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September 30: On this day in 1957, Paul Masnick was sold to the Leafs by the talent-laden Montreal Canadiens. Masnick had won a Cup with the Habs in 1953. He played the final 41 games of his NHL career with Toronto in 1957-58 but was unable to help the last place Leafs make the playoffs.
September 30: On this day in 1981, defenseman Bob Manno signed as a free agent with the defensively challenged Maple Leafs of the early 1980's. Manno put up good numbers with 50 points in 72 games and was a solid plus-5. He represented the Leafs along with Leaf captain Rick Vaive at the 34th All-Star game in February of 1982. The Leafs of 1981-82, however, had a discouraging record of 20-44-16 and missed the playoffs. Manno left to play his next season in Italy.
September 30: On this day in 1997, on the eve of the 1997-98 season opener, Mats Sundin was named the new team captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs and has remained team captain through 2008. He was the first non-Canadian born captain of the Leafs. Just like the six captains that have preceeded him in Toronto, Sundin has yet to lead his team to the final round of the playoffs, although his leadership qualities have rarely been seriously challenged. He has simply been, by far, the best Leaf player over the past 13 seasons.
September 30: On this day in 2009, Mats Sundin retires after nearly 20 seasons in NHL. Sundin told reporters in Stockholm on Wednesday that he reached the decision this fall. The 38-year-old Swede played for the Vancouver Canucks last season after spending most of his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sundin gave special thanks to the Maple Leafs organization and said that "Toronto is and will always be my second home." Sundin was one of Sweden's key players in the 2006 Turin Olympics, where Sweden beat Finland in the final. He recently ruled out playing for Sweden in next year's Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
