Did The Nucks Get Their Money's Worth With Sundin?

shabbs wrote:Quick answer: no.

Longer answer: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

He was off for way too long before coming back, he never got his legs going. Bad move on their part, but a move I would've made too. You don't really know what will happen when you sign these superstars that are near retirement. It could've worked out famously for them had he got his Dung together by playoff time. That clearly did not happen.

Waste of money - yes
Worth the risk - yes

shabbs wrote:That whole Sundin saga was idiotic. So much time and effort wasted on where he was going... utterly ridiculous. And for what? Nothing significant. Man he looked slow and tired out there... he should be embarrassed.

Was it ever. Wow, so much hype for absolutely NOTHING. Brutal!

SensGirl11 wrote:He was off for way too long before coming back, he never got his legs going. Bad move on their part, but a move I would've made too. You don't really know what will happen when you sign these superstars that are near retirement. It could've worked out famously for them had he got his Dung together by playoff time. That clearly did not happen.

Waste of money - yes
Worth the risk - yes

I'm not sure I agree on the risk part. $5M at the deadline would have landed a top-5 type of player (or should have). Sundin *may have* been that a few years ago, but at 38 and playing poker for most of the year, I was not expecting much. If they had given him a $5M salary (pro-rated to the number of games he actually player) then I would have said the risk was worse it.

Gillis rolled the dice with a poker player...and lost.

There's some hockey karma at work there...

A picture is a worth a thousand words...how many millions was that again?

wprager wrote:

SensGirl11 wrote:He was off for way too long before coming back, he never got his legs going. Bad move on their part, but a move I would've made too. You don't really know what will happen when you sign these superstars that are near retirement. It could've worked out famously for them had he got his Dung together by playoff time. That clearly did not happen.

Waste of money - yes
Worth the risk - yes

I'm not sure I agree on the risk part. $5M at the deadline would have landed a top-5 type of player (or should have). Sundin *may have* been that a few years ago, but at 38 and playing poker for most of the year, I was not expecting much. If they had given him a $5M salary (pro-rated to the number of games he actually player) then I would have said the risk was worse it.

ON the other hand, they only gave up cap-space for Sundin, as opposed to dealing valuable assets like Hodgson for a rental.

Sundin's NHL future remains unclear

Thursday, May 14, 2009
Gordon McIntyre, Canwest News Service, May 14/09

His agent doesn't know, Mats Sundin himself says he doesn't know, even his hair dresser doesn't know for sure since he goes for the self-administered chrome-dome look.

But perhaps there was a hint in his eyes that suddenly got a tad glassy and his voice that broke slightly when talking about what he'll miss. It's possible the almost-always unemotional Sundin has played his last game.

"I think I've enjoyed playing hockey the last five years more than I have in my whole career," Sundin said. "You realize at the end of your career . . . you kind of know you're at the end.

"You know, it's such a great game we're part of. That's going to be the toughest part when you retire. There's such a, it's tough to describe, atmosphere in a playoff game like that."

He was talking about taking in the atmosphere at the United Center during and after the Canucks' Game 6 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. And it was at that point his voice broke, just a little bit, and his eyes got just a hint of red in them.

The Olympics won't be a factor as Sundin decides about next season. He's content with the gold medal he won as captain of Team Sweden in 2006 at Turin, Italy.

Nor will money be a consideration, he said, and that's a good thing because he's not going to be offered $10 million US ever again.

It's too early, he added, even to self-critique his truncated season; it was the first time in his life that he wasn't the go-to guy and he enjoyed a secondary role. But you can't compare his production this season, where he averaged 15-16 minutes a game, to past years when he played 20 or 22.

In Game 6, when Sundin was perhaps the Canucks' best forward, he played 19:23.
"I felt the last month and a half I played as good as I did in Toronto the last couple of years there," the 38-year-old said.

Sundin missed the final two games of the St. Louis series with what he admits now was an injury to his knee ligaments. But he said with the nine days off between the first and second rounds, he felt fine by the time the Chicago series started.

"I knew it was going to be a challenge coming in at Christmas," he said. "And it certainly was."

Sundin, figures Kyle Wellwood, who's known him longer than any Canuck, was building toward the post-season.

"Watching him in the last few games of the playoffs, he really added a big punch to our team, I thought he was our best player,"Wellwood said. "After that much time off (nine months), I think when you're that age and you've played 1,700 NHL games, I think he was waiting for the playoffs, waiting for the time to step up. And he did step up when we needed him."

His longtime agent, J. P. Barry, said he has "no inkling as to what he will decide."

Pressed to sum up his own legacy, Sundin said he hopes to be remembered as an honest, hard-working guy, a player who strived to be the best he could be every game and every practice.

"Something like that, I guess. I love the game."

davetherave wrote:A picture is a worth a thousand words...how many millions was that again?

Is there a picture of him anywhere of that fool with the ballcap and glasses that smiles and nods like a jackass all the time? That idiot is the worst!

Well based on how long it takes Sundin to make a decision expect another off season, Pre season and part of a regular season listening to and reading about how Sundin might retire or he might sign here or there.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Well based on how long it takes Sundin to make a decision expect another off season, Pre season and part of a regular season listening to and reading about how Sundin might retire or he might sign here or there.

Diddle do I ever not want to go through that again. At least this time there will be less fanfare - because he sucked (that's right, sucked) for the Nucks.

504Heater wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Well based on how long it takes Sundin to make a decision expect another off season, Pre season and part of a regular season listening to and reading about how Sundin might retire or he might sign here or there.

Diddle do I ever not want to go through that again. At least this time there will be less fanfare - because he sucked (that's right, sucked) for the Nucks.

At least. for me anyway, there will be no Eklund this time around!

davetherave wrote:Gillis rolled the dice with a poker player...and lost.

There's some hockey karma at work there...

Let's see if the Karma follows him whereever he decides to go this time, hope Bryan Murray stays away from him.

His words seem to indicate he will retire:

"I think I've enjoyed playing hockey the last five years more than I have in my whole career," Sundin said. "You realize at the end of your career . . . you kind of know you're at the end.

"You know, it's such a great game we're part of. That's going to be the toughest part when you retire. There's such a, it's tough to describe, atmosphere in a playoff game like that."

davetherave wrote:His words seem to indicate he will retire:

"I think I've enjoyed playing hockey the last five years more than I have in my whole career," Sundin said. "You realize at the end of your career . . . you kind of know you're at the end.

"You know, it's such a great game we're part of. That's going to be the toughest part when you retire. There's such a, it's tough to describe, atmosphere in a playoff game like that."

His words are meaningless. He's a hypocrite.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

davetherave wrote:His words seem to indicate he will retire:

"I think I've enjoyed playing hockey the last five years more than I have in my whole career," Sundin said. "You realize at the end of your career . . . you kind of know you're at the end.

"You know, it's such a great game we're part of. That's going to be the toughest part when you retire. There's such a, it's tough to describe, atmosphere in a playoff game like that."

His words are meaningless. He's a hypocrite.

All the more reason for him to retire...

Lyle Richardson (Spector's Hockey) writes:

Sundin should pack it in, but if he doesn't he's not going to find as much interest in him this summer as there was a year ago.

davetherave wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

davetherave wrote:His words seem to indicate he will retire:

"I think I've enjoyed playing hockey the last five years more than I have in my whole career," Sundin said. "You realize at the end of your career . . . you kind of know you're at the end.

"You know, it's such a great game we're part of. That's going to be the toughest part when you retire. There's such a, it's tough to describe, atmosphere in a playoff game like that."

His words are meaningless. He's a hypocrite.

All the more reason for him to retire...

Lyle Richardson (Spector's Hockey) writes:

Sundin should pack it in, but if he doesn't he's not going to find as much interest in him this summer as there was a year ago.

The Leafs would take him (is anybody else having issues with the emoticons? sheesh, I can't post any of them)

SensFan71 wrote:

The Leafs would take him (is anybody else having issues with the emoticons? sheesh, I can't post any of them)

Yeah, we all are having problems, not sure why.