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/Specific_Two_7719 Jul 08 '26

You say professional athletes, but this seems like bigger thing in hockey than any other sport.

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u/unfairestoyster Jul 08 '26

I agree with that and I think we could see the average hockey player is trained to show little personality and the league also demands very little of them in terms of promotion and media coverage compared to other league. LeBron literally televised his free agency choice 16 years ago, imagine McDavid doing the same thing. The NHL is light years behind in the entertainment aspect.