Joseph Woll said something about Mitch Marner that Leafs fans don't want to hear

The Toronto Maple Leafs are hosting their former star Mitch Marner for the first time since he gave up on his childhood team and decided to go with the much-easier route and sign with the Vegas Golden Knights last summer.

There is almost certainly going to be a tsunami of boos and heckles from the Scotiabank Arena crowd but Maple Leafs netminder Joseph Woll doesn't really want that to happen. As other Leafs are preparing for just how loud the crowd is going to be and what a spectacle it will become, the 27-year-old goalie wants some nice and respectful hockey fans, for some reason.

Leafs' Joseph Woll is hoping for Mitch Marner to get a 'warm welcome'

“I would hope it’s a warm welcome. I know he has nothing but good memories here, and I think the fans have experienced a lot of good memories with him as well," Woll said Thursday. "So, he’s a great guy. It's unfortunate he's not with our group anymore. But, yeah, I think hockey is a place of respect, and I hope the fans pay him respect.”

Look, not to really say that what Woll said was a little naive or even a little silly, but it was a little naive and a little silly. To expect Leafs fans, who were just scorned by their star player and who have since learned that Marner was dreaming of playing elsewhere as far back as two years before he hit free agency

It is almost certainly Woll just paying zero attention to what Leafs fans are saying on social media and what the general vibe is around Marner's return. He is thinking it is some grand return for a player that played some very good hockey for the team, who will then be welcomed back with open arms because they made the decision for his family to move to Nevada of all places, and he will be received with boundless love and adoration.

Instead, it is going to be a hellfire of boos that might shock most players and might even be the loudest the arena has ever been in decades. Sorry, Joseph.