Golden Knights’ Mitch Marner opens up about mental health: ‘Some really dark moments’ – The New York Times

NHL
Stanley
Cup Final
After the best postseason performance of his life, and falling just short of a title, the star winger used his platform to discuss the subject of mental health. Bruce Bennett / Getty Images
LAS VEGAS — Following the Vegas Golden Knights’ exit meetings on Tuesday, star winger Mitch Marner opened up about “dark times” in his past, and how he’s learned to better manage his mental health.
“I’ve been really trying to take care of my mental health for the last five years or so and I’m really thankful that I had some unbelievable teammates around me in Toronto that I was able to talk to and express myself,” Marner said. “Also my family, my brother, my mom and dad, my wife.”
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Marner led the NHL with 29 points this postseason, helping lead the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in his first season with the organization. On May 26, following Vegas’ sweep of the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche, Marner passionately celebrated with his teammates on the ice, showing more emotion than he had previously on the postseason run.
Asked about it, Marner said, “It’s a special moment. There have been some dark times in hockey, for myself honestly.”
Before the final, he said he would elaborate on that comment when the season ended. On Tuesday, he did.
“There were some really dark moments there, where the thought of playing hockey was really tough, honestly in a lot of ways,” he explained. “Just a dark kind of vibe and a dark hole and I’m really thankful I had a lot of people around me, teammates to ask me how I was doing and knew I was going through something. I just think it’s really important to check in on your friends, your family, and the people around you’s mental health.”
After playing the first nine seasons of his NHL career in Toronto, Marner signed an eight-year, $96 million contract with the Golden Knights last July. Following the best postseason performance of his life, and falling just short of a title, he used his platform to discuss the subject of mental health in general.
“It’s a thing that in this day and age gets talked about but I think is still overlooked in a lot of ways,” he said. “A lot of us are addicted to the social media aspect of things and seeing a lot of comments and a lot of things about yourself. I’ve tried to check myself out of that the last two or three years, tried to get off of it, to get away from it. I think that’s helped in a lot of ways.
“You have to be able to talk about it,” Marner continued. “People want you around, people want you in their life. You can never be afraid to talk about your emotions and talk about your fears. So I’m super thankful that I had a lot of people in my life that I could talk to and share things and make me better.”
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