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Toronto Maple Leafs legend and Hockey Hall of Famer Mats Sundin joined TSN Radio 1050s Jim Tatti and Jeff ONeill on Friday to give his thoughts on the Olympic hockey tournament ahead of Sundays gold medal match-up between his native Sweden and Canada. While there is a lot that Sundin has liked in the tournament so far, the performance that Russia put forth against Finland in the quarterfinals left a bad taste in his mouth. "I was almost disgusted by their performance when they played Finland," said the 43-year-old who played 18 seasons in the NHL. "I look at the Finnish team and theyre missing key players. They dont have any of their big stars and now [Rask] is hurt and that Russian team is stacked with great players and to come out and have that performance they had in the quarterfinals. It was an absolutely heartless performance. "It was very disappointing and I dont think its very good for hockey either to have them out of their home tournament. You wonder when you have Putin in the stands on home ice and you cant get heart out of these guys? Whats going to bring it out? I dont know," he said. Sundin believes simply chalking up Russias crashing out of the tournament to the tremendous pressure the team was under is a bit of a cop-out. "Even though youre nervous or you have a lot of pressure built up, you can always still get into the motions and show that youre actually trying," said the former first-overall pick by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. "We didnt see anything of that in the quarterfinal." The captain of the gold medal-winning Swedish team in the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Sundin believes that its impossible to compare trying to capture a Stanley Cup to winning Olympic gold. "You cant even compare it to me," said Sundin. "I mean, the Stanley Cup is the biggest thing you can win playing for a club team in the world. Its over a [full] season and you try to get that, but saying that, international hockey and the Olympic Games go to a little bit of a higher level. You have all the absolute best players in the world competing. Its a short tournament, but its the absolute best, biggest thing you can win as a hockey player today where you face every countrys best players on the ice. And also, for any athlete, women or men, winning an Olympic medal is a little bit beyond just the sport of hockey, as well. You cant compare them, but obviously, you want to be part of both for sure." Sundin thinks that an unfamiliarity with the larger ice surface is one of the main reasons why Canadas offence has yet to really click in Sochi, despite the team being undefeated. "The last time the Olympics were around, the tournament was held on a smaller ice surface, an edge to the North American teams, no doubt," said Sundin. "The US and Canada were more comfortable. You look at the tournament right now, you can tell [Canada] is not as comfortable on the big ice surface...with the bigger ice surface, it becomes a little bit of a different game." The all-time Leafs leader in points acknowledges that an adjustment needs to be made for North American teams playing on the big international ice. "Just one big difference is when you come into an end, whether its your own end or youre in the offensive zone, youre further away from your opponent," explained the nine-time NHL All-Star. "Theres a little bit more room for a forward to slip away or get out of the way, out of position, so when that happens, and I think a North American feels that, you get a little more tentative and if youre tentative in hockey or you wait a little bit, then youre a step behind. I think thats the biggest thing." With NHL participation up in the air for the 2018 Olympic Games to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Sundin believes it would be a mistake for the league to stop sending its best to the tournament as its a perfect opportunity to put a spotlight on the sport. "For me, its a no-brainer," said Sundin. "I think youve got to look at the broader picture. For the game of hockey, and if you want the game to continue to grow, theres no better window than the Olympic Games, where you can get new fans watching our great game, people from different parts of the world. I dont really see a reason why not. I know it affects the game short term. Some guys get hurt (and) when they get back they might not perform as well. But if you look at a long term picture, I think its just too big of a window to promote our sport to not be part of it." As for Sundays clash between his home country and the country he spent 18 years playing in, Sundin gives the edge to Canada. "Theres no doubt that the Swedish team...are not where you would think to call them a gold medal favourite at this point [without] Henrik Sedin and Henrik Zetterberg, two of the best centremen we have playing right now," said Sundin. "For them to get to the finals here, to get by Finland...Ill hold Canada as the favourites to win the gold medal, but if you have [Henrik] Lundqvist playing an enormous game in the final, theres a shot. But its a long shot for sure." Orlando Scandrick Jersey . INJURIES - Cardinals 1B Matt Adams has been put on the DL with calf tightness, resulting in some lineup shifting, with Allen Craig moving from right field to first base, so that the Cardinals could bring up top prospect Oscar Taveras, who was the No. Sammy Watkins Jersey . - Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II says the NFL has told the team it will not be docked a pick in this years draft for coach Mike Tomlins foray onto the field against Baltimore last November. http://www.officialkansascitychiefsfootb...y-jersey-womens. Pistorius denied the allegation that he said to the close friend of the girlfriend he killed: "How can you sleep at night?" The accusation by Kim Myers provided a bizarre twist during the trial of the world-famous double-amputee Olympian, who is facing 25 years to life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder for shooting dead Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, at his home last year. Xavier Williams Jersey . - Titans quarterback Jake Locker will miss the rest of the season with a Lisfranc injury to his right foot, leaving Tennessee trying to rally with Ryan Fitzpatrick. Jarvis Jenkins Jersey .Y. - Through three quarters, the Brooklyn Nets could not shake the NBAs worst team.Is there a bigger myth in professional sports than the notion that coaches can’t do their jobs effectively if they happen to be in the final year of a contract? That somehow they’ll be seen as lame ducks by their players, who will simply tune them out and the team will tumble down the standings? This idea gets repeated so often it’s like it’s become part of the pro sports gospel. The problem is, there’s virtually no evidence to support it. Just consider some of the recent examples in Toronto alone. Start with Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey, who coached all of last season in the final year of his contract, as a so-called lame duck. What happened? Well, Casey’s team outperformed expectations more than any Toronto team in recent history. The Raptors were supposed to be terrible and a whole lot of people expected them to tank. And while their turnaround was based on a whole lot of different factors, Casey’s ability to pull it all together was the key. Did the players tune out Casey? Was his message having trouble getting through because the players saw him as dead man walking? It was quite the opposite, as the Raptors became one of the most stunning turnaround stories in recent NBA history. About the same time Casey was being rewarded for his efforts with a new contract last spring, the Leafs decided to tack an extra year onto the end of Randy Carlyle’s deal, which was set to expire aat the end of the 2014-15 season, even though his team has underperformed during the latter part of last season.dddddddddddd Presumably, the Leafs didnt want him to go into this season as a lame duck coach who would get tuned out by his players. We all know what happened. Carlyle, contract extension in place, couldn’t get through to his players and was fired last week. The example of former coach Ron Wilson is even more stark. At the start of the 2011-12 season, Wilson began the season entering the final year of his contract. To the surprise of many, the Leafs had a great start to the season – despite Wilson being a so-called lame duck – and he was rewarded with a contract extension on Christmas Day. Less than three months later, he was fired. Its not to suggest that getting an extension hurt Wilsons abiltiy to coach, but it sure didnt help it any, either. Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons has a contract that tacks an extra year onto his deal every January 1, ensuring he never has to go through a season as a lame duck manager. The only problem is the Blue Jays haven’t won anything under Gibbons. The strange thing is that when it comes to players, we usually anticipate the best out of them during a year when a contract is expiring, because we expect them to be giving their all in order to earn their next deal. Maybe it’s time we started to think of coaches the same way. 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