It’s been quite the year for the London Knights and their star forward Mitch Marner. On Saturday, it got even better for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ draft pick when it was announced that he was the CHL’s Player of the Year.
Marner was one piece on arguably the most successful line in the Ontario Hockey League this season – alongside Christian Dvorak and Matthew Tkachuk. As co-captain of the Knights, Marner helped the team to another successful season with 116 points (39g-77a) in 57 regular season games.
During their impressive playoff run, he added 44 points (16g-28a) in just 18 games and helped the Knights to their fourth OHL Championship, while punching their ticket to the Memorial Cup.
Heading into the Memorial Cup final on Sunday, Marner has 13 points (2g-11a) in just three games and will be looking to break a tournament record – which sits at 16. The record, which was set by Jeff Larmer in 1982 and Guy Rouleau in 1986 – is achievable by the Leafs’ pick with just one game to go.
While he enters Sunday’s matchup on a 16-game point streak, Marner remained grounded when asked about winning the CHL’s top honours.
“Those two could be on the trophy just as much as I can,” said Marner in a piece by Mackenzie Liddell. “There’s a lot of big names on [the trophy], but like I said all year it wouldn’t be possible without the players and the coaching staff. Without those guys on my [line] who knows what would have happened.”
Marner is also a frontrunner for the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as the Memorial Cup MVP. If he does take home MVP honours, Marner will have won the OHL MVP, OHL playoff MVP and finally the Memorial Cup MVP – the Triple Crown.