Mitch Marner exposes “dark times” from Toronto ahead of season opener with Vegas

Mitch Marner, who spent his first nine seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, signed an eight-year contract with them on July 1 and was then traded to the Vegas Golden Knights. And when you read the latest article from Dan Robson of the New York Times, it’s easy to tell the superstar forward is more than happy about.

Robson recalls everything Marner had to go through and the high expectations he had to put up with ever since he entered the hockey scene in the Greater Toronto area.

“At 4 years old, he was named an “athlete of the week” by Toronto’s City TV newscast. At 11, he was featured in a short CBC documentary focusing on hockey families, his father Paul’s intensity captured as he videotaped the action from the stands,” writes Dobson, before recalling when he first met Marner, whose family house had just gone up in flames.

“I stood outside the London Knights locker room with his mother, Bonnie, while she showed him a video of the blaze after he played the first game of the 2016 OHL Championship.

“Within an hour, before that story was posted, footage of Marner’s burning house led newscasts in Toronto.”

You know the rest of the story. Marner was always under pressure with the Maple Leafs, from the time he was pressured by former head coach Mike Babcock in a private meeting with the young Leafs forward to rank his teammates’ work ethic, then revealing the rankings to the team, to the ongoing playoffs struggles that everyone seemed to blame him for.

In Vegas, Marner, who is also a new father, is ready for a fresh start, looking almost to forget the past.

“It feels a lot lighter, in a way,” Marner said, of this new beginning. “There were some dark times in the last couple of years.”

Marner failed to win the Cup with the Maple Leafs, but sure feels like a winner as part of his new team in Vegas.