Sportsnet
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Josh Rubin
March 4, 1998
News junkie Sundin finds Net is magnet
Contrary to popular opinion, there's more
to Mats Sundin's life lately than counting
his hard-earned millions.
These days, Sundin has joined the ranks of
that dreaded 1990s creature called the
Internet surfer. In fact, you could almost
consider the Maple Leaf captain an
information addict.
``I'm on once or twice every day, either
right when I get up in the morning or
later in the evening,'' said Sundin, who
cruises Swedish newspaper sites for the
latest news from back home. He also visits
the official site of Swedish Radio, which
has live hourly newscasts from the
national broadcaster.
Following the teams in the Swedish Elite
League is also one of Sundin's favourite
online pastimes. He pays particular
attention, of course, to the official site
of Djurgarden, the club that has sent him
and many other players (including Leaf
assistant GM Anders Hedberg) to the NHL.
And with his new contract making him
wealthier than some small countries,
Sundin acknowledged that he'll be looking
for online financial information as well.
``I follow my investments, but I'd like to
do a lot more of that,'' Sundin said.
He also stays in touch with agent Mike
Barnett via e-mail, and doesn't really do
much by fax any more.
That, said Sundin, is becoming far more
common.
``Two years ago, there would have been
maybe one or two guys on this whole team
who had computers. Now, probably at least
half of them do,'' said Sundin, who
credits Bob Goodenow and the NHL Players'
Association for the change.
``The NHLPA
has done a
really good
job of
educating
guys not to
just say `I'm
going to only
worry about
hockey and
let someone
take care of
the other
stuff,' and
computers are
a part of that,'' said Sundin.
``Guys are starting to realize an average
NHL career might be only 10 years, and
that hockey won't always be there for
them.''
Sundin also exchanges e-mail with other
NHLers such as Ulf Samuelsson and Niklas
Sundstrom.
Sundin isn't the only online Leaf. Fellow
Swedish sniper Freddie Modin also uses the
Internet to stay in touch with what's
happening back home by visiting newspaper
sites and exchanging e-mail with friends
and relatives.
For athletes who see the Internet as a
time-wasting toy, Modin has an easy
response.
``It's the same thing as buying a
newspaper. It really doesn't take much
time at all,'' said Modin, who isn't quite
as much of a nethead as Sundin.
``If we're gone for a while, I take my
laptop with me, but not if it's just for a
day,'' said Modin.
Modin doesn't expect to walk away from the
Internet any time soon, either.
``I'm still new at this. Maybe some day,
I'll get some different programs so I can
listen to the radio and other things,''
said Modin.
Leaf rookie Mike Johnson used the Internet
regularly when he was a student at Bowling
Green, but has been without it since
graduating last spring.
``Sure I miss it. It was a nice
convenience having the Internet to stay in
touch with people,'' said Johnson, whose
main online activity was school-related
e-mail.
``All of the professors would get in touch
with their students that way. They'd do it
so we knew about class assignment, or
exams or if they rescheduled classes,'' he
said.
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Josh Rubin can be reached on the Internet
at: sportsdesk@thestar.ca
The sites
Swedish Hockey
http://www.swehockey.ca
NHLPA
http://www.nhlpa.com
Swedish Newspapers
http://www.aftonbladet.se
Swedish Radio
http://www.sr.se
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