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Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mitch Marner (93) celebrates the win with goaltender Adin Hill (33) against the Toronto Maple Leafs.Nick Turchiaro/Reuters
Friday was 250 days since Mitch Marner last stepped foot in Scotiabank Arena. That night he and his teammates were booed as they trundled off the ice after an embarrassing 6-1 shellacking by the Florida Panthers in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Hockey’s most miserable multimillionaire returned on Friday for the first time to his longtime workplace since a messy divorce with the Maple Leafs last summer. Great to see you, Mitch! Well, not so much. He was booed when he skated out for warmups with his new club, the Vegas Golden Knights. And then again as he skated back to the visitors’ dressing room before the puck drop.
Marner didn’t play any role in the Golden Knights’ 6-3 victory over Toronto but got cuffed up pretty good by the crowd anyway. At the start of the third period, a small contingent of Toronto fans taunted him, chanting “We don’t need you” even though it pretty much looked like the home team did.
For nine years, Marner was always a good player in Toronto and at times, bordered on great. Fans loved the good Mitch, the guy who over nine seasons had 741 points in 657 regular-season games. But they became disconcerted with the bad Mitch, the fellow who became the invisible wingman during the postseason. In his last six years here, he played 18 times in Games 5, 6 and 7, and failed to score a goal and had just a half-dozen assists.
He entered Friday’s contest as Vegas’s second-leading scorer after Jack Eichel, and was still registering more than a point per game (52 in 49 outings). The three players Toronto brought in to fill his void – Matias Maccelli, Nicolas Roy and Dakota Joshua – have 47 points between them.
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Vegas Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner waves to the crowd during a tribute to him in his first game against his former team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, in Toronto on Friday.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
In the last few years Marner became known for petulance more than greatness, however: the self-absorbed behaviour, emotional outbursts, and occasional whining. Not a good look for him or the Maple Leafs.
Some fans turned out to support him on Friday. There were more than a few Marner jerseys in the crowd. He was cheered when a montage of Mitch moments was shown on the jumbo screen. But it fell shy of a love-in.
Marner was booed every time he touched the puck in the first period. The only time he was cheered, other than during the brief tribute, occurred when he skated back to the opposing team’s bench. Really great to see you, again.
On Wednesday, Joseph Woll, the Toronto goalie, said he hoped Marner wouldn’t get booed.
“I would hope it’s a warm welcome,” Woll said. “It’s unfortunate he is not with our group anymore.”
Marner is 28 now and was selected by the Maple Leafs with the fourth overall draft pick in 2015, after Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Dylan Strome. He has certainly made a mark in hockey – mostly favourable but sometimes not.
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Marner answers questions during a media availability in Toronto on Friday.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
He disliked the media with a passion in Toronto. “Piranhas,” he once called us.
Hours before his 50th game with the Golden Knights, Marner said he wasn’t sure if he would get a warm welcome or a cold shoulder.
“I’m not sure what it is going to be like,” Marner said. “My mindset is to go and play a hockey game and win. You have to focus on what’s in front of you. I am focused on what’s going on right now.
“I’m not trying to think about [Friday night] too much. I am going to try to enjoy it. It might be a weird, cool and special moment all in one.”
He had rough moments here. He was robbed of his Land Rover at gunpoint. After Toronto was eliminated from the playoffs in 2025 he said he had to hire private security because he had received death threats.
It’s hockey, as much as many people think it’s life and death. He will be remembered in Toronto – both for good and bad. On his return some fans came to praise him. More showed up to boo him.
