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The arena wasn’t exactly packed, but judging by the enthusiastic group of blue-and-white-clad fans snaking through the aisles and displays at Indigo in Sudbury on Saturday, Mats Sundin is still a draw. spell.

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However, to his children, ages 12, 10 and seven, the former Toronto Maple Leafs captain is just dad, a man whose last star on the NHL ice was years before they were born. However, they could one day be about to experience their father’s playing career when they pick up his recently published memoir, Home and Away.

“They actually don’t know anything about my hockey career – and they don’t care either,” Sundin laughed moments before his signing ceremony in Nickel City.

“Hopefully in three or five years they can read the book and say hey, our dad, he was a really good hockey player.”

Written with Amy Stuart, Home and Away was published by Simon and Schuster on October 22.

After fielding several requests for an autobiography in recent years, the now 53-year-old from Sollentuna, Sweden, felt the time had finally come to tell the story of his rise, the pursuit from his brother across a local lake near the family home to his international search. as the first draft pick of the Quebec Nordiques in 1989.

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In the pages of Home and Away, Sundin writes for the first time about his experience uprooting his life in Sweden to pursue a hockey career abroad. He

remembers his surprise at being picked No. 1, his successful transition to the NHL during his early years in Quebec, and his high-profile trade to Toronto for beloved captain Wendel Clark.

As the book’s title suggests, Sundin felt both at home and away during those early seasons in Toronto as he struggled to find acceptance in hockey’s hottest market. difficult in the world. He established himself as one of the game’s elite centerfielders en route to 18 years and 1,300 games played in the major leagues, primarily in Toronto, and earned a special place in fans’ hearts.

Even after being named captain in 1997, Sundin remained a soft-spoken star who chose to lead by example on the ice, believing that he, like anyone else, could never work harder than he did.

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“One of the things that really stood out to me when Amy Stuart and I did this was how different the world was in the ’80s, compared to today, and the way we grew up “, Sundin told the Sudbury Star. “The difficulties you face as a parent with your children, as it is for me now with my own children, it’s a completely different world with the Internet: the whole world is connected. If there is news in Canada or Sweden, the whole world knows it.

“You can follow hockey right now and kids in Sweden want to go to the National Hockey League and play. When I grew up, we knew almost nothing about it. We knew nothing about the draft or how the NHL worked.

A man who loved his family, Sundin gained even more appreciation as he wrote his memoirs about the safe and supportive environment in which he and his brothers grew up.

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“Sunday morning training at 7 a.m., we’re rolling, but no pressure,” he said. “When I look at my kids today, the pressure starts to lessen over time, in all sports, not just hockey. There’s a lot of pressure from coaches and all that. The most common question I get asked is what made you a good hockey player, how come you played hockey, and hopefully the reader will understand some things from it. You can’t force these things. It is the inner passion that must prevail.

“This is going to get serious soon. As children enter adolescence, it becomes more serious. There’s more practice, there’s more demand on whether you’re going to continue playing hockey.

In Home and Away, Sundin also seeks to give fans a better understanding of the relationship between a captain and coach, the ups and downs and the inner workings of the locker room of a team like the Leafs.

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“Those are the fundamental principles that we tried to build the book around,” he said. “I hope the reader enjoys it.”

Since retiring as a player in 2009, Sundin has made it a priority to stay in touch with people who have followed his career, like those who have filled bookstores during his current tour.

“Maybe because of my background, I realize how lucky I was to have my great passion, hockey, become my job and take me into the world,” said he declared. “The fans we met this week are the ones who support us and not only that, they pay for their tickets and come to the games and that connection has always been important to me.”

In 2012, he launched the Mats Sundin Fellowship, a foundation that supports an elite medical research exchange between the University of Toronto and Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm.

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“When I retired, it was important to me to give back to the Toronto community, which has given me and my family so much, and to Sweden, where I grew up,” Sundin said.

“The Toronto Maple Leafs are very active in the community. They go to SickKids, they go to different schools and I think that’s a very important role.

15 years after hanging up his skates and 16 years since he last wore the Maple Leafs logo, he remains amazed at the support the team enjoys, not only in the Greater Toronto Area, but across Ontario .

“I come back for a book tour 16 years later and we meet so many fans, there are Sundin jerseys and die-hard Maple Leafs fans,” he said with a smile. “It’s been humbling for me and it’s great to be here in Sudbury as well.”

To learn more about Home and Away, visit simonandschuster.ca.

[email protected]

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