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There Will Be Boos: An ugly return to Toronto anticipated for Mitch Marner
Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Jan 22, 2026, 12:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 21, 2026, 22:58 EST
On Friday, Mitch Marner will make his long-anticipated return to Toronto, as the Vegas Golden Knights visit the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.
As Marner steps out onto the ice to face his boyhood team, a franchise he so dramatically exited this past summer, one thing is certain: there will be boos.
Last week, Marner and the Golden Knights took on the Leafs for the first time this season. While that game was in Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, boos could be heard clearly from the Leafs fans in the crowd every time Marner touched the puck. After that game, Marner addressed the noise from the crowd.
“They got a passionate fan base,” he said. “They travel well, they’ve always done that.”
That being said, he wasn’t yet too keen to envision if he would face the same jeers in Toronto, saying “we’ll get there when we get there.” Now one day out from his return, he’ll soon be forced to reckon with his legacy in Toronto, and it’s not hard to imagine that last Thursday’s crowd was a preview of what’s waiting for him at home.
Marner is no stranger to being booed at Scotiabank Arena. His last appearance at the venue came in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals last season, where he and his Leafs teammates were booed off the ice amidst a poor showing, bringing his tenure in Toronto to a crashing conclusion. It’s only fitting that it’s the same way he’ll be welcomed back in new colours.
When a former franchise cornerstone returns to face his team, it usually goes one of two ways. Earlier this week, Winnipeg Jets forward Jonathan Toews received a long ovation at Chicago’s United Center, as he faced off against his former Blackhawks team. It was a warm reception for a player that delivered three Stanley Cups to Chicago. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there’s a player like John Tavares, who is still booed by New York Islanders fans to this day for leaving the team in free agency nearly eight years ago.
For Marner, expect the latter over the former. Marner may be a local kid who gave a decade of his career to Toronto and finished as the franchise’s sixth-leading scorer, but ultimately that’s not what he’s remembered for. Fans don’t ask for much, but they expect either loyalty or results. In the end, Marner delivered neither, and now Toronto fans will show him just how they feel on Friday night.
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