Sundin's Five Hundredth

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in Calgary tonight to take on the Flames, and as fans we'd be remiss if we didn't mention what happened the last time they met. Thanks to the NHL's wonky "unbalanced" schedule, the Leafs and the Flames haven't played each other since October 14, 2006. On that night, Mats Sundin made history.

The game itself would've been memorable even without Sundin's heroics. It was a seesaw affair from start to finish: the Leafs led 2-0, then the Flames led 3-2. The Leafs led 4-3, then the Flames tied it. And then, in the dying seconds of regulation, Darcy Tucker was given a hooking penalty. The game was headed for overtime; statistics don't favour teams who go into 4-on-3 overtime a man down. Enter Mats Sundin. The Leafs' captain already had two goals on the night when he stole the puck from Alex Tanguay, skated into the Calgary zone—and then, without so much as a second thought, wound up and sent an unstoppable shot past Miikka Kiprusoff. The Leafs had won, and Sundin had scored his five hundredth NHL goal.

The Air Canada Centre has a well-earned reputation for being quiet, but after Sundin scored (and as public address announcer Andy Frost delivered his all-time greatest call) the place was absolutely deafening. The rest of the Maple Leafs mauled their captain; Sundin basked in the applause, his smile visible from the upper bowl, then clapped back to the crowd when he was named the first star of the game. We still don't think Sundin was ever fully appreciated in Toronto, and if he does come back to the NHL it likely won't be as a Maple Leaf. But on October 14, 2006 Mats Sundin got his due—as well as ensured that his name will forever be etched in team lore.