Former Toronto Maple Leafs star winger Mitch Marner delivered a classic Olympic moment that will be remembered for a very long time, and unfortunately Leafs fans will have to hear about how great and clutch a player he was in that tournament-defining game.
After Canada bounced back from a 3-2 deficit thanks to Nick Suzuki, they headed to some 3-on-3 overtime action. Of course, it's during that time when players have much more space to work with, where Marner excels and just 82 seconds into the extra period the former Toronto star scored a very cool solo-effort goal to win it for Canada. Now, they're on to the semifinals after finally facing their first bit of adversity in this tournament.
While most of Canada cheered and celebrated not being embarrassed on the national stage, every single Leafs fan had to deal with the internal conflict thanks to Marner being the one to win it.
Did Leafs fans forgive Marner in that one Olympic moment?
I can't believe Mitch Marner showed up in a big game
— Jori Negin-Shecter (@JNeginShecter) February 18, 2026
Mitch Marner escapes the Leafs curse and becomes Mr Clutch. I actually do think Leafs are cursed.
— Ryan Wolstat (@WolstatSun) February 18, 2026
MITCH MARNER ALL IS FORGIVEN
— Faizal Khamisa (@FaizalKhamisa) February 18, 2026
Famously, Marner is the same player who decided that he didn't want to play for his hometown Maple Leafs anymore and instead of making good on being traded out so that Toronto was left in a healthy position without him in their lineup, just walked away in free agency. Now, the Leafs might not make the playoffs (for many more reasons than Marner leaving) and he's off playing hockey in a market where no one cares about the sport.
So, now the main thing that we all have to potentially come to grips with is Marner playing an even bigger role in earning Canada the gold medal this week. While it was nice to see him play well in the Blue and White, the extremely sour taste and unbridled hatred might not have been enough to be happy when he potted in that game-winner for his country.
It's going to be an extremely difficult pill to swallow. Maybe it's more what-ifs we can all ask ourselves, that this version of Marner is suddenly coming through after several years of playoff underperformances in Toronto -- or just that anyone relatively skilled in that position could do the same thing and he's not special at all.
We'll just try to work through this internal battle.