Fan In Van

Never Trust a Swede!

That’s right!

I’m pissed off as a hockey fan; this is exactly what is wrong with the so-called “Business of hockey”. Players who have no-trade clauses who, at all costs, refuse to waive their no-trade clause in order to improve their respective hockey club. And then there’s the players who wait until five months into the NHL’s regular season before deciding to come back.

I don’t care how you slice it. While you can place a ton of blame on the departed John Ferguson Jr. for offering no-trade clauses to Pavel Kubina, Bryan McCabe, Darcy Tucker, Tomas Kaberle and Mats Sundin, if Sundin indeed was a “team player” whom we all know wants to be a Maple Leaf for life, he would agree to waive his no-trade clause to help the Leafs franchise.

Sundin fed the media a bunch of nonsense that he doesn’t believe in playoff rentals, and that if he was to win a Stanley Cup with the Maple Leafs, he wants to do it playing from October to June and to be there for the entire journey. However, how does he expect to win a Cup when he’s with a floundering franchise who doesn’t have the assets to rebuild? Look at where the Leafs are; with Sundin, Kaberle et al among the ranks until April, the chances of the Leafs landing a Steven Stamkos are dwindling with every win. I think this is a terrible and SELFISH move by Sundin to not waive his no-trade clause.

As for that other Swede, who caught us by complete and utter surprise by signing with the Colorado Avalanche, Peter Forsberg’s word apparently means nothing. After telling the media that he would not be returning to the NHL this season, he backdoors all the interested teams by signing with the Colorado Avalanche.

Look, I’m not a Philadelphia Flyers fan, but if I were, I’d be steaming mad. Not only had Forsberg promised Simon Gagne to return to the Flyers organization, he had the audacity to say he would not return to the club or the NHL for the rest of the season. And then, here we are, a week later, told by the media that the very same Forsberg has suddenly had a change of heart and has decided to come back to where it all began for him.

Mats Sundin — A guy who is selfish and made a boneheaded move by refusing to waive his no-trade clause. Now his team will be mired in a rebuild stage that will take two to three years instead of one, all because a few guys on the Leafs refused to leave the “country club atmosphere”.

Peter Forsberg — Here’s another guy who cannot be trusted. He promised a return in Philadephia, and didn’t come back. He was greeted by Dave Nonis in the summer about a possible stint in Vancouver, and most likely didn’t call him back to say he had chosen Colorado. He was a MEDIA ATTENTION WHORE for five months, captivating the NHL audience for the entire duration of the season.

I don’t know about you, hockey fans, but I think I’ve lost a ton of respect for two players who are sure-fire Hall of Famers.