Mitch Marner ready to battle the nerves vs. Maple Leafs
Mitch Marner is enjoying the new chapter of his life as a Vegas Golden Knight, but it's hard not to think about all the wonderful, and stressful memories that came from his tenure as a Toronto Maple Leaf. On Thursday night in Vegas, Marner will suit up against a bunch of his former teammates for the very first time.
Marner met with the media ahead of the highly anticipated matchup, and admitted while he's uber excited to see how he does against his old bestie Auston Matthews, there's going to be a ton of nerves as he faces his former team for the very first time.
"Probably excitement, nerves," Marner told The Athletic's Jonas Siegel in December. "I've just gotta remind myself that it's just another hockey game and (to) go out there and just play hockey and don't worry about anything else. Just go out there and have fun with it, because that's when you're at your best."
Marner is off to a so-so start to his Golden Knights' career, with 47 points in 45 games. Vegas is leading the Pacific Division, and while he has been somewhat streaky in his first season, overall he's fit in nicely for the Golden Knights. Next Friday, Marner makes his way to Toronto for the first time, so Leafs Nation is getting a heavy dose of Marner coverage for a couple of weeks, after radio silence most of the last three months.
Marner had reportedly starting asking players at the 4 Nations Faceoff what it's like to play in Vegas, which didn't sit well with many of Leafs Nation. He was then on his way to sign a free-agent deal July 1st, and was eventually moved just days before to the Golden Knights in exchange for Nicolas Roy.
"I have no idea," said Marner, who grew up just outside Toronto. "I had a lot of great years there, a lot of fun. I'm very appreciative of that fan base and the love I got from them for the nine years I was there. We'll see what it's like."
