From CBC.ca:
Veteran centre Mats Sundin will reportedly not play for defending champion Sweden in the Olympic hockey tournament next year.
‘There will be no Olympics in Vancouver for me next year,’ Sundin was quoted as saying Sunday on the Swedish newspaper Expressen’s website. ‘I will not change my mind,’ Sundin told the newspaper. ‘I think it’s time that the next generation takes over. We have many good players.’
Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press
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It appears this is likely the end of the road for Mats Sundin. I imagined much like Mike Modano, he was sticking around to play in one last Olympics but if this declaration is accurate then I would imagine that he might retire as well. Is this it for the former #1 draft choice of the Quebec Nordiques back in 1989 who made his debut in 1990-91? If it is, here are some of his achievements (courtesy of Wikipedia) over the past 18 seasons:
NHL
Currently holds the NHL record for most regular season overtime goals (15, shared with Jaromír Jágr, Sergei Fedorov and Patrik Eliáš)
Ranked 20th all time in career goals (564) (Shared with Joe Nieuwendyk)
Ranked 32nd all time in career assists (785)
Ranked 25th all time in career points (1349)
First European hockey player to be drafted first overall in the NHL Entry Draft (1989 by the Quebec Nordiques)
Longest serving European captain of an NHL franchise in league history
First Swedish player to reach the 500 goal milestone
Most career games, points, goals and assists by a Swedish hockey player
Fastest overtime goal (6 seconds, tied with Alexander Ovechkin, Simon Gagne and David Legwand)
Only Swedish player to reach 1000 pointsOn November 27, 2007, in a game against the Montreal Canadiens, Sundin became the first player to score 400 goals for the Maple Leafs.
On October 11, 2007, in a game against the New York Islanders, Sundin passed Darryl Sittler as all time leader for career points and all-time goals for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Second player to record 20 goals in each of his first 16 seasons (shared with Marcel Dionne).
1st all-time in goals scored for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
1st all-time in points scored for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
2nd all-time in assists for the Toronto Maple Leafs
