Mitch Marner spoke about “dark moments” in his hockey career after the Vegas Golden Knights completed a sweep of the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final on Tuesday. With his assist in a 2-1 win, the winger pushed his league-leading playoff total
Vegas was still celebrating the final whistle when Mitch Marner paused long enough to talk about the people who got him through the toughest parts of his hockey career.
After the Golden Knights completed a sweep of the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final on Tuesday, Marner praised his closest supporters—and didn’t pretend the road to this moment has been smooth.
“There’ve been some dark moments in my hockey career, really. Some tough moments and my parents have been beside me, my wife’s been beside me, so many friends and family,” Marner told Sportsnet’s Shawn McKenzie after Vegas’s playoff win.
He made it clear the love around him matters as much as the scoreboard now. “Got a lot of love for them, they keep me going, and obviously my son as well. Excited to share this with them right now and get to work and be ready to go (in the Stanley Cup Final).”
Marner’s production has been hard to ignore throughout these playoffs. Tuesday’s game ended 2-1, and Marner recorded an assist to push his league-leading point total to 21 points in 17 playoff games.
For Marner, that output comes with context that still stings. His run with the Toronto Maple Leafs never moved beyond the second round in his nine years with the team. where he finished with 63 points in 70 playoff games. In Toronto. the criticism landed on plenty of the same core players—and Marner felt the weight of that pressure even as he continued to deliver.
He was Toronto’s first-round pick (fourth overall) in 2015 and went on to help the London Knights win the Memorial Cup in 2016. Still, playoff success didn’t follow in the same way after he headed to Ontario and the Maple Leafs’ organization.
Like other members of Toronto’s core, Marner faced criticism for the Leafs’ inability to make a deep playoff run. When his contract ran out after last year, he opted not to re-sign with Toronto. He eventually went to the Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade.
Even now. with a sweep behind him and the Stanley Cup Final ahead. Marner framed what’s next as a shared effort. “You’ve got to have people around you that are amazing and love you,” Marner said. “That’s what my parents are to me, that’s what my wife is to me, my wife’s family. So many of my good buddies, people I’ve worked with through mental stuff. It’s never a one-man battle … It’s been a great road and hopefully this road keeps going.”.
The contrast is stark: Toronto’s nine-year second-round ceiling sits on one side. and a Golden Knights team that has now taken another decisive step sits on the other. Marner is headed for hockey’s biggest stage with his numbers rising—and with his message centered on the support that kept him standing through the dark moments.
Mitch Marner Vegas Golden Knights Colorado Avalanche Western Conference Final Stanley Cup Final Toronto Maple Leafs NHL playoffs sign-and-trade mental health support Memorial Cup