

Along with Sundin’s emotional serenade, you could also say the game itself was everything that is good with the NHL these days.

A couple of powerplay goals, some great chances at both ends.  Speed and skill, on display, flying down the ice with the greatest of ease.

The game was as even as could be.  Tied after 65 minutes of solid back and forth play.

Only this magical story was far from over.

Alain Vignault, perhaps with a flare for the dramatics and heart warming moments, selected Sundin to close out the shootout.

Like a good writer finishing up a story, Sundin had the chance with a swoop of the stick, to write the perfect ending to this story.

He didn’t disappoint.  And did anyone really expect him to?

As Leafs fans know best, Sundin-a staple of shootout competitions during his time in Toronto-has two solid moves, that can make the best goalies look amateur.

He has his first set, a blazing fast entry and a quick wrister that hits the bar and tucks in under the line.  The second, a little slower approach, a flinch to get the goalie opened up, then a quick forehand to backhand move, and it’s all over.

Sundin opted for the latter on this night, putting the puck past former teammate Vesa Toskala, who had a great game for Toronto.

It couldn’t have been written any better.  not even someone who will pick up an Oscar tonight could write a story like this.

It’s sports baby, in all its glory.

As Sundin’s Canucks teammates mobbed him on the ice, the Air Canada Centre faithful, usually grumbling and heading towards the exit at this point, weren’t leaving.

They were standing.  Anticipating.

After months of wondering how they would react to Sundin returning, they wanted another shot at him.

Knowing there was a chance he could be named a star, they wanted one final look at their former captain.  Perhaps, one final goodbye.

Then, as hoped, Sundin was named the first star by the in-house selection committee at the ACC.  The fans wanted one more chance, to see him skate on their ice in Toronto.

And so did he.

Sundin came out to another loud standing ovation from the Toronto Maple Leafs faithful.

He blew kisses, bowed modestly, and clapped for everyone in attendance, just like they did for him.

He did it all while wiping away a tear or two.  Just like they did.

(watch the video here)

As Jim Hughson so appropriately coined it “a class act for a class act.”

February 21st, 2009, a date that will go down forever in Toronto Maple Leafs history.

For all the right reasons.

Toronto Marlies vs Rochester Americans

By Louis “King of Roncesvalles” Pisano…
After back to back starts, and back to back losses(neither I believe to be truly his fault) with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Justin Pogge was back in a Marlies uniform in front of 4,725 fans on Saturday night facing the Rochester Americans.

The Marlies came out with energy that was seemingly lacking the game previous. Andre Deveaux and Ryan Hollweg, were throwing the body around with a lot of vigour, although to no avail in the end, even after outshooting the Rochester squad 38-29.

#19 RW Jeremey Williams scored the lone goal for the Toronto team, beating Tyler Plante on a strange one, he described after the game,”it was kind of weird” “we were told we’ve got to get pucks behind their D” “I tried to flip it and it went straight up in the air like 12 feet and he batted it down and it landed on my stick”

With 47 seconds left in the 1st period the Americans #17 Dan Collins made a slick play jumping out from the corner and then making a gorgeous little pass to #19 Karl Stewart who buried it on Pogge, the goal was assisted by Janis Sprukts who had two assists in the game including one on the game winner scored by C #34 David Brine in the 3-1 victory for Rochester.

After the Marlies had 38 shots on the Rochester goalie Tyler Plante and only buried one, I had to ask Mr. Williams if it might have felt a bit more like playing against Jacques Plante (I used the French pronunciation) instead of Tyler Plante” (which I said ”plant” he’s from Wisconsin, come on!), he said smiling “uh hahaha yeah, he played well” and “I give him credit”. I think he must have really liked that question, because shortly afterwards I saw him discretely joking with another team mate about the comment/comparison.

Pogge talked about the play of his teammates briefly saying, “We’re playing well offensively but we had a little bit of trouble in our own end and it cost the game but we’ll learn and we’ll come back tomorrow night”.

The Marlies are heading out on a three game road trip facing Rochester again tomorrow night and then Lake Erie followed by Hamilton before returning to the Ricoh Coliseum to face the Grand Rapids Griffins March 1st. Good luck boys!

Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight: Not Who You Might Think

by Stoker Dafire… Joe Louis once named Max Baer as his toughest opponent even though “The Brown Bomber” put the fighting Baer to sleep in the fourth round and didn’t seem to have much trouble doing so.

So, what about the greatest heavyweight of all time, Muhammad Ali, what was his best performance?

Well, in these days of changing ways and so called “dying boxing days” a story comes to mind of a boxing master.

There is no doubt in the minds of fans, or those who know about hands - that the greatest heavyweight fighter alive is still Muhammad Ali.

Not only because he ruled the game, in the 60s and 70s and beat up names, like Sonny, George, and Joseph just to name a few.

Ali defeated the best and said to hell with the rest - named “Fighter of the Year” more than anybody - old or new.

So much for my pathetic attempt at Ali poetry; many millions of Ali fans the world over have a certain boxing match they remember as a child.

For me, it was “Rumble In The Jungle,” on ABC Television’s Wide World Of Sports.

Ali regained his title on October 30, 1974 by defeating champion George Foreman in their bout in Kinshasa, Zaire.

I was ten years old and it was the first boxing match I had ever witnessed at that point, and it left an indelible impression on me.

Ali made use of the right-hand lead, striking with the right hand without setting it up with the left; sending a message to Foreman that he didn’t respect his power.

These bold and aggressive “lead right hands” may have surprised Foreman, and it did allow Ali to hit him solidly a number of times, but it failed to significantly hurt him.

Ali then used a tactic known today as “rope the dope”..he lay back along the ropes and took all big George had to offer.

Obviously, I can still recall the feeling I had when Ali came off the ropes in the 8th round and cold cocked big George Foreman, knocking him down and then out.

However, as great a victory as that was, there is still another that was truly something to behold as well.

Even today when I reviewed it on YouTube.com it still amazes the hell out of me; it was undoubtedly the greatest performance of Muhammad Ali’s career, bar none.

In the month of November of 1966 at the Houston Astrodome, Ali fought a man named Cleveland Williams in front of an indoor record 35,460 fight fans.

It was truly a classic.

A year and a half before the fight Williams had been shot in the stomach by a Texas policeman.

As a result, Williams went into the fight missing one of his kidneys and also ten feet of his intestines.

Still, Williams was as tough as a twelve day old piece of uncooked gristle and harder to crack then than a hot boiled egg.

Ali out-worked and out-boxed his toughest opponent, defeating Williams in three rounds in what can only be described as an instructional boxing master class for those of us mortals who are not quite so gifted.

Former World Heavyweight Champion and Boxing historian Mike Tyson, also named this fight as a favorite Muhammad Ali performance of all time.

Boxing is the only sport you can get your brain shook, your money took and your name in the undertaker book.
Joe Frazier

Welcome to Oscar Night…

by Long John Silver… It’s the Oscar’s today and it’s the Wimbledon of movie-making. It’s the cathedral for the incomparable art of movies, music and expression of human emotion in the form of art. Being a passionate movie buff, I do love this night.

Hollywood Boulevard is buzzing…and more than 40 million viewers worldwide will be tuned into their television (gosh, I’ve become so Americanized these past seven years, I surprise myself so many times).

YES—it’s too long, YES—it can have an English uptight decorum sometimes…but this year the committee decided to go in a different direction to make it more laid back and ‘put your feet up and have a beer mate’ kind of theme.

They hired the protagonist in ‘Boy from OZ’ broadway musical, ‘The Wolverine’ (X-Men) and the ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ himself—from the suburbs of Sydney, Hugh Jackman, to be the anchor. Hence I expect a sort of vivacious, ‘joie-de-verve’ energy emanating from the stage tonight.

Art and sport reflect life and one can derive tremendous amount of inspiration from it both ways. The more I thought about it, the more this year’s nominations reflected tennis.

Well, my top favorite and the potential posthumous sentimental favorite, the quite incomparable western Australian, Heath Ledger is nominated for his role as the Pantomime Villian: The JOKER.

May be it starts with the name-sake, but it stretches well beyond. His brashness, not inclined to pray to the church and penchant for self-destruction, being bloody-good in his job (playing ball or burning down hospitals) and most of all the egotistical essence…each of which reminds of one of my favorites De-Joker (Nole or JOKER).

The Wrestler is about an intricate tale about an almost over-the-hill wrestler who comes back for one last time, wins and attains personal salvation one last time.

This is the one I haven’t seen until now, but in a way it reflects Mickey Rourke’s personal story as well, his anti-social and boorish behavior to one and all over the years left him with all bridges burned with time.

He was even fortunate to get this role (courtesy his kickass agent), hence Rourke himself is back for his one last show…do tell me, if this wins—whom does it not remind of the ‘Salvation’ victory of Goran Ivanisevic’s Wimbledon 2001 five set 8–6 win over Rafter?