As summer heads for fall, Mr. Gillis waits (and) waits for Mats call!

He’s counted those twenty million dollars over and over again, no doubt having stacked them up nice and neat in the corner of his office at GM Place, just waiting, oh so patiently to call the Loomis guys to come and pick them up.

Mike Gillis, who has tied up some twenty million dollars of Canuck cap and spend financing in a bold attempt to bring Mats Sundin west, must be wondering just what he has to do to get an answer.

Recent ruminations from Sundins’ agent suggest that the ponderous Swede is still trying to determine if or when he really is inclined to play this shinny game any more.

Sundin himself told the Toronto media that while he’s been working out lightly, he hasn’t really engaged in the more rigorous workouts that he normally would prior to another year of the NHL battles.

Where this all leaves Gillis, who it appears may not even be the first choice for Sundin, is the question that is making the rounds of the Vancouver sports bars and radio talk shows.

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Having spent the summer chasing Sundin, other free agents found other homes none of which will be a benefit to Vancouver’s real estate agents. Instead the Canucks seemed to feature a house cleaning of many of the old familiar names, while replacing them with those names that Canuck’s fans probably have heard of but certainly don’t set their hearts on fire, nor will open their pocketbooks for same day tickets.

While Canuck fans probably found the flash of the big offer intriguing in the early days, now that a few months have gone by and Mats hasn’t dropped by, many are figuring that perhaps Gillis should just pull the offer.

Gillis for his part says he's willing to play the waiting game should Sundin not come to Vancouver, ready to consider trades to help build the team, but only if the right deal comes around. Which means the game of patience will no doubt become a favourite around the Canucks office it seems.

It’s too late to harvest other free agents with that twenty million dollar pile, but holding out hope that Sundin may eventually make up his mind doesn’t seem like the kind of reassuring strategy that Canuck fans were hoping for after last years disappointing end to the season.

Gillis for his part says he's willing to play the waiting game should Sundin not come to Vancouver, ready to consider trades to help build the team, but only if the right deal comes around.

Which means the game of patience will no doubt become a favourite around the Canucks office it seems.

As they head into training camp, there are still way more questions than answers when it comes to whether the Canucks know what they are doing and whether they are anywhere closer to competing for the Stanley Cup than they have been over the last couple of years since the exile of Brian Burke and Pat Quinn before him.

Montreal Gazette--Habs president expects Sundin to decide soon
National Post-- Leafs willing to wait for Sundin
National Post-- The Silent Swede
CBC Sports-- Any training camp a 'long shot': Sundin
Vancouver Sun-- Gillis won't surrender on Sundin
Vancouver Province-- Sundin unlikely to play here

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From the HockeyNation portal, where much about the shinny game can be found.