Mats Sundin Week - 2006-07 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin Jersey

It's the final day of Mats Sundin Week here at Third String Goalie as the Toronto Maple Leafs will celebrate the career of former team captain Mats Sundin by adding his jersey #13 to the ranks of the numbers honored by the franchise tonight at the Air Canada Centre.

The Maple Leafs are unique in their policy of honoring a player's number, but allow those honored numbers to again be worn by future players, reserving outright number retirement for those whose careers end due to misfortune while a member of the Maple Leafs following an outstanding career while playing for Toronto.

In 2006-07, Sundin joined an exclusive club in fine style, as he became the 35th player and first Swede to reach the 500 goal mark, which he did in unbelievable style with a shorthanded, unassisted game winning goal in overtime to complete a hat trick! The goal gave the Maple Leafs a 5-4 win over the Calgary Flames in from of a delirious home crowd at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

Sundin celebrates his 500th NHL goal

"It's an achievement not many players have reached in this league and, once I'm retired, I'm going to appreciate it even more. It's a special way to get it. I'll remember this day throughout my whole life," Sundin said following the game.

Sundin also had an assist during the game to give him four points on the memorable night. The final goal was his 15th overtime goal of his career, the most in NHL history at the time and a record he still shares with Sergei Fedorov, Patrik Elias and Jaromir Jagr.

Even Flames captain Jarome Iginla had to admire Sundin on the night. "He was really going tonight. It was an amazing shot on that last goal. Not many people would have stopped that. He got a screen and he got it all. You don't want to call it a nice goal, but it was impressive," said Iginla.

Sundin wearing the Teammates for Kids patch in January of 2007

The 2007-08 season would prove to be Sundin's final season with the Maple Leafs and it was a memorable one for many reasons. On October 11th, Sundin broke the franchise record for most points with his 917th and, later in the same game, he registered his 390th goal which moved him into the franchise lead in that category as well, supplanting Darryl Sittler in both categories and earning first, second and third star of the game in the process.

He later became the first player in history to score 400 goals while with the club before later breaking an 83-year-old record for the longest home scoring streak with a point in his 15th consecutive game.

Somewhat controversially, he refused to waive his no trade clause late in the season, stating he did not want to be a rental player, and if he won the Stanley Cup, he wanted to do so over the course of an entire season. Staying with the club allowed him to lead the team in scoring that season for the 12th time in his 13 seasons with the Maple Leafs. He also holds the NHL record for the longest serving European born captain of an NHL franchise, at 10 seasons, and is one of only two players to record 20 goals in his first 17 NHL seasons.

He would play one final season in the NHL, signing a free agent contract after the first of the year, which allowed him to play in 41 games of the 2008-09 season, scoring 9 goals and 28 points to push his final career totals to 564 goals (2oth on the all-time list) and 785 assists (32nd all-time) for 1,349 points (27th all-time) in 1,346 games. He leads all Swedish players in all three categories as well as holding the record for the Most Games Played by a European born and trained forward.

Be certain to tune into tonight's broadcast of the Maple Leafs game versus the Montreal Canadians at 7 PM Eastern time on the NHL Network in the United States. In Canada, the game is part of Hockey Day in Canada, which begins at noon Eastern on the CBC, with the Maple Leafs game starting at 7 PM. In order to be on the safe side, we suggest tuning in to either network at 6:30 PM for the pre-game shows on the chance the ceremony is held prior to the puck drop at 7, rather than the ceremony beginning at 7 and pushing the start of the game back.

Today's featured jersey is a 2006-07 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey, from the season Sundin scored his 500th career goal and 900th point as a Maple Leaf in one of his most memorable games of Sundin's career.

This particular jersey features the Teammates for Kids patch, as worn by Mats Sundin and the Maple Leafs on January 6th, 2007. As part of the program, each player on every team would play one game with the patch on their jerseys, which would then be auctioned off for chairity to raise money for the Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids Foundation. This would result in over 600 game worn jerseys entering the market in a single go.

Today's featured video is Sundin scoring four points in the game on October 14th, 2006, concluding with him scoring his milestone 500th career goal shorthanded in overtime to complete his hat trick and defeat the Calgary Flames 5-4, sending the home crowd into euphoria.

Our next video has Sundin tying Rocket Richard on the all-time goal scoring list with his 544th NHL goal.

Here Sundin talks about playing in Toronto and having his number honored by the team.

Finally, the top ten Mats Sundin moments of his career, the game winning goals, being named team captain, breaking record and reaching milestones, all of which will be remembered tonight by the Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre.

Mats Sundin Week - 2005-06 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin Jersey

Mats Sundin Week continues here at Third String Goalie as the Toronto Maple Leafs are set to honor former captain Mats Sundin by adding his jersey #13 to the ranks of the numbers honored by the franchise this Saturday at the Air Canada Centre. The Maple Leafs are unique in their policy of honoring a player's number, but allow those honored numbers to again be worn by future players, reserving outright number retirement for those whose careers end due to misfortune while a member of the Maple Leafs following an outstanding career while playing for Toronto.

After the 2003-04 season, during which Sundin led the Maple Leafs in scoring for the ninth time in ten seasons, the 2004-05 NHL season was eventually cancelled due to the owners locking out the players. While 388 NHL players played in Europe during the season, with 75 of those in the Swedish Elitserien, the 33-year-old Sundin chose to sit out the year.

When play resumed in the 2005-06 season, Sundin had the misfortune of being struck in the eye with a puck seven minutes into the game on opening night, the first game back after the lockout, which also broke an orbital bone in his face, sidelining him for a month.

With his teammates given an unexpected 12 game head start on their captain, they could still not hold off the eager Swede once he returned to the ice. Benefitting from the new rules package which eliminated obstruction, Sundin matched his goal total from his last complete season while exceeding his number of assists to finish with 31 goals and 47 assists for 78 points, three more than in 2003-04 and ten more than any Maple Leaf that season. Had Sundin been able to compete in all 82 games that season, he was on pace for 91 points.

Today's featured jersey is a 2005-06 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey which features the 2005 Hall of Fame Game patch worn once on November 5, 2005 during Sundin's return from a month missed due to a broken orbital bone after being hit in the face with a puck on the opening night of the season. Sundin finished the night with a goal and an assist, his first points of the season, as the Maple Leafs defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3.

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 2005-06 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey which features the NHL Cares/Katrina Relief Fund patch worn during the first period of the Maple Leafs home opener October 5, 2005.

Unfortunately, Sundin was hit in the face by a puck seven minutes into the game, suffering a broken orbital bone, causing him to miss the next month of the season.

Today's video section we take a step back and see Sundin as a 13-year-old learning the game in his native Sweden.

Next, Sundin scores a pair of goals just 14 seconds apart, one on a penalty shot.

Finally, Sundin gets under the skin of a former Canadiens goaltender in this Nike commercial.

Mats Sundin Week - 2000-01 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin Jersey

Mats Sundin Week continues here at Third String Goalie as the Toronto Maple Leafs are set to honor former captain Mats Sundin by adding his jersey #13 to the ranks of the numbers honored by the franchise this Saturday at the Air Canada Centre. The Maple Leafs are unique in their policy of honoring a player's number, but allow those honored numbers to again be worn by future players, reserving outright number retirement for those whose careers end due to misfortune while a member of the Maple Leafs following an outstanding career while playing for Toronto.

In the 2002-03 season, Sundin continued his trademark durability and reliability, as he played in 75 of the Maple Leafs 82 games, keeping intact his streak of at least 73 games played every season of his NHL career, save the strike shortened 1994-95 season when he played in 47 games of the 48 game schedule.

Offensively, Sundin scored 41 goals, which tied him for the second highest of his career and his most in five seasons. He also added 39 assists for 80 total points, which would prove to be the 6th highest of his career. More significantly, Sundin became the first Swedish player in NHL history to reach 1,000 career points with a goal in a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on March 10, 2003 and followed that two weeks later by playing in his 1,000th career game, also a first for a Swede.

After having his streak of consecutive seasons leading Toronto in points when Alexander Mogilny topped Sundin 79 points to 72, he began a new streak by leading the Maple Leafs in points after scoring 31 goals and 44 assists for 75 points. Additionally, Sundin guided the Maple Leafs into the postseason for the sixth consecutive season. His 75 points marked the 12th consecutive full season of over 70 points for the Maple Leafs captain.

Today's featured jersey is a 2000-01 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey from the first occasion he wore the Hockey Fights Cancer patch, worn by each NHL team's captain for one game in January, and then auctioned off to raise money for charity as part of the NHL All-Star Game weekend festivities.

The program began in 2001 and continued to 2004, returning for one season in 2008, the tenth anniversary of the program.

This was the Maple Leafs home jersey in 2000-01 and the only time Sundin would wear the patch on this style jersey.

This was also the first season of the Maple Leafs new font for their numbers, now executed in three colors with the introduction of the silver trim, the first time since 1947-48 that a third color had appeared on a Maple Leafs jersey, as their sweaters in the mid-1940's had the team name printed in red inside the white leaf crest on their blue home sweaters of the day.

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 2002-03 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey. While Sundin wore the Maple Leafs white home jersey with the Hockey Fights Cancer patch for the first season of the captain's jersey program in 2001, he subsequently wore the team's throwback third jersey style in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Extra Bonus Jersey: Today's extra bonus jersey is a 2007-08 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey. The 2007-08 season saw the introduction of the Reebok Edge jerseys, which resulted in the suspension of the third jersey program for one year, resulting in Sundin wearing the Maple Leafs white jersey, which was now the style worn on the road by all NHL clubs since the 2003-04 season.

The new Reebok Edge jerseys were originally intended by Reebok to be worn tucked in, which explains the resulting in the lack of waist stripes. With plans for the jerseys to be tucked in quickly scrapped, the missing stripes were restored to the Maple Leafs jerseys three seasons later in 2010-11 when an effective redesign of their jerseys restored a classic retro look, which included such elements as a lace-up collar, the return of the retro styled leaf as a secondary shoulder logo, the dropping of the modern font for the player names in favor of a simple block font and one color numbers rather than the three color numbers used since 2000-01.

For the 10th Anniversary of the Hockey Fights Cancer program, the logo and jersey patches were no longer the previous NHL logo colors of black and orange, but now the silver and black of the new league logo, which debuted in 2005-06 when the NHL resumed play following the season missed due to the lockout.

Today's video selection is Sundin's 1,000th NHL point, scored with a goal in a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on March 30, 2003.

Mats Sundin Week - 1999-00 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin Jersey

Mats Sundin Week continues here at Third String Goalie as the Toronto Maple Leafs are set to honor former captain Mats Sundin by adding his jersey #13 to the ranks of the numbers honored by the franchise this Saturday at the Air Canada Centre. The Maple Leafs are unique in their policy of honoring a player's number, but allow those honored numbers to again be worn by future players, reserving outright number retirement for those whose careers end due to misfortune while a member of the Maple Leafs following an outstanding career while playing for Toronto.

The Maple Leafs moved into the new Air Canada Centre in January of 1999 and Sundin finished the season as the team's leading scorer the fifth consecutive season while extending his 30 goal streak to four consecutive seasons. Toronto immediately made the deepest playoff run since Sundin's arrival in Toronto in 1994. The Maple Leafs finished the regular season with a 45-30-7 record for 97 points and entered the playoffs as the fourth seed in the east, drawing the Philadelphia Flyers as their opponents. Once the Flyers were dispatched in six closely fought games, four of them by a single goal, one of those in overtime, Toronto advanced to face the Pittsburgh Penguins, another series which went six games, with three one goal games, two of which required overtime.

While Toronto fell in five games to the Buffalo Sabres, Sundin would finish the postseason with a career high 16 points from 8 goals and 8 assists in 17 games.

The 1999-00 season was a memorable one for the fans in Toronto, as the club played in the annual Hall of Fame Game on November 20, 1999 as part of the weekend celebrations at the Hockey Hall of Fame, mere blocks from the Air Canada Centre, which included the induction of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.

Sundin wearing the one game only Hall of Fame Game patch

above the season long NHL 2000 patch

Later in the season, the Maple Leafs hosted the 50th NHL All-Star Game. Along with Sundin being named to the World Team roster, he was joined by teammate Dmitry Yushkevich and goaltender Curtis Joseph also played in the game, only with Joseph being a part of the North American squad. At the conclusion of the season, Sundin kept intact his trio of streaks, 30 goals or more (with 32), 70 points or more (73) and leading the Maple Leafs in scoring for the sixth consecutive season.

Maple Leafs teammates Sundin and Joseph ended up on opposing teams

thanks to the World vs. North America format for the 2000 All-Star Game

After leading the club in scoring for the seventh consecutive season in 2000-01, the Maple Leafs would sweep their opening round series against inter-province rivals the Ottawa Senators before taking eventual cup finalists the New Jersey Devils to a full seven games. Sundin would play in 11 postseason games that year, scoring 6 times and totaling 13 points during a run of six consecutive playoff appearances for the Maple Leafs.

The Maple Leafs 2001-02 season was one of celebration, as the franchise was recognizing their 75th Anniversary as the Maple Leafs. The club began life in 1917 as the Toronto Hockey Club (or "Blueshirts"). They changed their name to the Toronto Arenas in 1918 and the St. Patricks following an ownership change in 1919. Conn Smythe purchased the team in February of 1927 and immediately changed the team name to the Toronto Maple Leafs on February 17, 1927 while the season was still in progress.

Sundin wearing the throwback Toronto St. Patricks jersey

At the conclusion of the 2001-02 season, Sundin led the Maple Leafs in scoring for the eighth consecutive season, thanks in part to the third 40 goal season of his career with 41. While Toronto would once again reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the right to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2002, Sundin would only see action in 8 of the Maple Leafs 20 playoff games due to an untimely wrist injury.

Today's featured jersey is a 1999-00 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey. This jersey features both the 2000 NHL All-Star Game patch to celebrate the Maple Leafs hosting of the 50th All-Star Game as well as the NHL 2000 patch worn by all the teams for the 1999-00 season.

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1999-00 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey as worn in the annual Hockey Hall of Fame game held each year in Toronto in conduction with that year's Hall of Fame Induction Weekend. What differentiates this jersey from the standard jerseys worn during the remainder of the regular season in the one game only special patch.

Extra Bonus Jersey: Our extra bonus jersey is a 2001-02 Toronto Maple Leafs throwback Toronto St. Patricks Mats Sundin jersey. In recognition of the franchise coming under the ownership of Smythe and changing their name to the Maple Leafs 75 years earlier, the club wore throwback Toronto St. Patricks jerseys, complete with brown pants, during a 3-3 tie against the Buffalo Sabres on March 2, 2002, a game in which Sundin scored two goals.

In today's video section, Sundin excites the home fans with a goal against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Such was the level of Sundin's popularity that he regularly appeared in TV commercials. Here's a classic one with Wayne Gretzky for McDonald's.

Not everyone was a fan of Sundin however.

Mats Sundin Week - 1997-98 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin Jersey

Mats Sundin Week continues here at Third String Goalie as the Toronto Maple Leafs are set to honor former captain Mats Sundin by adding his jersey #13 to the ranks of the numbers honored by the franchise this Saturday at the Air Canada Centre. The Maple Leafs are unique in their policy of honoring a player's number, but allow those honored numbers to again be worn by future players, reserving outright number retirement for those whose careers end due to misfortune while a member of the Maple Leafs following an outstanding career while playing for Toronto.

Sundin once again led the Maple Leafs in scoring during the 1997-98 season, his fourth consecutive season finishing atop the club in points.

The 1997-98 season saw Sundin participate in his third of seven consecutive NHL All-Star Games from 1996 to 2002. After missing the 2003 contest due to injury after being named to the game, he would be named to his eighth and final one in 2004.

During Sundin's first All-Star Game in 1996, he registered an assist for the Western Conference, something he would repeat in 1997.

He would tally another assist in the 1998 event for the World Team.

The 1999 contest would be a memorable one for Sundin, as he picked up one assist in the first period for the World Team before adding two more in the second, while the third period would see him score his first All-Star goal 2:57 into the third for a four point game.

After being held pointless in the 2000 All-Star Game in front of his home fans in Toronto, Sundin would get out of the gate quickly with two goals in the first period before adding an assist in both the second and third periods for another four point performance.

Sundin found himself on the opposite squad as Maple Leafs teammate Curtis Joseph

The 2002 edition of the All-Star Game saw Sundin pick up a pair of assists, including one on the game winning goal for the World Team.

After being forced to miss the 2003 game due to injury, Sundin's final All-Star Game in 2004 saw him contribute two assists for the victorious Eastern Conference.

The throwback style of 2004 was a long way from the futuristic jerseys of 2000

He would finish his All-Star career with eight appearances, three goals and 11 assists for 14 career points.

Today's featured jersey is a 1997-98 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey as worn during the 1998 NHL All-Star Game's SuperSkills competition.

While the 1996 and 1997 NHL All-Star Games were held in the traditional East vs. West format, the 1998 game in Vancouver would see a dramatic change in format, as this was also the first season of full scale NHL participation in the Olympic Games, which would take place just three weeks later in Japan.

To promote the international country vs. country competition of the Olympics, the new format for the All-Star Game was adopted, which saw players from Canada and the Untied States teamed up as "North America" taking on a squad of players who hailed from the rest of the world. While the players in the actual All-Star Game wore striking All-Star jerseys, adorned with patches to indicate not only which NHL club each player was a member of, each player's jersey also sported a flag patch identifying each player's particular nationality.

The unusual format had the result of dividing teammates, such as the case of Russian Pavel Bure of the host Vancouver Canucks playing for the World Team, while his Canadian teammate Mark Messier suited up for the North Americans!

What makes today's featured jersey unique, is that the players involved in that year's SuperSkills competition all wore their particular NHL team's jerseys only with the addition of the flag from their native country, the one and only time the flag patches would ever be worn on their NHL club team's jerseys.

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1998-99 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey as worn during the final season of play in Maple Leaf Gardens. Sundin led the club in scoring with 83 points that season, ten more than any other Maple Leaf and his fourth consecutive season leading the team in scoring.

In honor of their final games in Maple Leaf Gardens, the team introduced a beautiful new throwback alternate jersey which featured the "Memories and Dreams" patch to celebrate their long time home of 68 years.

Toronto would play their final game at Maple Leaf Gardens on February 13, 1999 before moving across downtown to their new home, the Air Canada Centre, on February 20th.

The throwback jersey was originally intended to be worn only in 1998-99, but proved so popular with the fans that it returned as the club's third jersey for the 2000-01 season. It would remain in use through the 2006-07 season before it was killed off by the change to the new Reebok Edge jerseys, only to return once again in, this time in Edge form, from 2008-09 to 2010-11. It would prove to be a very resilient style, with an eventual run of 13 years, although with a trio of breaks thrown in, the middle one being the 2004-05 season lost to the NHL lockout.

Today's video section begins with Sundin participating in the puck control relay in the 2002 Super Skills.

Next, some of the ceremony surrounding the last game at Maple Leaf Gardens, which includes Sundin taking part in the ceremonial opening faceoff along with former Maple Leaf Doug Gilmour, then with Chicago.

Finally, we take a look at the history of Maple Leaf Gardens.