Maple Leafs fans won’t love who’s being tipped as Canada’s Olympic X-factor
Photo credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
For Toronto Maple Leafs fans, if they were hoping for a Team Canada medal they may need to put an old grudge aside and give Mitch Marner his dues.
While the Maple Leafs fans get a break from NHL action thanks to the Olympics, a lot of Canadian fans have swapped their blue and whites for red and whites as they look to cheer on Team Canada in their quest for gold.
That means they get to cheer on some of the best in the world and there's a very good shot that the Canadian squad can at least make a strong push to the finals and set up a heated rivalry against the United States.
Maple Leafs fans aren't going to love who could bring Canada the gold
But that also means they are going to need to put their past grudges aside considering that Mitch Marner is a key part of the lineup and according to TSN's Jamie McLennan -- he could be their X-Factor.
The affectionately named 'Noodles' appeared on TSN's OverDrive and explained his reasoning as to why he believes Marner could be the guy who puts Canada over the top this year and secures them the best chance for gold:
On paper apparently they have him down the lineup with Sid and Stone but that might be a guy.
You know how Cooper has found shifts for him, higher in the lineup; it might be 'Hey Marner you're in for Wilson or go play with McDavid because you had some magic at the 4 Nations.'
He might be a pivotal guy, someone asked me 'Who's your X-Factor?' I think it was today or yesterday and I said Mitch Marner might be because he's a guy who can go up and down in your lineup.
You know how Cooper has found shifts for him, higher in the lineup; it might be 'Hey Marner you're in for Wilson or go play with McDavid because you had some magic at the 4 Nations.'
He might be a pivotal guy, someone asked me 'Who's your X-Factor?' I think it was today or yesterday and I said Mitch Marner might be because he's a guy who can go up and down in your lineup.
While that may rub Maple Leafs the wrong way considering the last thing they want to do is cheer for Marner after all the turmoil and tension between himself and the team, but you can't deny how important he will be.
It's over. Stop worrying about Mitch Marner guys.
Like it or not, this is one of the best players in the world and if he gets a chance to find chemistry with of all people Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid? You can expect some serious offensive production.
What matters now is coming together as a country to cheer on those who represent you regardless of who it is. Brad Marchand is on there, and he deserves as much credit for being important to the makeup of the lineup as anyone.
This isn't the time for old grudges to come up, in fact, with Marner already making his return to Toronto and getting the whole comeback treatment, it feels like this is something we can all start to look past sooner than later.
It's time for everyone to instead rally around Team Canada and give Mitch Marner his dues. There's much bigger fish to fry than some petty squabbles -- coming home with a gold medal which is something all Canadians should be hoping for.
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