Mats stays in the shadows

By STEVE SIMMONS -- Toronto Sun As Yanic Perreault stood for the opening faceoff, hoping to assume a most difficult mantle, the captain of the Maple Leafs wore a suit but no socks or shoes in a training room at the back of the Toronto dressing room.
He was all dressed up with no place to go. This is part of Mats Sundin's hockey life now.
An ultrasound machine. A cold tub. A compression bag. Acupuncture needles. And a television set.
Two hours of treatments every morning. Two hours of treatments every afternoon or evening.
"By the end of the day, you're more tired than when you're playing,'' said Sundin, the injured captain, sitting in an equipment room at the back of the dressing room. "Your day is longer. You have more to do.''
Last night, the Leafs began their journey of four to six weeks without their best player. This is a time of discovering for Toronto players and a time of discovery for Sundin.
In the first period, as the Leafs searched for an identity and failed to find one, Sundin watched on a television set while therapists worked feverishly on his fractured right ankle.
"I've never really watched before,'' Sundin said, explaining the process. "I'm kind of curious to see what it's like, to see how I react. I've never got to do this before.
"One thing, when you watch you get nervous. There's nothing you can do about it. Even when you're on the bench, you feel like you can affect the outcome. You know you're a part of it. Now, you feel kind of stranded.''
You have to feel your way around a dressing room when you get injured. You're part of the team but you're not. You're involved but you can't help anybody. You let your instincts dictate how you proceed.
Mats Sundin is new to all this. This is his 10th NHL season, his first serious injury. He is still finding his way from here to there. When the team meets before games, he stays out of the dressing room. When the team comes back at the end of the period, he keeps to himself in the trainer's room. When he talks to his teammates and his friends, he does so in private: He doesn't want to be overt in absentia.
He just wants to get back as quickly as possible.
First, the doctors told him six weeks. Then, they said four to six weeks. Now, Sundin is quietly predicting he will return within four weeks. "I think four, I want to think four.''
When Donovan Bailey ruptured his Achilles tendon a year ago September, there were all kinds of predictions that he wouldn't run again. But with a medical staff of therapists working around the clock, he was walking within months, and running credible races by the spring.
It is that kind of brisk recovery from a lesser injury that Sundin points toward. As Nikolai Antropov was showing all kinds of promise, Sundin's ankle still was being worked on in the second period last night. Still going through another treatment.
The ultrasound is supposed to speed up the healing of the bone by 50%. There is daily work to be done on strengthening, dealing with pressure, relieving pain through acupuncture. Everything that can be done is being done to bring Sundin back as quickly as possible.
And still, there is this remorseful sense of what could have been. Sundin's eyes say that much. He has started other seasons well before, but never one like this. Never one where he felt this sharp, this strong, this ready.
"I kind of bite my tongue a little bit," Sundin said. "I think about that. You have to think about that. I felt as good I've ever felt, I've never been this strong skating and playing.
"You can't help but think what might have been and can't help but try to maintain that feeling. Sometimes you have to work harder when you're hurt. I know that sounds funny, but it's true. You know, I guess I've been lucky. I played all these years and have never really been badly hurt.''
The game goes on and the treatment continues. Sundin doesn't want to watch from a corridor or from the press box. He doesn't want to be the centre of attention right now.
For now, his stage is a small room hidden at the back of the Leafs dressing room.
"I like it this way,'' he said. "I like watching on TV, you get to see the replays. I watch the game, I can get treatments. It's good, good as it is for now.''

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