The Toronto Maple Leafs have not won a Stanley Cup or even been one in 59 years, but in the days before the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights face each other in the 2026 Cup Final, stories linked to the Blue and White and the City of Toronto have not been in short supply. This was nicely encapsulated on Monday’s Steve Dangle Podcast entitled “Everybody Hates Toronto”
1. Everyone’s favorite ex-Leaf Mitch Marner referenced “dark moments in his career” on the ice after getting to the Cup Final with his new club, the Vegas Golden Knights, last week. He then said at Media Day in Raleigh, NC, on Monday that he would talk about those moments in the near future (but it wasn’t clear if that was conditional on Vegas winning).
2. Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon during an interview on TSN 1050’s Overdrive: “For me, it’s a little bit about the guy’s ex-girlfriend moving away and doing well. At some point, you’ve got to get over it.”
3. Montreal GM Kent Hughes at his end-of-season media availability on Monday: “(There’s) a little bit of the narrative going into the Cup Final that there was that belief that certain players in Toronto underperformed in the playoffs, and one playoff season wouldn’t necessarily reflect another…I think Mitch Marner is sitting atop of the playoff scoring race, and it’s not just what he’s doing offensively, it’s how he’s contributing to their team being where they are.”
It is hilarious when NHL media or members of other clubs throughout North America refute or bristle at the assertion that Toronto is the center of the hockey universe, because despite the Leafs not playing a consequential game since January, all that one of their former players, a GM in the Western Conference, or a GM in their own division can talk about is Toronto.
First, with Marner, my belief is that 10 years from now, when his career is over or winding down, in spite of all of the potential accolades he achieves during that time, he will still be talking about his nine years in Toronto and how he was mistreated. It seems impossible for him not to dwell on his time with the Leafs when he is having success in his first season with Vegas.
It’s funny that the other members of the core (Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares, Morgan Rielly) do not seem to have the same issues with playing for the Leafs that Marner does, and the reason is that he is being disparaged in his hometown for disappearing when he was needed to show up. Nothing will change that, and he simply cannot accept it. It would be better for him to move on, but he seems incapable of doing so.
If Vegas wins, we will undoubtedly hear Marner regale us with his version of how he was slighted by the fans in Toronto. At this point, hearing him talk is sort of like the droning sound of the teacher in the Charlie Brown cartoons, just a bunch of incoherent noise.
Second, if you needed a general manager of an organization to become the villain of the league, Kelly McCrimmon is more than glad to step into that role. From holding interviews to say that he will not permit a coach he fired to get another job, to going onto Toronto radio to troll their fan base, McCrimmon seems to be comfortable with Vegas becoming the Oakland Raiders of the NHL, and that just seems to work for owner Bill Foley. One wonders how popular the Golden Knights organization is with the other 31 teams, but one wonders if they really care.
Lastly, it has to be pointed out that Hughes, before becoming Montreal GM, was an agent with Quartexx, the same agency as Mitch Marner’s representative, Darren Ferris. Bringing up the Leafs playoff failures and Marner’s success this season is surely just a coincidence…..right?
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