Written by Chris Wassel | 30 August 2008

To be honest I hate the Mat Sundin situation. Like many fans I've either had enough of hearing about or I'm disappointed that a full grown man can't make decision as to what he wants to do with his life. No matter what side your on the story grows old very fast, yet here I am talking about it once again.

The fact still remains that Sundin has done nothing wrong, he is an unrestricted free agent. He played years upon years of hockey by everyone else's rules to earn the right to play hockey, or in this case not play hockey, by his rules. I have to respect that. If he isn't sure if he wants to play, so be it. Maybe he just wants to sit and watch what teams do well before he signs on with one, once again his right, maybe even a smart move if he really wants to win a Stanley Cup. This isn't a situation like the one the Ducks where in last year where a player handcuffed that team with a massive salary cap issue by his indecision. No club has potential cap problems by Sundin remaining silent. No club is frozen by the "what if" factor unless it's by their own free will in thinking we can't do anything until we know what Sundin is doing. That's a bad business plan all together and is no fault of any player who decides to take his time. If your team needs fixing, go fix it! Don't wait for one player to make you or break you, sadly for some fans out there, that's exactly what a few organizations have done.

There is one thing that does bother me in cases like this though. I've said that I believe it's any free agents right to control their own destiny, which it is. I do think that's it's very unfair however when a player goes through training camp, puts in a 55 games of hockey, only to be put in the press box to make room for a free agent that's signed for the playoff run. If it was my league, I'd make players qualify for the playoffs. That simply being, that aside from injury, you must have played in at least 41 regular season hockey games or there is no playoffs for you. You wouldn't think at the top of professional sports you could have ringers, but if this trend of UFA's signing at the tail end of seasons ever grows, Selanne and Forsberg last year, that's exactly the problem that is developing.

Then again, this is just a damned opinion.

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