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Canada, AB • Canada •
Look, I keep hearing about how Mats Sundin is going to take Vancouver to new heights and how he will affect the Flames in terms of head to head match ups. Mats is just a little bit better than Daymond Langkow, he's not the best thing since sliced bread, he just consistently good. Over the last two seasons Langkow and Sundin are only about 10 points apart roughly... and Gillis is paying him 10 MILLION (echo affect of "million million million) per season. That seems worth it. He must have had management lessons from the Toronto Maple leafs, just spend on old half retired guys a stupid amount of money and try to appease some fans and make a splash.

Hey don't forget Vancouver is tied or just behind the Flames for the division lead depending on the night, they are not a one trick pony because of Luongo, they are a good team! Why mess with a good thing? Now Sundin has to learn their system, the players and coach and how long will that take? He might be 37 by the time he figures that out...pops that was last year, in about two months he will be 38 and by the time he finishes next year 39. A 39 year old Mats Sundin who doesn't really care about conditioning should be interesting to watch.

I wrote before about being offered 10 million and saying, "I'll hold off for now" and how that is a slap in the face to the other players on the team but then to wait for the Rangers to make a trade and then turn to Vancouver and affectively say, "yeah I guess you'll do... I guess Sather couldn't trade Redden. Thanks for this huge amount of money", should anger Vancouver fans yet they are super happy and have delusions of a Stanley cup!!!

Well Vancouver Fans, I'll show you 10 years of the best of Mats and count for you the cups Toronto has in that time... zero. And that was when he bled for the team and the team wasn't just the ugly sister he had to take to the prom.

S>O>
Filed Under:   Flames   Canucks   Sundin  
December 19, 2008 5:26 PM ET | Delete
lol. interesting read, although i think it's context will be completely ignored seeing as you're a flames blogger :P I just don't see how he'll remain healthy for the remainder of the season.
December 19, 2008 7:06 PM ET | Delete
Van will get swept by Detroit or San Jose, so it's cool.
December 19, 2008 7:29 PM ET | Delete
Largely simplistic, shallow 'analysis'. He will improve the Canucks I'm pretty sure. If an injury happens...it will be easy to blame it on his age. Do a little more thorough digging...one thing you'll see is that your 'fact' about the contract is false. As well, Sather wasn't really serious about getting Sundin. He had 5 months to get it together. It's like he thought; " I'm Glum Saviour and Mats will beg to come to my team for peanuts".... One last point or question -- so you'd take Langkow over Sundin? O.6 PPG player versus a 1.0 PPG player? That's a significant difference. There's where your credibility suffers.
December 19, 2008 8:51 PM ET | Delete
dont' think he was saying Langkow > Sundin over his career.i think what he meant is who can bring more presence on a night in night out basis this year.
December 19, 2008 9:32 PM ET | Delete
I think Mats the "old" centreman showed what he can do last season. A listless Leafs team, and he single handedly dragged the team on his back over the last half of the season. They didn't make it to the playoffs, no, because he's only one man. But he showed that he alone can dominate in the NHL still, let alone with other skilled players to work with. Langkow has never shown this trait. Period.
December 19, 2008 10:27 PM ET | Delete
Sounds like sour grapes to me.A little worried in Calgary are we?Mats brings a whole lot to a team that's already on top of the division (this without our starting goaltender). I won't even begin to tell you about the impact he'll have here in Vancouver...and, ftr, he took a bit of a reduction so we still have $$ left. Mats took a long time to decide and Gillis was patient...in the end, in was a well thought out decision by both sides and one I admire Mats for not quickly reacting to a windfall of an offer. It shows that he was serious about the decision and that makes me feel confident about how much he wants to play here.I'd be worried if I were a Flames fan. :)
December 19, 2008 10:29 PM ET | Delete
*it (sorry, typo...no edit here?)
December 19, 2008 11:34 PM ET | Delete
I don't understand why you'd be worried if you were a Flames fan. Do you normally lack confidence in the team you root for? As for me, I see a struggling squad to the north, and the Swedish elite team forming in Vancouver. If anything, I'm more confident then ever.
December 20, 2008 12:22 AM ET | Delete
Langkow plays on a much better team and doesn't face the oppositions top defensive pairing each and every night. Sundin excelled while playing with burlap sacks full of crap for linemates the past two years. Let's hope he can take a couple of Vancouvers' burlap sacks and do the same thing.
December 20, 2008 10:44 AM ET | Delete
Rdfred, If it's simplistic it's because it's simple to understand, it's not too complicated to understand for most. I said he is better than Langkow but just slightly so is he worth literally 4 million more per season? I don't think so. I know you have to justify your teams signing, he's a good player but there's roughly 25-30 ppg players or better and Sundin is the highest paid player in the NHL almost? Come on. There is room left, in fact a ton of it in Vancouver and I expect that gillis will go make another splash, for sure it will be fun to watch if you're a Canuck fan!
December 20, 2008 2:04 PM ET | Delete
We had the money there and felt Sundin would bring an element to our team that we needed and would help propel us to the next level.So you tell me what's best....sitting with a boatload of money or using that money to try and better the team and give us a better chance for a cup?The moves that Gillis has made so far have proven to be good ones - ones that were initially criticized (Wellwood) but now have people scratching their heads going "didn't see that one".I trust the man. He knows the dynamics of the team and he's proving that he knows how to build a team that can win.I believe that those slamming this decision ARE jealous/worried and are missing the point that money that's sitting there isn't helping a team. We feel that Mats is our best option and it was money well spent.
December 20, 2008 4:23 PM ET | Delete
I'm not justifying the signing -- it needs no justification. I questioned (and still do) that Langkow is anywhere near the level of Sundin. I guess that can be checked out at season's end. I didn't say what you wrote was not easy to understand. I meant that your 'analysis' was shallow and simplistic. There was a lot more to the whole fiasco than you have indicated. No one that I've heard/read has said Sundin will bring the Canucks to "new heights". He should strengthen an already good team. Gillis did not make this signing 'to appease the fans"...that's part of the shallow. He made it to improve the team. After all, that's his job, isn't it? Your second paragraph shows part of the "shallow". Are you aware that Sundin talked to both Luongo (in the summer) and Ohlund (on Thursday) before signing here about the issue of how easily could he fit in with the team. I could go on and on, but it's really all a moot point now, isn't it? We'll see how it goes and where it goes. Cheers!
December 21, 2008 3:51 PM ET | Delete
I'm not sure why people think the Canucks are pure Swedes. There is 5 Swedes on the team as opposed to 16 Canadians.
December 22, 2008 12:03 AM ET | Delete
Here's the thing... Vancouver picked up a top 6 forward for the rest of year without giving up any kind of asset... who cares about a pro-rated 10m salary when its on the books until May and they won't be giving up picks or prospects to tweak the team as needed leading up to the playoffs. So criticize the move if you will... but as a Leafs fan, I can't imagine this hurting the secondary scoring in Vancouver. There are worse moves Gillis could have made.
December 22, 2008 10:33 AM ET | Delete
Okay, here's where it catches up with the Canuck fans and why this blog was titled what it was. You have a set of twins who are ppg players in this league, are the canucks going to shell out $30 mil for three players next year? I guess we'll see how much of a good signing it is when it drives up the cost of those type of players by a vast amount.
December 22, 2008 10:41 AM ET | Delete
rdfred- I guess you not agreeing makes my analysis simple and shallow, Vancouver was his second choice, don't trust me trust the TSN and Sportsnet guys who are insiders. Does Sundin improve your team? A team that is doing just fine? I wonder, especially next year when they can't afford to pay every ppg player 10 million and still have to sign Ohlund and Beiksa... Do the Sedin's say it's okay Sundin get 10 and we get say 6.5 or 7? I doubt it but we'll see.
December 22, 2008 1:26 PM ET | Delete
No, whether I agree or not with you, I find your analysis simplistic and shallow. You failed to consider many facets of the whole fiasco.No one was an "insider" in this situation. I value your opinion on it as much as I value TSN and Sportsnet's. See, you continue to not even have your 'facts' straight. Sundin did not sign for $10 million -- he signed for (effectively) $8.6 million and $4 million of that was a signing bonus. So, salary wise, Sundin will be making the equivalent of $4.6 Million annual contract this year. As well, Bieksa is already signed for 3 more years -- more errors on your part. So, shallow and simplistic still stands, sorry.
December 22, 2008 6:31 PM ET | Delete
Here is the actual number (for all of you Canuck fans who just have NO IDEA. $5,626,500.00. This is the pro rated amount based on the FACT they've played 40% of the season so his actual full season Salary would be in the neighborhood of 9 mil. If it was just 4.6 million I wouldn't have written this, if you want verification please the website NHLPL.com. His salary for two years would be around 13-14 mil giving him an average hit of 7 mil a season. You can verify that on any cap website. Thanks for playing.It still begs the question of how to sign Pyatt, Burrows, the sisters, wellwood AND rypien. Yes Beiksa did resign a three year contract, my bad.Yours truly,Shallow and still right about mats being overpayed!!
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