‘A weird, cool, special moment all in one’: Marner prepares to rip Band-Aid off in Toronto return
Half a year in Sin City and Mitch Marner’s poker face hasn’t improved even a little bit.
Okay, so he admitted it was weird to wake up in a hotel Friday morning before a game in his home city. He did concede that much to the group of reporters meeting him at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Toronto. Marner was doing so for the first time as a member of a road team visiting the Maple Leafs. Trippy.
But for the most part, during a muted and melancholy pre-game presser before his Vegas Golden Knights suited up at Scotiabank Arena Friday night, Marner seemed determined not to give too much. He was about to face off against the only NHL team he’d ever cheered for or played for across the first 28 years of his life. The emotions will run extremely high in the building tonight. But Marner maintained the same armor he wore for the majority of his nine seasons as a Leaf, keeping the media at arm’s length. He expressed that he didn’t need to repeat how he felt about the game because he already spoke about it in the summer. He’s determined “not to look back anymore,” and to follow advice that downplays the moment as much as possible:
“It’s another hockey game, to just go out there and play and try to do what you usually do to help win a hockey game,” Marner said.
Hey, that’s typical behavior from 95 percent of the NHL population, so we can’t begrudge it. Players are pre-wired to minimize the stakes of a hyped game at every turn. It thus wasn’t a massive surprise to hear Marner follow that script, nor was it for the Leafs to use terms like “It was normal. Nothing,” to describe the warmup, a 6-5 overtime thriller won by the Golden Knights last Thursday night at Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. Riiiight, it’s normal for fans of a player’s original team to trek across the continent and boo the player in his own building every time he touches the puck. The idea that the stakes aren’t real for Friday’s game is simply untrue given the context of Marner’s return to Scotiabank Arena.
There was the protracted, contentious contract negotiation leading up to the deal he signed as a restricted free agent in 2019, as meticulously recapped by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman earlier this week; the trade rumors that dogged Marner through last season as he navigated his UFA walk year; the rejected trade to the Carolina Hurricanes for Mikko Rantanen last winter when the Leafs asked Marner to waive; the reports surfacing that he and his family had already been searching for Vegas real estate months before last season ended. Most infamously, there was the posting of Marner’s home address on social media after the Leafs’ humiliating Game 7 home loss to the Florida Panthers in the second round of the 2024-25 Stanley Cup playoffs and the ensuing interview in which Marner described not feeling safe in his home city in the wake of the defeat. And, of course, there was the departure itself, a sign-and-trade in which Marner shipped off to Vegas with an eight-year, $96-million deal.
So, yeah, Friday’s game means a ton. Sorry, players. It’s the first time Marner will set foot on Scotiabank Arena ice since that final image of him, bone-dry hair, crashing out, yelling at his teammates to “wake the fuck up!” as their season and his final minutes living out his childhood dream ticked away. No more speculation. No more sleepless nights wondering how it’s going to go. January, 23, 2026 has finally arrived.
The Leafs will obviously pay tribute mid-game to their No. 6 scorer in franchise history, who was a beloved dressing room cheerleader and culture setter throughout his time with the team. And the fans are going to show extreme emotion, be that rabid booing (likely), a tug-of-war between booing and supportive cheers (possible) and raucous applause (fat chance). The players will not dictate the tone of Friday’s game. The fans will. We can expect a playoff atmosphere and decibel level, which will in turn affect the game at least early on. How will Marner process that – and the video tribute?
“I’m sure it’ll really hit once [the tribute] starts going,” Marner said. “I’m gonna try to enjoy it and then try to get back to hockey right away. But yeah, I don’t know, I haven’t thought of that too much. I’m trying not to. I know it’s gonna be a weird, cool, special moment, all in one.”
While Marner says he hasn’t heard from his former Leaf teammates at all this week – understandable given they are his opponents – he did reminisce on how John Tavares handled his frosty reception in 2018-19 when visiting the New York Islanders for the first time since departing them in free agency. Marner noted how calm Tavares was in dealing with the vitriol. But Tavares, in general, has a more stoic personality. Marner has always ridden the emotion of the game and what its fans and media have to say about him, good or bad, much more. And there’s no really telling what he’ll feel until he steps on the ice tonight.
Maybe that’s why Marner is simultaneously excited but also acknowledges tonight is a Band-Aid to rip off.
“I think there’s maybe both in those moments in a way,” Marner told Daily Faceoff. “Excited. [I’m] gonna go out there and play hockey and do my thing. I’m sure once the game is over, I’ll be excited just to have it over with and be done.”
As Marner said Friday, he’ll always cherish the surreality of cheering for Mats Sundin as a kid only to suit up and live out his fantasy for nine seasons. But that doesn’t mean the give or take 19,000 fans in attendance are going to celebrate it. Not for his first homecoming, but maybe someday years from now once the wounds have scabbed over.
“I’ve always appreciated them,” Marner said. “I love what they always brought, and always passionate, they let you know and that’s something that you appreciate about it.”
They will let him know Friday night indeed.
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