Marner Thinks The Leafs Would Play Better If They Stayed Off Social Media
It looks like Magic Mitch is clicking unsubscribe this season. Following a stretch of losses on their recent California road trip, Toronto Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner's social media suggestion urged his teammates to keep calm and stay off their phones. But, while the hockey player feels the team would perform better if they unplugged, some fans do not share the same sentiment for Marner’s social media break.
It’s no secret that the internet can be a toxic place for all of us on occasion.
Especially if you’re Marner: the most mentioned player on Twitter, according to an earlier interview with Sportsnet where the winger revealed he tries to stay offline as much as possible.
Even Auston Matthews agrees that internet comments can have serious effects on your mental state.
But, in a hockey-crazed city like Toronto, we imagine the pressure is even higher.
“I know media is a big part in this city that we play in, and I think for our team it’s just about staying off that — the social media,” Marner revealed Friday, per TSN.
“People are just gonna start and get on us. We’re a unit in here. We’re a team. We know what to say to each other to get ourselves going.”
Almost immediately, some fans were quick to jump on the 22-year-old, getting in his Twitter mentions.
And a few of them joked that Marner's suggested media break was to keep his teammates from seeing how poorly he's played this season.
One Twitter-user even stated: "Mitch Marner can suck it up in regards to social media. this medium was at the heart of his silly contract negotiation."
Pretty, pretty harsh.
Mitch Marner has been reading social media and has advised his teammates to stay off of it in the hopes they don’t… https://t.co/Hqo4qcazO4— Daniel Heaps (@Daniel Heaps)1583608784.0
@Steve_Dangle When you watch an immature team, time moves slowly. We’re watching them hoping and praying they matur… https://t.co/ctMGWaEdeB— DJ Anthony (@DJ Anthony)1583601399.0
@THNKenCampbell I'd bench Marner simply for his post-game media scrum performance: "if we stay off social media we'll be fine." lol.— Karlo Berkovich (@Karlo Berkovich)1583598935.0
@koshtorontosun social media suggests Marner up his game level to somebody like Willy— shawn locke (@shawn locke)1583594376.0
Marner's first post on Instagram after the statement (an ad for Red Bull) was met with ridicule.
Though, as noted in his Sportsnet interview, he generally has someone else handle his accounts.
Of course, as always, the social reaction wasn't all bad. Plenty of more supportive fans understood and even championed the idea that a break from the 'gram is just what the Leafs need.
After all, we could all use a little less screen time on occasion, right?
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH I agree with Marner. No player should pay attention to social media. No player should give cre… https://t.co/Pf7uJR5hn5— Veronica 🌶😷 (@Veronica 🌶😷)1583647006.0
Mitch Marner suggests that #LeafsForever should stay off social media.... and I’m with him the Toronto media is way… https://t.co/URV9qUhSjZ— aBren Coombes (@aBren Coombes)1583607583.0
@Jude_Leafs @jakebeleafs @TheOakLeafs How much less heat would Marner be getting if he would have signed for $9.5M?… https://t.co/6QFliDsuUP— TC (@TC)1583784794.0
@leafsfannik be like Mitch Marner, stop using social media— Phiend (@Phiend)1583632614.0
marner saying they need to stay off social media is the smartest thing i’ve seen, leafs social media is a toxic neg… https://t.co/ztokCf4Dlq— periwinkle (@periwinkle)1583593912.0
@Dylan_Morrow @_marlanderthews Marner had it right when he said team needs to say off social media. Too much chatte… https://t.co/1xW4wOdWmU— Hypnotic Mirage (@Hypnotic Mirage)1583582379.0
"Marner saying they need to stay off social media is the smartest thing I've seen," said one supporter.
Only time will tell if Marner's teammates will follow through on his suggestion, and whether any social media blackout would lead to a successful playoff run.
Though if it does, maybe some fans will change their mind.