Mitch Marner hears it from Maple Leafs fans in his first game against Toronto
Photo credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Toronto Maple Leafs fans follow Mitch Marner to Vegas and provide boos as a potential taste for Marner's return to Scotiabank Arena.
Mitch Marner was given boos in his first game back against his former team with the Vegas Golden Knights against Toronto.
If Marner had assumed he wouldn't hear any booing in his new city, he would have been mistaken as boos were heard from some Leafs fans who had made their way to Vegas for the game.
Marner has been faced with fan criticism from Leafs fans after leaving the team he grew up a fan of after nine season for Vegas, with reports suggesting that Marner had been planning a potential exit as early as during his final season in Toronto.
It will be no shock to anyone when Marner returns to Toronto next Friday with Vegas that he will be heavily booed and jeered by Leafs fans, a pariah as was to Vince Carter when he left the Toronto Raptors in a much more public and demanding exit than Marner, or John Tavares in Long Island with the New York Islanders, someone still booed to this day.
Will Mitch Marner ever regain support from Leafs fans?
There are two paths that Marner can go down to with Leafs fans, the Carter path or the Tavares path, and either are possible, but perhaps not both.
Leafs fans in the future may have Mitch Marner be their most hated player of all time, and booed every time he's on the ice, even as he's retired, as will likely be the case with Tavares with the Islanders.
On the other hand, Marner could one day be viewed closer to Vince Carter. Despite the messiest exit of the three, Carter in retirement has worked with Canadian basketball as amends for what he has described as immaturity on his part.
It would take humility from Marner and work within the community that could restore some of the past love from fans, but that won't happen until near the end of his career or after.
Still possible is a more chaotic option, and something Marner himself hasn't entirely ruled out, and that's potentially returning to the Leafs one day as a player.
For now, expect Marner to face one of the harshest blowbacks a former player could have, but it'll take time to see if one day wounds will heal.
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Mitch Marner shares an honest admission about facing the Maple Leafs for the first time since the trade
Mitch Marner shares an honest admission about facing the Maple Leafs for the first time since the trade