Mats Sundin 1-on-1: Why Auston Matthews And Maple Leafs’ Arizona Retreat Is Key To Building Playoff Culture

TEMPE, Ariz. — If there is one word that ends up defining his managerial tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs, it’s ‘brotherhood’.

That was the emphasis as the Senior Executive Advisor sat down with The Hockey News minutes before the Maple Leafs took the ice for practice at Mullett Arena on Saturday in Tempe, Arizona.

Sundin, in his own words, talked about why the Leafs’ team-bonding trip to Arizona was important for both the club and captain Auston Matthews. Twenty-three years ago, Sundin hosted his Maple Leafs teammates as a player at his home in the countryside of Sweden as camp took place in Stockholm. 

“It’s something that makes you proud to get the whole team over,” Sundin emphasized.

Getting ready for his first season in a managerial role, Sundin talked about why being a close team makes a difference beyond talent.

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THN: What were the two nights in Arizona like?

SUNDIN: It's been great. I mean, I think it's great for obviously for Auston to come back to his hometown and have the whole team over and host all of us, including coaches and everybody, play some golf. The team has been hanging. There's a lot of new faces on the team. That's been great. I think at the beginning of the season, we're trying to get some kind of a getaway this year; even though it's been a very short camp, you still want to do something. I thought it was really nice and a great idea to come down here for a few days and do this.

THN:  In 2003, when the Maple Leafs opened camp in Stockholm, you got to host your teammates. What did that do for you and what does that do for someone like Auston Matthews?

SUNDIN: Yeah, we were there in September. Well, it's something, I think, that makes you proud to get the whole team over. You can host them. I think we were at my cottage at the time, the whole team. It was so long ago we didn't even have cell phones back then with cameras. So you couldn't get any really good pictures, but it's very unique and I think if you're the captain for the Toronto Maple Leafs, it comes with a lot of responsibility, and it's something very special I think to be able to do that. It's not something that happens every year and for Auston to be able to do this this year, it's great.

THN: With all the new faces, what was it like even just getting together with management at John Chayka's house?

SUNDIN: Just like the management getting together. I'm sure it's the same for the staff as it is for the players. It was great. I mean, John has a house down here. Spent a lot of time during the year down here. It was great. Him and his wife hosted all the management. It was really nice. It was not far from the hotels. It was very convenient. It's the same thing there. I think coaches and management also are getting ready for regular season and all the work that lies ahead. Just like the players, there's a business side of it, but there's also a personal side of it that I think you need to back each other up and get to know each other. 

THN: You've emphasized team camaraderie since being back in your new role. Is that something you identified last year as lacking, or something that needed to be strengthened?

SUNDIN: I do believe if you want to be a competitive team, obviously you need good enough goaltending; you need good enough defense in terms of just talent and competence; you need good enough forwards to be able to be compete at the highest level in the league. But also this side of that. And I think hockey, I can't speak for other sports, but in hockey you are so dependent on each other in terms of what you do on the ice. It's a very fast game. There are always mistakes happening, miscues where you've got to help each other out. You've got to back each other up. It's a very physical game. So there's no doubt in my mind that all great teams need to create special bonds. Because it's a long, it's a marathon of a regular season. And then hopefully you go into the playoffs where it's a sprint, where things get even harder. So I do believe, you know, everybody talks about culture and creating that. And obviously, at the end of the day, it's people that win championships. So I do believe it's equally as important to actually have a good enough, obviously, talent and skill set on the ice and qualities you bring as a player. I do believe that the other stuff, the trust of each other and building those bonds are very important for a long NHL season and hopefully a long spring.

THN: The city of Toronto is a lot bigger since the last time you lived here. Players, depending on their situations, live in all different parts of it. Is it hard to get people together at home when people live around the city beyond their time at the rink?

SUNDIN: Toronto is becoming one of the biggest cities in North America. So, yeah, and Toronto is a market where you have millions of fans, the biggest fan base in hockey. And obviously that's great. There's a lot of people who love the Toronto Maple Leafs. But at the same time, you know, that comes with responsibility for players and attention, media coverage, a lot of stuff that goes on for the players in their everyday life that might not be in other markets. So there's adjustments there and I think players have to think about that. What we talked about at the end of the day Toronto Maple Leafs is a hockey club just like Carolina Hurricanes or Florida or some other places where but not the same kind of attention on a regular basis when training camp starts in Toronto there's a media coverage and attention the way it is for other teams maybe when they go into the playoffs and the Toronto players have to live with that for the full regular season. So that's also why I think emphasizing on, I think for management and everything, we try to make it as a normal hockey club as possible. The players, I think that's an important job for us. And again, the bonds the players have to build at the rink. And when they're on the road, like making a trip like this, especially if there's a lot of new faces on the team, I do believe it's very important for the kind of season.

THN: Time spent away together on the road has to be a big part of that, too?

SUNDIN: Yeah, exactly. And teams, you know, you spend from now on, you spend a lot of time with each other, you know, traveling. Obviously, once the season starts on Tuesday. We play a lot of games. I think October with the start of the season until end of October we're looking at 16 games. But in the overall, it's also, I think, stuff that, and sometimes I think in terms of creating the brotherhood and the camaraderie, sometimes when there's a big market and there's, I don't think the size of the city is an issue. I think that's great in the fan base, but you have to create the opportunities, I think, to do it and get the guys to come close.

THN: So in the few months that you've had this position, what, if anything has surprised you the most?

I don't think there is a lot of surprises. You know, we've been working a lot since May, John (Chayka) and me, since being hired. But in terms of the organization and the hockey that is being played, I think the game, obviously, you look at the players today, if you compare the game from when we played, you have a deeper all four lines. The pace of the game is up. The rules changed the stuff that were made. And they were made even at the end when I played, where it was hooking and holding and it was gone. And when we played, you might have had one or two lines were able to play at that level. Now all four lines, all six, the fans are great skaters. They move the puck well with great stick handling. But I would still argue that fundamentals of the game are your success in the NHL. You know, there's certain areas, and I think they might even be more important today. You know, the puck management decision-making on the ice are still critical. The physical part of the game is still very important. And as you go into the playoffs, the intensity goes up and all that. So I think many of the fundamentals of how you're trying to build a successful team is still there, even though the game itself is obviously evolving like all other sports.

THN: When the puck drops opening night, will you get the nerves in the same way as you may have as a player?

Yeah, you do. And we already had two exhibition games, split squad games at home. And you know it's never changed I think whether you're a player or I was a player and anyone who's been involved just like it's game time right and you're you're you get you get the nerves will knot in your stomach and I think that that's the way you should be if you're caring about the outcome of the games even though you're in the stands and can't really control it or impacted the way you did as a player.

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