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Mats Sundin strode through a forest of television lights and cameras Thursday afternoon looking nothing like a man supposedly consumed with angst over his future.
This was no tormented Swede, ready for a starring role in one of Ingmar Bergman's sunny little flicks. Indeed, Sundin has probably never even heard of his gloomy countryman. When someone asked whether this must have been a lousy summer wrestling with the question of continuing his hockey career, the affable fellow practically shrugged.
"To be honest, it's been a pretty relaxing summer," Sundin said. "I tried not to think about it too much."
This was great news for Leaf Nation, which has agonized over whether Sundin would return to the Toronto Maple Leafs ever since he became a free agent on July 1. Now, he says no, the decision hasn't occupied too much of his time. Yeesh.
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Then again, the fans have to wonder just how much the Leafs really are on pins and needles about getting their captain back. On the other side of town, new head coach Ron Wilson was making a public appearance of his own and wondering about the quality of the team's leadership.
"Where was the leadership the last three years?" Wilson said.
"You can answer that question any way you want, whether it's the captains or the other veteran leaders. If we're missing that now, and we had it before, what the heck was wrong with the team for the last three years?"
Wilson also noted the Leafs' habit of coughing up third-period leads last season and said "that's a direct reflection on leadership." The Leafs have already shipped out two of last season's three alternate captains, Darcy Tucker and Bryan McCabe, leaving Tomas Kaberle as the lone survivor of the leadership group if Sundin decides not to come back.
But the coach did go on to say that if Sundin eventually decides to come back to the Leafs, he and the players would "greet him with open arms." In the meantime, Wilson said, it's a good thing Sundin is taking his time to make a decision because "he's only half-hearted into it," which brought the coach in agreement with his potential captain.
Sundin said Thursday his decision does not rest on physical matters. He still has a small tear in his labrum, the cartilage around his hip, but said that is not an issue. The main, and perhaps only, factor is if Sundin, at the age of 37, wants to step into the meat grinder of another NHL season.
"I think you need to feel that hunger, that drive we all have as players to come in and practice and train, to go through the grind you don't see in games," Sundin said. "The game itself is fun to play. I want to play hockey games until I can't skate any more."
In the big picture, though, Sundin added, "the game is when you play every other day, then practice, then you travel the other days. To find that commitment is the big thing."
By the time an athlete reaches his mid-30s, that commitment is far more consuming than it was 10 years earlier.
"When you're 24 years old, you jump on the ice, practise and you leave," Sundin said. "When you're my age, it takes hours to prepare for practice. I need to be there mentally to commit to the level I want to play."
It is only when he reaches that point that he will consider where he will play. Until then, he hopes Leafs fans will be patient.
"I played 17 years in this league," Sundin said. "I just hope people will respect that I'm not ready to make a decision. I feel I've earned that right to make the decision when I feel it's good for myself."
Sundin could not say when his decision will come. All he could say was it will not likely be until after the regular season starts.
But if the fans want to see him on skates, perhaps for the last time, then Sundin will be playing in a charity celebrity game at the Air Canada Centre tonight. Who knows, maybe deking Tim Robbins out of his jockstrap will ignite the old fire again.
