Though he left the Final empty-handed, watching the Carolina Hurricanes instead hoist the hardware, Marner took some time on Tuesday to talk about those “dark times” and his struggles in years past, particularly as it concerns his mental health.
“Mental health is a super important thing to me. It really is. I’ve been really trying to take care of my mental health, probably for the last five years or so. I’m really thankful that I’ve had some unbelievable teammates around me in Toronto that I was able to talk to. Express myself,” Marner said, according to Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Like I said, my family, my brother, my mom, dad, my wife. There was some really dark moments there that, you know, the thought of playing hockey was really tough in a lot of ways.
“Was just a dark kind of vibe. A dark hole, in a way. And I’m very thankful, like I said, that I had people around me — teammates — that asked me how I was doing and knew that (if I was) going through something, that I could talk to.”
Marner found an impressive rhythm in his first post-season run with the Golden Knights. In 22 playoff contests, the 29-year-old picked up 10 goals and 19 assists for a team-high 29 points, all while advancing to the first Stanley Cup Final of his 10-year career.
Particularly impressive, however, was how he flipped the script from his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he was often a target of criticism for his playoff productivity — or lack thereof. Marner had 63 points in 70 playoff games for the Leafs, who never advanced past the second round in his nine years with the team.
“I think a lot of us are addicted to the social media aspect of things. You’re seeing a lot of comments, a lot of things about yourself,” Marner said. “I think (I tried) to check myself out of that the last two or three years. Really, just try to get off it, try to get away from it. I think that’s helped in a lot of ways, but I don’t know. I think you always just gotta be able to talk about it too…
“People want you around, that’s what I always say. People want you in their life. You should never be afraid to talk about your emotions and talk about your fears and what you’re going through. So I’m super thankful I had a lot of people in my life that I could talk to and share things, and it made me better.”