Toronto Maple Leafs
Maple Leafs’ Marner Blows Up At Muzzin, What Happened?
Yesterday at practice, Toronto Maple Leafs’ Jake Muzzin and Mitch Marner were involved in a collision. Temper flared. Are things OK?
As TSN’s Mark Masters reported late yesterday, Mitch Marner left Friday’s practice early after he had an accidental collision with a much-larger Jake Muzzin in front of the goal crease in which Joseph Woll had a ring-side seat for the accident. Then, the rest of the team witnessed the verbal blows.
What did Woll have to say about it? In a word, Woll reported that it was “Scary.”
The young goalie, who was an up-close-and-personal witness to the accidental impact in front of him, added “I just hope everyone’s OK. Two very important players on our team and Mitchy looks like he took the worse of it so I hope he’s good. He’s a battler.”
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Is Mitch Marner Alright?
According to Master’s report, Marner took a long time getting to his feet. He then consulted with Jon Geller – the Maple Leafs’ assistant athletic therapist – at the bench. Not long after, Marner left the ice for the dressing room.
In post-practice interviews with the media, head coach Sheldon Keefe was asked about Marner’s injury status and why Marner left the ice so quickly. Keefe called Marner’s leaving the ice “precautionary.”
He then added, “We’ll see how he is in the morning. It’s not looking like anything serious at this point. He’s going to travel and prepare to play.”
Keefe Made Light of the Psychological Impact of the Accident
It was clear that Marner was more than a bit upset about what had happened. After the accident, both Marner and Muzzin had words near the bench. As the tweeted video shows, the exchange was a little heated.
When Keefe was asked what his perspective of the impact was on the players getting along afterward, he implied that players were both friends and athletic competitors. While they might not be competing with each other directly, they are competitive by nature.
Keefe was asked if he checked in to make sure it is all good. His response suggested that he didn’t think the exchange amounted to much long-term.
Keefe seemed unconcerned and noted that he was “told that there was a little bit of an exchange right before I came out here, but especially with those two guys, I don’t worry about that kind of stuff at all.’
He added about the events of practice, “Things happen out there, whether it is in practice or games. Our team is really close and that kind of stuff will be shaken off really quickly.”
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