Should Mats Stay or Should Mats Go? to the tune of Should I Stay or Should I Go by the Clash

You know who bugs me? Those people getting up and leaving with two minutes left to go in tonight’s game. Did you see them? Bastards. Regardless of the fact that I am the type of person who stays until the very last credit at a movie before he leaves, you’re watching the Toronto Maple Leafs, at home, and you leave early? What the hell is wrong with you? Whether it’s for a pee, a ciggie or a Timmy’s…you really aren’t going to beat the traffic that much. You must be the same people who bang on the glass and will boo Mats in the future no matter what his decision.

You wanna know what really really bugs me about those people? That they didn’t even stay long enough to watch, what could very well be the last time, the last time, Mats Sundin skates back out onto the ice as a star of the game in a home uniform. Did you people hear me? That’s a possibility?
The last time/home uniform

italics…

Disgraceful.

My apologies right now for the tone of this piece…I must admit I have a canker sore that has made me about as ornery as Mats in this morning’s media scrum. I watched tonight’s game or more accurately I watched all of tonight’s game. Which is as rare as Westerns these days.
And as anyone who watched it will tell you it was one of those frustrating Maple Leaf games. Not frustrating that we won, frustrating because of the way we won. (You see the way I put the emphasis on the word way by using italics again?)
Frustrating because this is the first time in I can’t tell you how many games that I actually thought ‘It’s going in’ during a Maple Leaf rush. And unlike Moose, who has these thoughts all the time, I rarely think of Steen putting it in. And with a backhand as sweet as his new contract to boot. The signing of which isn’t just media savvy but hockey savvy as well. He might not be his father but you wanna know what separates the good teams from the great teams in the current NHL? The amount of Alex Steen’s you have on your team. I only hope that Brian Burke doesn’t know that. My fingers are crossed.

Not sure what feed you were watching but did you notice the little sneaky shots of Grandpa on the phone during the game. (If Cliff Fletcher were my grandpa I would be proud, I would tell him he always dressed good and was like catnip to the broads.) If you didn’t see it, 3 or 4 times during the game, they cut to shots of Cliff on the phone. Shaking his head yeah at one point. It made my stomach drop with excitement and despair. You know, the usual.

Did you see the media scrum this morning? I can’t tell you when I have ever seen Mats so terse. There was a few times there where I thought he was going to ask one of the reporters to step outside. Was it just me or did Mats not look like if he heard the phrase no trade clause one more time he was going to go Travis Bickle? Was that joke too wordy? And kinda not funny?

You wanna know why Mats is so pissed off? Because he doesn't want to go but knows that it would be good for the team. He loves this team as much as we do. I tell you what....whether Mats stays or goes he will always be the greatest Leaf ever.

Boom Goes the Dynamite

It’s Saturday, a little past 10 in the morning, my two and a half year old is sitting on my lap watching cartoons and pretending to play flute with his nose. It’s the first time in his lifetime (barring injury) that Mats Sundin may not be in the lineup for HNIC. Quite frankly that may as well be happening to all of us as well. I don’t want to remember a game where #13 wasn’t playing. In fact I don’t even like typing this now. This is speculation of course…and with the flu running rampant through the dressing room…Mats might not be out there for that reason. Either way I feel like I should be wearing a black armband.


At three days and counting…its getting to a point (for me) where I just want to see him go. I dated a women in the 90’s that this reminds me of. I knew she was leaving me and it was just a matter of when. Did I like sharing my bed with her, of course, but at that point (knowing it was done) the easiest thing was to say goodbye.

There is a Huey Lewis lyric that reminds me of both situations:
Cause she’s heart and soul. She’s got it all, hot loving every night.

To me not only does that lyric prove that the Back to the Future soundtrack isn’t as bad as you remember but that, once again, I am trying to mask my pain with humor.