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Leafs winger Mitch Marner opens up about his favourite pastime, dishes on his most beloved video game franchise

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Mike Armenti
February 9, 2024  (11:31)
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Leafs winger Mitch Marner
Photo credit: Toronto Star

For those in Leafs Nation who keep tabs on the players, you'll probably be well aware of the fact that Mitch Marner fancies himself as a bit of a gamer. Video games can be quite the release and if you count yourself among those who game casually or even competitively, you'll know just how much strategy and planning is involved when you play video games, especially with how advanced they've gotten over the years.

For Marner, there's one video game franchise that reigns supreme above all the rest. He revealed as much on the most recent edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast with Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek.

"Call of Duty, still. Massive Call of Duty guy - it's kind of always been that. Fortnite got in there for quite a bit, but the building, now, in Fortnite has got a little too far advanced for my liking. I've always grown up a first-person shooter kind of guy, and Call of Duty was always a game growing up I've played."

Marner is also looking forward to the new Grand Theft Auto coming out, but told Friedman and Marek that it always seems to lead him right back to Call of Duty.

"We go through phases, me and all my buddies. We go through phases where we buy a game, play it for about week and a half and then decide to go right back to COD and get very mad at each other through a microphone that we're not playing good enough."

Friedman and Marek were curious to know who Marner games with and whether or not there are others on the team who are also avid gamers. Marner identified Ryan Reaves as someone from the team who plays video games as well, but did concede that there aren't many others in Toronto who shares his enthusiasm for gaming.

"A lot of guys I play with are friends from home. I talk to guys on our team about Call of Duty, but it seems like no one really plays. I play with Reavo quite a bit. After games, it's tough to go to sleep after a hockey game when your mind and adrenaline are rushing, so why not just keep the competitive edge going and go play Call of Duty for an hour and a half?"

As far as the competition goes, Marner says there is no competition. He claims to be the superior gamer, and he believes Reaves would agree with him. He also revealed that he uses video games as a means of keeping in touch with friends living outside of Toronto and staying connected with his social circle.

"I am [the better gamer]. I am, yeah. I am. I think Reavo would say the same... [I think] he would agree. Reavo's got a good game too. He's a lot better than, actually, I thought he'd be. So, kudos to him... He's got the two kids, obviously, [and] the wife, so a couple of the guys that have kids, it's usually hard for them to get away and play Call of Duty, but he plays with his brother, I play with my brother too, so it's nice to kind of get on there and just relax and talk to my buddies from out of town."

Those who grew up in the 90's and 2000's will know the thrill of playing video games and I'm sure that quite a few have maintained their love of gaming throughout their adult lives as well. Personally, I've become a pretty big fan of the battle royale style games, with "Apex Legends" being my current game of choice - though I, too, was a huge fan of the Call of Duty franchise growing up, so I certainly understand the appeal of the game to Marner, Reavo and many others.

Sure, gaming can be viewed as a bit juvenile by some, but it's really become more entertainment than anything else. It can also be quite the good distraction to help people blow off steam and get away from the rigors of life for a few hours. As it turns out, hockey players are just like the rest of us. Who knew?

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Leafs winger Mitch Marner opens up about his favourite pastime, dishes on his most beloved video game franchise

With Marner being a huge Call of Duty fan, what was your favourite video game franchise growing up?

Call of Duty, just like Marner5923.9 %
Resident Evil2610.5 %
Super Mario Bros.16265.6 %
Other00 %
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