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Insider Claims Marner Fragile, Using Defense Mechanism to Cope

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman theorized the reasoning behind Mitch Marner’s game comments, hinting the forward is fragile.

Elliotte Friedman was a guest and joined Matt Marchese and Mike Futa on The Fan Hockey Show to discuss Mitch Marner‘s comments after an ugly loss to the Vancouver Canucks. Alone on an island when he assessed how the Leafs played, Marner said he “liked” the team’s game. He added, “I thought we played well, I really did.” He was the only Leaf to say anything positive, others realizing there wasn’t much positive to take from a 3-0 loss.

Friedman has a theory as to why Marner is taking a position everyone knows isn’t accurate.



Calling it a personal defense mechanism, Friedman suggested Marner doesn’t know how else to handle the negativity that comes when the Leafs play a lousy game. Choosing to make up the positives instead of admitting the negatives and just calling it a poor effort, Marner tries to praise the club and not pour gasoline on the fire.

Does Marner Have Fragile Confidence?

Friedman compared Marner’s take on the way he thinks about a game to someone who has fragile confidence. The NHL insider told an old golf story about how Canadian Mike Weir would approach poor play and contended that a sports psychologist called it a defense mechanism by some athletes. Friedman noted, “I recognize it is the approach of people.”

facts about Maple Leafs Mitch Marner
Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs plans to play out 2024-25 NHL season

He added:

“When I hear Marner say that, I think I think, also like you guys said, there’s always kind of like a fan versus Marner sometimes battle about some of the stuff he says, and I just think it is his way of not pouring gasoline on the fire and his own personal defense mechanism. So when I see those quotes, I kind of put it in that context as opposed to thinking it’s a big deal.”

Some fans would prefer Marner just admit the team, himself included, just had a bad game. Acknowledging the issue instead of ignoring it or sugarcoating a problem irks fans. If the team doesn’t recognize their own issues, how can they fix them?

Next: Maple Leafs Linked in Long-Shot Roster Players Trade with Flyers

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