Mitch Marner Endured Fan Harassment That May Influence His Future With the Maple Leafs
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
NHL Insider Chris Johnston revealed that Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner dealt with some pretty egregious fan behavior that bordered on illegal.
For all the criticism levied towards the Maple Leafs for this past season's failures, it seems no one gets it more than Mitch Marner. While it can be expected for him to do more and finally show up, he's given everything he could for the team even if he came up short.
A pending free agent, Marner's time in Toronto is more than likely done for, not only due to the potential massive cost, but according to some new information it might be due to the Maple Leafs fans.
Chris Johnston Reveals Mitch Marner Dealt With Serious Harassment
NHL Insider Chris Johnston revealed on his podcast 'The CJ Show' that Marner was subject to a ton of fan backlash, and while some of it was warranted; some of it bordered on legitimate harassment and underlying threats.
First off, Johnston touched on Marner's first contract back in 2019 when he was delayed a bit, but got a deal done, that it was the catalyst for fans directing their anger towards a seemingly uncaring Marner:
If there's two things that have made Toronto not a place that Mitch Marner is all that eager to keep playing in, it would be his original contract negotiation back in 2019, which he and his camp extended into training camp.
He signed after a day or two of missing camp that year. But that's when the fans started to turn on him.
He signed after a day or two of missing camp that year. But that's when the fans started to turn on him.
If that was just the beginning, then what came next for Marner was something that could have gotten a few fans in some serious trouble (and for good reason).
He continues:
And, you know, Mitch gave interviews at that time, said it was the first time he'd ever been yelled at.
He was walking his dog once, and some guy that summer was yelling like, «Why don't you have a contract?»
And people started talking a lot about his dad and what role his dad may or may not have played in those negotiations.
Mitch kind of bristled at his family being brought into it. And then on top of that, in the six years that followed, when the playoff success wasn't there, you know, a lot of it was aimed his way.
And I will say, much of it justified, but I'm aware of a few incidents that Mitch had to deal with, and there's probably more that I don't know about, where it bordered on harassment.
He was walking his dog once, and some guy that summer was yelling like, «Why don't you have a contract?»
And people started talking a lot about his dad and what role his dad may or may not have played in those negotiations.
Mitch kind of bristled at his family being brought into it. And then on top of that, in the six years that followed, when the playoff success wasn't there, you know, a lot of it was aimed his way.
And I will say, much of it justified, but I'm aware of a few incidents that Mitch had to deal with, and there's probably more that I don't know about, where it bordered on harassment.
Look, we're not innocent in finding criticism with Marner, or coming down on him at times where he isn't a hero, but the types of things directed towards Marner after this last playoff series is downright disgusting.
Mitch's dad has always been the talk of the town with his contract, but first and foremost that's his father; as much as you may not like how he acts, trying to point to him as a reason why Marner is hesitant is a bit wild; he can provide consultation but Marner makes that final call regardless.
But it was towards the end of things where Johnston revealed there was even more nasty behavior from Leafs Nation:
And it was very uncomfortable for him and people he cares about. And, you know, there's even an incident after this game that we're not going to get into here because I don't want to give it any more life.
But, you know, people, it crossed the line a lot of times with some of the, you know, whatever we want to call them, the fanatics and the fan base, the crazies that, you know, people almost took it too personally, I think.
But, you know, people, it crossed the line a lot of times with some of the, you know, whatever we want to call them, the fanatics and the fan base, the crazies that, you know, people almost took it too personally, I think.
While we won't get into the logistics of the incident either, there's many other places or avenues that you're able to find that information; the fact remains that regardless of who in Marner's family is targeted, that type of behavior is inexcusable and should never be condoned.
This certainly should have a factor in whether or not Marner stays, and this latest failure clearly isn't sitting right with fans even days later; and would you blame him for leaving?
If you were one of the most passionate franchise's greatest players in recent memory, with so much immense pressure on your shoulders, consistently performing and still getting told the sports equivalent of go play in traffic?
You'd leave too.
So it's not too surprising now that all of these Marner interviews in hindsight where he solely mentioned he was just here to play hockey.
To him, he just wanted to play and get the heck out, and the only ones we can blame are the fans who have basically signed his ticket out of town.
| POLL | ||
MAI 21 | 1034 ANSWERS Mitch Marner Endured Fan Harassment That May Influence His Future With the Maple Leafs Do you think Mitch Marner gets too much criticism from fans? | ||
| Yes, he's doing the best he can! | 613 | 59.3 % |
| No, he deserves it all! | 421 | 40.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
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