i'm gonna vote for my hometown fave-sundin.
Over the past few years Mats Sundin has ascended the ladder of respectability within the Toronto hockey scene. Things were not stacked in his favor when he arrived in 1994 as Wendel Clark was traded away to the Nordiques. He gained few fans when Douggie Gilmour was traded away under auspicions that not even Toronto was big enough for both of them. And when he became the first Swedish captain before the start of the 1997 there were some who hated him.
He went through some mediocre seasons but as the playoffs geared up last year, and a severely underacheiving Maple Leafs squad emerged from their post-Christmas confusion to take the eventual East champion Devils to seven games, Sundin emerged as the unequivocal leader of this club. This year he has only built on that premise. He has been the man on the Maple Leafs who has potted the big goal when the team needed it, to win the game when the fans were depending upon him. He is tied for second in goals in the league and is frequently the most dominant player when he steps on the ice. moreso than anyone else in the game this year he has led his team to success.
anyone concur or have a different proposition?
[This message has been edited by kobayashi (edited 03-23-2002).]