Hail to the Bus Driver, Bus Driver Mats!

In my last post I suggested that Todd Gill would be great as the new Leafs head coach. It began as a funny idea, but the more I thought about it, the more it actually seemed to make sense. Well, in the same spirit, I now have a suggestion for who the next GM of the Leafs should be. Have you guessed? It's not Garth Snow, but you're close.

Why not just let Sundin be the general manager? After all, he is driving the bus. With Fletcher at his side to guide him, Sundin could hand-pick his coach, trade or buy out players that bug him, and surround himself with new talent that suits his abilities and his vision. The most important thing is that Mats feels comfortable.

"After I sit down and tell him what we have in mind- which isn't for public consumption now - I think a clear picture will emerge for him", Fletcher said. "I think he'll be more comfortable." Did I mention the best part about making Mats comfy? They can pay him 8-million to be the general manager, and then he can sign himself to play for the league minimum and then fill that cap space with the best free agent available. Meanwhile, he can give himself all kinds of ridiculous bonuses for achieving any random objective, and a no-trade clause that he'll never have to worry about having to ask himself to waive. It's win-win-win-win, which, I presume, is what Mats Sundin wants to do, right? And he wants to do it as a MapleLeaf until the day he dies, right? Mats Sundin is thinking about one word right now: "Legacy", and I don't mean Manny.

Said the captain-without-a-contract-to-be, "My dream and the best scenario would be if I ended my career as a Toronto MapleLeaf. That hasn't changed. But I'm not going to say that I'm not going to play anywhere else either, because I'm not really in control of that". Well? What are we waiting for? Let's make Mats' dream come true and give him that control. He practically begged for it. Most players' dream would be to win the Stanley Cup, but not Mats. His dream is about ending his career, and he wants to do it here! Not now, who knows when, but that's "The Dream".

I get the feeling (based on one lousy quote in the paper, nothing more) that Mats likes power, he likes to be the big man, he likes being in charge. That's why he drives a bus and not a sedan.

"I'd like to know what's going to happen in the general manager position, whether Cliff is going to be in charge this year or is there a new guy going to be coming in?" Sounds to me like Mats just put his name in the hat, and threw the hat into the ring, and set the ring on fire. Is there a new guy going to be coming in? That's just a formal way of saying, "hey Cliff, what the hell is going on?!" Watch out, New Guy!

Well, if Garth Snow can do it, and Brett Hull and Yzerman too, why not Mats? And why not now? If it doesn't work out after one year, oh well, call it "an experiment", move on, and let's see who's available after next season... Is that Brian Burke's wife on the phone?

You're driving the bus, Mats. Sign yourself to whatever contract you want, get comfortable, and take Leaf Nation on a ride to dreamland. Next stop: head of the table at the NHL Entry Draft!