Dear reader, allow me to regale a story of a young boy from Markham, Ontario. Once upon a time, there was a young man named Mitch Marner who wanted to play for his favorite team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Growing up, he wanted to bring home a Stanley Cup for the beleaguered franchise, ending a decades-long drought that dated back to 1967.
And was he ever the star! He amassed 221 goals and 520 assists in nine seasons with the Original Six franchise. But there was one small problem: he couldn't get it done in the Stanley Cup playoffs with Toronto. In 70 career games with the Maple Leafs, the winger only scored 13 goals and 50 assists.
Everything fell apart and he departed for the Vegas Golden Knights, leaving numerous Maple Leafs fans jilted in the process. They felt like LeBron James had left Cleveland for South Beach and brought up the playoff failures.
However, he had a strong series against the Utah Mammoth, scoring two goals and five assists. His biggest game came on Friday, where he scored those two goals and one of those assists. Suddenly, the narrative shifted away from Marner's playoff failures to Toronto. The blame shifted entirely to the Maple Leafs' organization, which struggled to advance past the first round.
"This is what I hoped for when I came to Vegas. There's a lot more work to do though moving forward."Mitch Marner
Believe it or not, Marner hoped for playoff success with the Golden Knights. He got past the first round in his first season with Vegas. Yes, you read that right. His first season with Vegas saw him move past the first round. Talk about your change of scenery, eh? Maybe Mark Stone was right. Maybe it's a Toronto thing.
John Tortorella had more high marks about Mitch Marner and his confidence heading into the next round
Of course, this story also has a plot twist. When the team was struggling to maintain a playoff spot in March, they found a new head coach in John Tortorella. They saw the new coach unleash Marner in such a fashion that the critics were completely silenced on Friday.
But it goes deeper than that. During Friday's postgame press conference, Tortorella alluded to the differences Marner made away from the puck, whether it's on the penalty kill or covering his gaps.
"Mitchie has been doing a lot of the little things that people don’t understand. Some small, little plays, but he had some big plays tonight that everybody can see. It was really good for him, for his confidence, going into the next series."John Tortorella on Mitch Marner
Those plays won't get noticed on the scoresheet. But those are the plays that the haters should watch. The Mammoth only had one power play goal on 16 opportunities, getting constricted by sticks constantly flying around.
Sure, you can contribute that to the likes of Nic Dowd and Colton Sissons. But Marner did something impossible during that series: score two short-handed assists (including one on Brett Howden's game-winning goal). Setting up a vicious "power kill" reminded fans of the Reilly Smith-William Karlsson days, when the two Misfits would create countless short-handed chances in the earlier years.
These minor adjustments could lead to this story having a happy ending: the Stanley Cup. Wouldn't that be something? Seeing the jilted lovers who became the villains vanquished for good as Marner celebrates his first career Stanley Cup. Someone hit up Hollywood because that could win an Oscar.
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