In the immortal words of the glam metal band Cinderella, you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. And it seems like some members of the Toronto Maple Leafs' national media contingent are learning that lesson the hard way.
For nine years, Mitch Marner honed and perfected his craft in the self-proclaimed Center of the Hockey Universe. And for more than half that time, journalists like Jonas Siegel of The Athletic attempted to paint the former fourth-overall pick as a villain. The bad guy for pushing for and securing a payday befitting one of the top players in the NHL coming out of his RFA deal. And somehow also the bad guy for turning down an incredibly lucrative offer from the Maple Leafs to stay in Toronto. The bad guy for not magically turning into Matthew Tkachuk whenever the playoffs rolled around.
Now, it seems that Marner has ruffled feathers for a truly baffling reason: for having the nerve to perform well in the playoffs for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Mitch Marner is playing so well in the NHL playoffs that is had drawn ire from Toronto
It’s giving major 'jealous ex lurking on a former flame’s profile' energy, only to find out that they are somehow, someway, doing better in an environment that isn’t full of needless negativity and stone-cold judgment. Siegel recently took Marner to task for playing out of his mind in these playoffs. Something that he apparently never did in Toronto.
“The joy and freedom he exuded in racking up the sixth-most regular-season points in Leafs history disappeared, and in their place came a tighter, tenser version of Marner.” Can’t imagine why that would be, Jonas!
It turns out that surrounding a player like Marner with similarly talented, driven individuals in a winning environment where he actually feels supported has been good for him. Imagine submitting a column every day, only to have the largest fan base in the NHL turn around and tell you that it isn’t good enough, even though you know you did the best you could that afternoon. In case you are wondering what that feels like, Jonas, feel free to check the comments section of your most recent Marner takedown (what, do you think we forgot the others?), where even die-hard Maple Leafs fans are telling you that enough is enough.
Maple Leafs scribes still trying to turn Mitch Marner into a scapegoat while he's a Golden Knight
Top commenter “rcgalis” keenly points out that: “It’s laughable the resentment in this piece. Marner is 5th all-time in Maple Leafs history in playoff scoring and the leading playoff producer in the past decade. Marner was merely a scapegoat for the poorly constructed roster that hindered Toronto from being anything beyond a regular-season team.”
And that is where Siegel’s analysis of Marner has always, and continues to fall so unbelievably flat. In an offseason when the Maple Leafs hired John Chayka as their new general manager and are hot on the trail of more retread coaches like Jay Woodcroft or Peter Laviolette, Siegel aimed and fired on a player who doesn’t even call Canada his hockey home anymore.
While Auston Matthews’ struggles get hand-waved away as struggles due to injury and John Tavares gets a pass for, presumably, being a bit older than the rest of the team’s core, public opinion-shaping writers like Siegel continue to ask hard questions of just one Maple Leafs player. Except now, the only answers are coming in the form of Vegas Lights by Panic! At The Disco and silence from a prodigal son who never should have become one in the first place.
If Marner is a failure as a Maple Leaf due to a misguided perception of a lack of playoff success, then so is every other player who has worn the sweater since 1967. Using Stanley Cup banners as a measuring stick, Frank Mahovlich and Dave Keon were the last true great members of the organization. And maybe they were, but they didn’t have to deal with death threats directed toward them and their family on social media every time they played a bad game, either.
The echo chamber created by belabored coverage like Siegel’s is every bit as responsible for Marner's eventual departure, and could eventually lead to Matthews leaving as well. At some point, the journalists who cover the Maple Leafs for major publications need to hold themselves as accountable as they do the players who are out on the ice, giving their all every night for a bitter fan base that hasn’t seen winning playoff hockey since a man who used to have a trophy named after him was Prime Minister.
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