The star forward described the experience as “surreal”, and credits family, friends and fans for moving past the incident.

Mitch Marner is stressing the importance of mental health for quickly moving past a scary situation when he and his fiancé — Stephanie LaChance — were the victims of a carjacking over two months ago.

“It was definitely a crazy day, lucky enough none of us were hurt,” Marner said. “That’s all that really matters in the end but it definitely does affect you mentally.”

Speaking at the Marner All-Star Invitational Event as part of his Marner Assist Foundation earlier this month, the Toronto Maple Leafs forward said the experience would come back to him in the weeks that followed when he stepped back behind the wheel. But the support system in place allowed him to talk out the situation.

“We were lucky to have people around us that we can talk to and have these stories to tell and get feedback on,” Marner said. “Definitely mental health is something important for me and my family and something that we really take seriously after that.” 

On May 16, Marner and LaChance were carjacked at gunpoint in Toronto’s west end. Marner described the situation as more “surreal” than scary while everything was going down.

“I don’t think the fear hits you until after,” Marner said. “Just the adrenaline rush is going through you so far that in that moment you’re just willing to do whatever the person asks for. They wanted the car keys and that was something I was willing to give for what was happening in that moment and what was pointed at me.”

The incident occurred just two days after Marner and the Maple Leafs were eliminated in the first round of the 2022 NHL playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“It puts things into perspective at times and just really happy it wasn’t anything more than what it was and he was ok,” Maple Leafs captain John Tavares said of his teammate. “He’s doing well and he’s got as much energy as I still remember he does every single day so he came out of it pretty good. Obviously a scary thing to happen.”

The Marner Assist Foundation provides support for various different charities including those that support mental health including the ‘Sink the Stigma’ event as part of the First Episode Mood & Anxiety Program and Lumenus. 

As talk about mental health increases, other Maple Leafs have also noticed the trend heading into a positive direction.

“It’s the world we live in and that stuff happens so to have resources and to be able to talk about situations that are unexpected or unfortunate like that, it makes it easier to come out of the other side of it,” Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Muzzin said. “The Leafs do a good job of providing that for us and it makes it a little bit easier to have someone to talk to or to be aware about that kind of stuff.”

The Sink the Stigma event takes place in London on Sept. 15, about one week before the Maple Leafs report for training camp ahead of the 2022-23 season. 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWYt6f1lsTQ[/embed]

Coming off a career campaign in which he set new career highs in goals (35) and points (97), Marner comes into a new season with a healthy outlook on life.

“We had a lot of people reach out to us about that situation and a lot of people helping us out and the love and support that we got throughout my friends, family,” Marner said. “Her (LaChance’s) friends, her family and just the fans of Toronto were unbelievable. We’re pretty lucky and grateful for it.”

Further Reading

Why the Maple Leafs Don’t Need to Force a Trade to Become Salary Cap Compliant

Calle Jarnkrok’s Contract Signals Return of Maple Leafs’ Pre-Pandemic Salary Cap Strategy

It’s Way Too Early to Worry About Auston Matthews’ Future with the Maple Leafs