The seven inductees were honored before the Maple Leafs and Red Wings game and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Monday.
The seven inductees were honored before the Maple Leafs and Red Wings game and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Monday.
It was a full-circle moment for Mitch Marner ahead of the Hall of Fame game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings.
The 27-year-old took the ceremonial faceoff for Toronto, scooping up the puck after it was dropped by Hall of Fame inductee and Red Wings legend, Pavel Datsyuk, who Marner watched a lot growing up.
"I just got a text in the morning saying I was doing it," Marner said following the game. "It was a really cool moment and something I'll cherish."
Datsyuk, Shea Weber and Jeremy Roenick, Women's players Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell, and builders David Poile and Colin Campbell will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday.
When it came to choosing who'd take the ceremonial faceoff from Toronto's side, there were three options: Marner, John Tavares, or Morgan Rielly. The three were assistant captains on Friday with Auston Matthews out for a second straight game due to an upper-body injury.
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube admitted after Toronto's 3-1 win over Detroit that even he didn't know who decided Marner would take the ceremonial draw. Nonetheless, the head coach said it was one of the perfect players to take the faceoff.
"His leadership is excellent. I mean, he goes out and leads by example with his play and he's a leader that plays both ends of the ice, in my opinion. He does a lot of good things defensively. He does as much defensively as he does offensively. He's getting points because he's doing things right the other way, and that's a big part of it," Berube said.
"I don't know why he was chose to take the faceoff, but probably because he was a huge fan of Datsyuk, who was obviously a great 200-foot player, two-way player. You don't win three Selkes for nothing."
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Marner scored a goal and an assist on Friday, putting him up to 18 points through 15 games this season. The power play continued their magic, scoring two of Toronto's three goals against Detroit.
From start to finish, it'll be a night to remember for those going into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and Marner, who still hopes to get a stick from Datsyuk by the end of this weekend.
"It was incredible. I mean, a lot of guys there that I grew up watching. I got to play against one of them. Pretty scary gentlemen out there that obviously hurt you with a lot of things. But it was really cool to be a part of that," the forward said.
"I was saying hopefully I can try to get a stick off Datsyuk this weekend. But it was really cool to be a part of something that I'll cherish for a long time and a really cool opportunity for me."