Is Mitch Marner the most hated athlete in Toronto?
Friday night in Toronto brings the most anticipated regular season game that the Maple Leafs will have played in quite some time.
Toronto-area native and former Leafs star Mitch Marner returns to Scotiabank Arena with the Vegas Golden Knights for the first time since a sign-and-trade this past summer sent him to Vegas.
The years-long drama that was Marner’s tenure in Toronto, rife with contractual disputes and playoff disappointments, left a bitter taste in Leafs’ fans mouths, and it’s easy to anticipate a raucous negative reaction to Marner’s presence from the fans in attendance.
On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by Daily Faceoff Managing Editor and Senior Writer Matt Larkin to discuss Marner’s return and where he stands among Toronto’s sports villains.
Carter Hutton: Now for Mitch Marner, do you think this has legs in the sense of like, it’s going to stay this way for good? Or is this just going to be that initial one? The first game back is always the big one for any player, but is this now… is he one of the most hated players in Toronto? They had that bracket this summer, I don’t know if you saw that of most hated Toronto athletes, and they have Mitch Marner in there. You think about how much he actually did for this organization, or do you think this is just the initial blow, Matt?
Matt Larkin: I think it’s closer to the initial blow. I think the trajectory is going to be very Vince Carter-like. Early on, the emotions are still running high. He chose to leave, of course. He was threatened in terms of what he felt for his safety when his address was posted on social media. I think that interview kind of stung the fans because they felt like they were blamed for his departure, especially when the Leafs sort of went against him saying that they feel they protect their players well. I think that the fans are going to let him have it tonight. Even when the tribute happens, I think it’s going to be a lot of boos. I think it’s going to be 80-20, maybe 90-10 boos. Long term, this is still the number six scorer in franchise history.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…