Sundin staying put, Brad Richards on the block

With the NHL trade deadline a day away, two quick notes:

1.Mats Sundin will not waive his no-trade clause.

2.Brad Richards has been told that the Lightning are trying to unload him. He gave them a list of teams. So expect the former 2004 Conn Smythe winner to have a new team sometime over the next 24+ hours.

The recently turned 37 year-old Maple Leaf franchise center decided that he'd rather stay put in Toronto because he doesn't believe in rentals. Here's what Sundin had to say on the situation late last night through his agent J.P. Barry via the AP:

"I have always believed I would finish my career as a Toronto
Maple Leaf so the actual request was still a very difficult one for me to
contemplate. I have spoken to and listened to my family and those closest to me
about this issue. In the end, there is no right decision in a situation like
this one.”

“I cannot leave my teammates and join another NHL club at this time. I have
never believed in the concept of a rental player. It is my belief that winning the Stanley Cup is the greatest thing you can achieve in hockey but for me, in order to appreciate it you have to have been part of the entire journey and that
means October through June. I hope everyone will understand and respect my
decision.”

Not surprisingly, many of my colleagues are taking the future Hall of Famer to task for not putting his pride aside to help benefit a Leafs team which is going nowhere. I'm kind of mixed on this because part of me applauds Sundin for wanting to stay and finish his career in Toronto.

The soft spoken player whose 62 points pace the Original Six club can become an unrestricted free agent this summer which is why he's opened himself up to criticism. What if he leaves? Then the Leafs wouldn't get much of a return with just a compensatory draft pick (probably 2nd round).

Ultimately, it's his choice and a great player who's been in the league as long as he has earns the right to be respected.

So, I'm not going to kill him. Most of the blogging community probably wants to add Sundin to their roster and is a heck of a lot more selfish than they want to admit. So isn't it a tad hypocritical to bash Toronto's No.13?

It is what it is. Hockey fans just need to accept it and move on. Besides, there are other good players who will be moved including Richards, who has a lot more years left than Sundin.

If you want an alternative opinion on this and other NHL stuff, SportsFan Mag's own Greg Wyshynski dropped by and gave me a few minutes over at Hitting Back to discuss the locals, regular season and deadline.

See ya later.

Some extra Saturday stuff

With it being a very busy Saturday in the league, we figured we'd throw out some other extra stuff as well from other games:



-Toronto captain Mats Sundin's two goals in his team's 3-2 home loss to the Flyers gave him 20 for the season- making it the 17th consecutive season the 35 year-old Swedish pivot has scored at least 20 in his brilliant NHL career.



Sundin, who was taken first overall by the Quebec Nordiques in 1989 has tallied 408 of his 543 with the Maple Leafs since coming over in a trade for Wendel Clark. No.543 last night moved him past Stan Mikita into sole possession for 25th on the NHL's all-time goalscoring list.



Swedish Finisher A Magnificent Mats (Most Consecutive Seasons of at least 20 goals-or-more)



Gordie Howe 22 seasons

*Brendan Shanahan 18 seasons

Marcel Dionne 17 seasons

Brett Hull 17 seasons

Mats Sundin 17 seasons

+Jaromir Jagr 16 seasons



*still active needing five goals to reach 19 straight

+active and needs nine more for 17 in a row





-Emergency third string goalie Ty Conklin continued his amazing story stopping all 35 Panthers shots in backstopping the suddenly surging Pens to a 3-0 shutout- their sixth consecutive win.



The 30 year-old journeymen who's with his third organization in two years has been utterly brilliant since being recalled from AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. In six straight starts, he's allowed only eight goals. In fact, he's now seven-for-seven when he gets the nod in net for Pittsburgh, which trails first place New Jersey by just a point.



"Its nice, mostly because the team's been plying so well," Conklin told the Associated Press after yesterday's latest stellar performance. "Everything's a lot more fun when you win."



"When you have a goalie that can make the saves, he's giving you a chance to win, and this is what he's doing right now," Pens' coach Michel Therrien added.



It sure is a lot simpler when you've got a hot goalie. That it would come from such an unlikely source due to a high ankle sprain which has sidelined starter Marc-Andre Fleury makes it even more special for the Penguins.



Conk-ering All (Ty Conklin this season with Pens)



8 GP 7 GS Record: 7-0 2.00 GAA .939 Save Pct 2 SHO





-With another goal (No.32) plus two assists, Calgary captain Jarome Iginla remained red hot in leading his Flames to a 6-4 win over the NHL's worst team the LA Kings.



After a slow start under new coach Mike Keenan, the admirable 30 year-old power forward has turned it up carrying his team to wins in 11 of their last 14 to move up to 49 points- one fewer than division leader Vancouver.



In fact, when Iginla tallies, the Flames have a pretty good record this season improving to 16-4-3 after last night.



Iginla Lighting The Lamp With Regularity (A breakdown of Iginla's goalscoring this season)



October 12 GP 8 goals

November 14 GP 5 goals



Two month total 26 GP 13 goals



Since Dec. 1 17 GP 19 goals



Notes:



-Iginla has only failed to score a goal in five of the 17 games.

-The Calgary franchise has six multi-goal games during the stretch including a hat trick in a 9-6 win over Tampa Bay on Dec.13.

-Included was a five-game goalscoring streak from 12/11 - 12/18 in which he lit the lamp eight times.

-The goal last night made it three straight games with a goal (5 total). He's tallied eight times in the last six contests.



More Iginla (Goalscoring leaders for 2007-08 season)



Ilya Kovalchuk, Atl 33 goals

Jarome Iginla, Cgy 32 goals

Alexander Ovechkin, Wsh 32 goals





-With his OT winner in a 2-1 victory over the Islanders, Marek Svatos continued his bounce back season. After scoring only 15 times in 2006-07, the 25 year-old Avs' right wing already has one more goal than he did in 66 games last year.



Svatos has three goals in his last two games and six in his past seven.

Marek's Turnaround In 2007-08

2006-07 66 GP 15 goals

2007-08 38 GP 16 goals