Playing NHL hockey in Toronto is a front-row ticket to seeing the best and worst of human nature. At its best, the Maple Leafs experience for players is a window into the kindness of people who are enamored with what you can do on a sheet of ice. But at its worst, the Leafs experience also opens up a window into seeing how angry and vicious some people can be.
And on a recent episode of THN.com’s “The Big Show”, former NHL goalie Devan Dubnyk discussed the decision-making process behind former Maple Leafs star right winger Mitch Marner’s decision to leave the team this summer and sign with the Vegas Golden Knights.
According to Dubnyk, Marner’s unfortunate experience with Leafs fans’ frustration over the state of the team made it easy for a low-visibility team like the Golden Knights to swoop in and offer a star like Marner the chance to play for a Stanley Cup contender without having to get police protection from threatening fans who take fandom too far.
“When you now have a family and you have an option to go play for a really good other team, with a lot better weather and people who aren’t threatening your family and needing police presence outside your house – find me somebody who doesn’t pack up and go,” Dubnyk told THN editor-in-chef Ryan Kennedy and director of digital media Michael Traikos. “It's not the majority of fans (who take things too far), but when a line is crossed, it’s crossed…Toronto is its own beast, everybody knows that and it’s always been like that. So that’s not going to change. Some guys love it, some guys don’t…So it’s a unique individual that can go and excel (in Toronto).”
While it’s understandable why Dubnyk would side with the player – until you’re in the eye of the storm, you can’t predict what your reaction would be to having to get police involved with keeping your family safe – we’re still of the opinion that Marner should’ve found a way to stick it out in Toronto and reward the millions of Leafs fans who do treat players with the utmost respect.
To be sure, Marner wasn’t the first Leaf to feel the ire of Leafs fans. For older generations of Leafs fans, former Toronto star defenseman Larry Murphy was ostensibly chased out of town by a mob of fans who blamed Murphy for the team’s woes. Of course, Murphy went on to have a Hockey Hall-of-Fame career, so the joke was on Leafs fans, not Murphy.
Similarly, former Leafs sniper Phil Kessel also found out there was life after being a Leaf when he moved on to Pittsburgh and won the first two of his three Cup championships as a member of the Penguins. All the nasty remarks about Kessel’s conditioning proved to be wrong, and Kessel showed his true value over time.
But Marner was a different case study, in that he’s a hometown Toronto youngster who came into his Leafs career with full knowledge of the double-edged sword that is having a Leafs logo on your jersey. Somehow, Marner’s linemate and fellow star Auston Matthews has found a way to balance his privacy with being a Leafs icon. And for the first nine years of his Leafs career, Marner found a way to maintain a sense of balance.
Thus, just as it’s hard to blame Marner for his feelings about being a Leaf, it’s also hard to blame Leafs fans for feeling cheated by Marner’s exit. After all, if Marner knew he had one foot out the door this season, he should’ve done good by the franchise by accepting a trade out of town. That’s where the majority of fan resentment is grounded when it comes to Marner. In the end, the optics were crystal clear – Marner wanted all of the good things that come with being a Leaf, and when times got tough, he pulled the chute.
For better or worse, that’s going to be Marner’s legacy in Toronto. And he’s going to have to wear that for the rest of his life. Fans are going to remember not the good times, but the way the good times ended for him as a Leaf. And at a point in time where he could’ve doubled down on being a Leaf for life, Marner instead chose the path of least resistance and opted for the relative anonymity of Nevada.
He can lay the choice he’s made at the feet of a select group of hyper-aggressive Leafs fans all he wants, but in the end, Marner chose a life as an ex-Leaf. And while ex-NHLers like Dubnyk understand why Marner chose to exit from Leafs Nation, Leafs fans aren’t going to be nearly as empathetic and understanding.
For some people, Marner has made the cardinal sin of giving up on the team that put so much time, money and effort into him. And no goodwill tour or excuse-making on Marner’s behalf is going to change the bitterness Leafs fans will now regard him with.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.