Marner elaborates on ‘dark times’ in Toronto: ‘Mental health is super important to me’

The question that has been on the minds of many as the Vegas Golden Knights trekked through the Stanley Cup Playoffs has been answered

During the team’s end-of-season media availability on Tuesday, Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner was asked about the “dark times” comment he made after the team eliminated the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final.

“When I said that,” Marner explained. “I think mental health is a super important thing to me. It really is. I’ve been really trying to take care of my mental health, probably for the last five years or so. I’m really thankful that I had some unbelievable teammates around me in Toronto that I was able to talk to, express myself, like my family, my brother, my mom, dad, my wife.”

The “dark times” remark refers to his tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team Marner grew up cheering for and spent the first 9 years of his NHL career with. Despite being one of the most exciting players to watch and a fan-favorite to some, Marner was one of the most criticized players on the team, mostly due to his lack of production come the postseason.

“There was some really dark moments there that the thought of playing hockey was really tough, honestly, in a lot of ways. It was just a dark kind of vibe, dark hole in a way. And I’m very thankful that I had people around me, teammates that asked me how I was doing and knew that I was going through something that I could talk to. I just think it’s really important to always check in on your friends, your family, people around you, mental health.”

Marner noted that he used to see the things people would say about him on the internet, another portion of his everyday life that he has worked on avoiding over the past little while.

“I think it’s a thing that in this day of age now gets talked about, but I think still overlooked in a lot of ways. I think a lot of us are addicted to the social media aspect of things. You’ve seen a lot of comments, seen a lot of things about yourself. I think, you know, tried to check myself out of that in the last two or three years, really just tried to get off of it, tried to get away from it. I think that’s helped in a lot of ways.”

Regarding his mental health, Marner stated how important it is to have a strong support group around, especially those who truly love you.

“People want you in their life. You should never be afraid to talk about your emotions and talk about your fears and what you’re going through. So I’m super thankful that I had a lot of people in my life that I could talk to and share things.”

After a disastrous end to his time in Toronto, Marner has had a rebirth with the Golden Knights. In his first season of an eight-year contract, he was able to excel in a lesser role on a veteran team. In the playoffs, he really shone. In 22 games, Marner scored 10 goals and 19 assists for 29 points, leading all skaters by a wide margin. He was even a candidate to win the Conn Smythe Trophy. However, Vegas fell short of the ultimate goal, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games.

“The losing part sucks,” Marner said. “That’s probably going to stick with us all for a long time, if not life. I think through the ups and downs of the playoffs, just how close our team stayed with one another, how much trust, resilience just kept going through our group. I think there are parts where guys just never gave up on one another, and that’s something that you appreciate. What guys battled through in the playoffs to play through some of their injuries, that’s what you remember the most.”