'A Really Cool Thing To Celebrate With Them': Mitch Marner Reacts To 4 Nations Win With Canada And Bringing Success Back To Maple Leafs

Until Thursday, Mitch Marner hadn't celebrated a winning hockey moment for quite some time.

The 27-year-old returned to Toronto on Friday, a day after assisting on Team Canada's winning goal in overtime from Connor McDavid. The tournament was a roaring success for the fans and players with how invested everyone was when it came to winning.

"It was cool to celebrate with everyone," Marner said on Saturday, nearly 36 hours removed from the 4 Nations win. "Obviously, flick the switch pretty quickly, getting on a plane and coming back here and getting ready for a game."

The turnaround was rather quick. After celebrating with his Canadian teammates on Thursday night, he and Auston Matthews flew back to Toronto together on Friday.

Enemies for two weeks, but now teammates again.

"We were just talking about the tournament, how much fun it was, but how taxing it was also on the body and just how every game wasn't an easy one," Marner said of the plane ride with Matthews.

"It was pretty high-level competition. We just enjoyed the tournament. We talked about how much fun it was, talked about looking forward to get back to [Toronto] and trying to take on bigger things now."

Marner had two primary assists in the final game of the tournament. He also scored one goal in the event: the overtime winner against Sweden in Canada's opening game.

There were a lot of big moments that he was up for. But when asked on Saturday if that success would help him in the future, Marner noted that he's only focused on what's going on right now.

"When we get to that further point (the playoffs), we'll think about that," he said. "But for now, it's just take what you learn from that tournament and try to bring it here."

When the tournament was all over, though, his family — who's been with him every step of the way — was there to celebrate after defeating the United States in overtime.

"It was really special. It's been a long time since we've been able to celebrate something really special, and hockey-wise, winning," Marner said Saturday.

"It felt really cool just to have them around me with how much sacrifice and effort they put in throughout my whole life to get me to the point where I am today. It was really cool just to have them beside me and see the smiles and feel the emotion that they were feeling for me and the excitement. It was a really cool thing to celebrate with them after that."

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