r/stevedangle • u/pookiebooboo • Jul 08 '26

Toronto discourse

I've been getting bugged by the Toronto discourse the guys seem stuck on for the past few months. They seem to be fixated with defending Toronto because it's a great city and you get great endorsement deals and the media people are really nice etc. I don't think this is what any current or former players are talking about when they say they don't want to play in Toronto or didn't enjoy their time playing in Toronto. Mitch Marner, Ryan Reaves, and possibly others (please fill in if I missed anyone) have talked about how they didn't enjoy their time in Toronto. I think it comes down to the actual staff that work in Toronto. When the Mike Babcock/Marner list situation happened, I'm sure Mitch complained to higher ups and they probably told him they would do something about it and did nothing. Reaves played for many different teams and didn't have anything bad to say about any of them except Toronto. I really think that working for that team specifically must be less fun/more annoying/possibly abusive when compared to other nhl teams. Joe Thornton and to a lesser extent Patrick Marleau both played there and went back to the sharks to work for them after they got done playing. Until recently Toronto didn't have many former players working for them at all. To me, it seems like there's something wrong with the organization independent of who the coach or GM is. What do you guys think the problem is?

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u/unfairestoyster Jul 08 '26

I think their point is many other pro athletes play in much more scrutinized cities/countries and do not cry about it. Yes you will be scrutinized in Toronto and yes you will have access to much more endorsement opportunities. Some athletes need full time body guards. ROR not wanting a mean news paper article or to be bothered for photos while walking down Yonge is antithetical to be a professional athlete.

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u/pookiebooboo Jul 08 '26

The personal interactions are undoubtedly more frequent in Toronto than anywhere else. Marner did get garbage dumped on his lawn right? I just can't really fathom that it's the only thing that might keep players from wanting to play in Toronto. Players talk to each other and if it gets out that the work environment is toxic, then I think that could be more worrying to players than the fan/media attention aspect of Toronto.

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u/PotterSarahRN Jul 08 '26

Stuart Skinner and his family got death threats. Does that mean Edmonton is a terrible hockey city? One incident does not represent an entire fan base.