Jacob Wilkinson was first in line for a reunion that was years in the making.
“I’m a big fan. About 20 years ago, Mats Sundin came and visited me when I had a procedure at Sick Kids Hospital. I became a life-long Leafs fan after that moment.”
Wilkinson was one of a few hundred people that packed Northgate Shopping Centre in North Bay on Friday evening as Hockey Hall of Famer and one of the most beloved Toronto Maple Leafs of all time Mats Sundin made an appearance to promote his book Home and Away.
“Last summer, I figured, if I wasn’t going to do this now, I was never going to happen,” said Sundin in a one-on-one interview with Baytoday, inside the Coles North Bay bookstore – who organized the event. “I’ve had a few requests over the years to write my memoirs and now that my kids are older and I can still remember parts of my childhood and important things in my career, it was good timing.”
Sundin says its also a way for his kids to get to experience his career retroactively.
“Our oldest daughter was born in 2012, which was three years after I retired and so, you know how kids are, they don’t really have respect for my career, they barely listen to me when I talk to them about it,” Sundin said laughing. “I figured if I can write a book now, maybe in three or five years they’ll read it and say ‘oh wow, our dad was a pretty cool guy he played hockey and had a good career.’”
Sundin says it was a lengthy but rewarding process to put the book together. “My co-writer Amy Stewart visited Sweden a couple of times last year and we would have phone calls or video calls, three to four times a week.”
He says one of the things that stuck out while writing the book is the globalization of the sport of hockey, especially with how popular the NHL has become outside of North America.
“When I was drafted first overall (In 1989 by the Quebec Nordiques), no one in Sweden knew what the NHL draft was,” says Sundin. “I remember picking up the papers and the writers were explaining the draft process and how it works to the people of Sweden. We really tried to paint that picture in the book and compare it to how much information is available these days.”
Not only was Sundin the first Swedish born player to go first overall in the NHL draft, he was the first player in the entire continent of Europe to be selected in that position. He made history again in 1997 when he became the first European player to be named a Captain of a NHL club, serving as the 16th captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“That meant a lot to me,” recalls Sundin. “When I came to Toronto and had my first press conference, I just said ‘oh my goodness, this is a different world than Quebec,’” he says, reflecting on the trade that brought him to Toronto, in exchange for the current captain and Maple Leafs icon Wendel Clark. “I realized I had big shoes to fill, and I knew I wasn’t the same player that Wendel was. He was rugged. He was good at scoring goals, but he also dropped the mitts. He was a classic Western Canada tough guy, and that wasn’t my game. I feel like it took me three or four years to really earn the respect from the Maple Leaf fans.”
And not only did he earn their respect, but the love and adoration of a fan base that still comes out in droves to see him up close and personal, like they did on Friday evening in North Bay. Fans like Sean Ruddy who says, “It’s something I never thought I’d see, considering he lives full time in Sweden, but this is a great opportunity for Leafs fans, and all NHL fans to see a true star in their hometown.”
Fans like Melissa Stevens, who wasn’t just in line for herself but for her mother-in-law. “She is an avid reader and a huge fan of the Maple Leafs and she wasn’t able to make it, so I told her I’d come and stand in line and get this book signed for her. It’s really cool that Sundin made North Bay one of his stops on this tour.”
And fans like Wilkinson, who wanted to say hello, and thank you for uplifting his spirits with a simple visit to Sick Kids 20 years ago.
“It’s amazing to see him here and I just had to take the opportunity to see him again, and get this photo signed.”
Wilkinson had a photo of Sundin celebrating a moment that many other people in line talked about as the “quintessential Sundin moment” when he scored his 500th career NHL goal. It was a short-handed, overtime game winning goal, that capped off a hat-trick, in Toronto against Calgary.
Sundin says, “It’s been a while since I retired and so doing this tour, it kind of throws me back into the days of when I played for the Leafs. It’s great and it shows again how passionate Leafs nation is throughout Ontario and I’m honored to be a part of the history of such a great franchise.”
