In my last three stories in this series, I’ve covered more of the league’s quieter stars in players like Sidney Crosby, Conor McDavid, and to some extent Leon Drystell. However, today I decided to take on a media player who doesn’t mind being the center of attention more often than not, in Mitch Marner.
Related: 7 great things about Leon Draisaitl
Although the 25-year-old has has been criticized Given some disappointing performances, there is no denying that he is one of the most talented NHL players. Moreover, he also has a fun-loving personality that makes him an easy-going guy. With that being said, here are 7 great things about the Toronto Maple Leafs star winger.
Mom missed his first goal in the National Hockey League
On October 15, 2016, Marner’s parents were present watching their son and his Maple Leafs teammates take on the Boston Bruins. During the first period of that game, Marner stormed into the area and fired a shot past Anton Khudobin for his NHL goal. Soon after, the camera panned to his parents in the crowd, and there was only one problem. While his father, Paul, was sitting there, his mother, Bonnie, was nowhere to be seen.
As it turns out, Bonnie went to the bathroom and missed the point completely. She told Sportsnet she heard the entire arena celebrate, and was told shortly after that it was her son who scored. Fortunately, I’ve seen plenty of goals from him since then.
Crazy hockey parents
From a young age, it was clear that Marner had the talent and drive it needed to try and become a professional hockey player. In fact, he said he was only four years old when he started to think he had a shot at making it to the NHL. Much of this reason may be due to how severely his parents, especially Paul, treated their son’s hockey.
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a YouTube video Featuring hockey dads, Paul among them, it has gotten a lot of attention in recent years. In the video, his father is shown working a lot at Marner, who was only 11 years old at the time. Many are divided on how they feel about the video, with some believing that his father instilled him with a high level of competitiveness, while others believe he was too harsh on his child.
Foliage fan grew up
If you weren’t already aware, Marner has been a hockey fan almost his entire life. Growing up in Markham, a city just 30 minutes from downtown Toronto, it was an easy choice for him to become a Leafs fan.
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Back in 2016, a feature aired about how Marner always hoped he would play for his hometown team at some point in his career. One can only imagine what a thrill it must have been for him to take fourth place overall again in the 2015 draft.
Memorial Cup Champion
After he was drafted, the Maple Leafs elected to send Marner back to the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) in what would be his final season in junior hockey. He was amazing all season, scoring 39 goals and 116 points in 57 regular season games. He was able to improve those numbers even further in the playoffs, scoring 16 goals and 44 points in just 18 games.
His play helped lead the Knights to the OHL championship and sent them to compete in the 2016 Memorial Cup. Playing on a dominant streak with both Matthew Tkachuk and Christian Dvorak, Marner and the Knights went on to win the Memorial Cup. Unsurprisingly, Marner was voted the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after amassing 14 points in just four games.
Scholarship from the University of Michigan
Around the same time he was selected 19th overall by the Knights in the OHL Draft, Marner received a scholarship offer from the University of Michigan. It was a tough decision for him at the time, UofM has produced some outstanding talent over the years, and boasts many alumni players now in the NHL such as Kyle Connor, Zack Werenki, Max Pacioretty, and many more.
In the end, Marner chose the OHL path, and it clearly paid off. He ended up playing three seasons with the Knights, two of which he broke the 100-point barrier in.
Co-owner of an esports company
Esports is something that has really started to develop, especially in recent years. Professional gamers are now being paid, often handsomely, and you’d be hard pressed to find many kids who don’t play video games. Admittedly, Marner is a huge fan of gaming, which is why he was in the summer of 2020 Join the Ownership Group For an esports company called OverActive Media.
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OverActive media’s ownership group includes more than 80 people, and while Marner is famous, he’s not the most famous person. Abel Tesfaye, better known by his stage name The Weeknd, is also involved with the company.
He started working in high school
During his time playing junior hockey in London, Marner wasn’t doing all the offense doing at an absurd pace. As it turns out, he himself, Dvorak, and another classmate of Owen MacDonald created a company called The MOD Feast.
Marner said MOD Feast served “bread and stuff” and Pizza Day was every Friday. All three often had regular customers and their orders were memorized. While he has since moved on to focus on his NHL career, perhaps his entrepreneurial side will come out again once his career is all said and done.
More stories to come
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, Marner is a more outgoing personality than some of the NHL’s superstar players. Because of this, fans can get a little more insight into the type of person who is being compared to some of the league’s other elite talents. As the years go by, we will likely learn more about him, which could lead to this article being updated years down the road.