Mats Sundin, a Montreal Canadiens player?
Had Bob Gainey and Cliff Fletcher had their way at the trade deadline, Sundin would now, healthy or not, be a member of Les Glorieux.
The deal was in Sundin's hands: All he had to do was give his blessing to be dealt, which he did not.
The agreed-to trade would have sent speedy winger Christopher Higgins to the Leafs, along with Montreal's first-, second- and third-round draft picks going to Toronto in exchange for the captain.
It was the second of two deals Fletcher had all but completed that got nixed by no-trade arrangements in players' contracts.
The first had Tomas Kaberle going to Philadelphia -- this was one was written up at the league office and awaiting approval -- in exchange for Jeff Carter and the Flyers' first-round pick.
In other words, the Leafs might have had three first-round picks, two young players of merit, the draft picks acquired in deals for Hal Gill, Chad Kilger and Wade Belak, all to go forward with. It would have been an excellent way for the incoming general manager to begin the rebuilding process.
THIS AND THAT
NHL head cop Colin Campbell has egg on his face. A Chris Simon stomp is worth 30 games of suspension time. A Chris Pronger stomp is only worth eight. Seems not all Chrises are created equal ... These are not your Montreal Canadiens anymore. The owner is American. The captain is a Finn. Their top two scorers are a Russian and a Czech ... This is crazy: Teenager Patrick Kane is second in scoring among Americans in the NHL. Only Scott Gomez has more points than the Chicago freshman ... Keep hearing that the St. Louis Blues are just the latest team to stop listening to the technocrat coach, Andy Murray ... If the Washington Capitals miss the playoffs by a point, and the Boston Bruins make it, blame Donald Brashear. He gift-wrapped two points for the Bruins in a game they had no business winning.
HEAR AND THERE
Sam Mitchell is beginning to remind me of the old Harry Neale line: "I'd rather be coach for the year than coach of the year." How long before Sam starts answering questions for the Raptors' inability to rebound, distribute the basketball or play any defence ... A year ago, the Raptors were the talk of the NBA. Now, they've done the MLSE thing and settled right into the middle of their league, not good enough to be taken seriously, not bad enough to get a decent draft pick, and definitely not getting better ... Every time I turn the television on this week and see the Brier, I remember this is among the reasons why Tracy McGrady didn't want to play here or live here anymore ... An ESPN list of the greatest college basketball players of all time had a Top 5 of Lew Alcindor, Oscar Robertson, Bill Walton, Bill Russell and Pete Maravich.
SCENE AND HEARD
Bad week for fans of Gilligan's Island. Mary Ann got busted for marijuana in Idaho. Ginger and The Professor were unavailable for comment ... Quietly sent packing this week, J.P. Ricciardi's first draft pick, Russ Adams. Ricciardi selected Adams in 2002, passing on the next three picks, Scott Kazmir, Nick Swisher and Cole Hamels -- all now accomplished big- league players. He made up for the pick a year later by choosing Aaron Hill ... And to think, I was hoping to get Billy Crystal on my fantasy team ... I don't think I'll ever stop missing the Montreal Expos ... The longer Devon White is out of baseball, the more I realize how special a centre fielder he was.
AND ANOTHER THING
If you put aside the two goals he scored in his first NHL game, one banked off his butt, Jiri Tlusty has managed three goals in 47 games are a rookie Leaf. And he's supposed to be an offensive player ... Winthrop is apparently going to the NCAA basketball tournament. Mortimer isn't ... One of the reasons the Saskatchewan Roughriders decided not to invest in quarterback Kerry Joseph was because they truly believed the coach, Kent Austin, may have been more responsible for the player's success than the player himself. Which now puts pressure on Argos offensive co-ordinator Steve Buratto to get the same kind of play out of the athletic Joseph ... And hey, whatever became of Jimmy Edwards?
