Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner will wear white skates with a custom design when he takes part in his second NHL All-Star Weekend.
Marner was sporting white skates with a pink and blue accent during Toronto Maple Leafs practice on Tuesday.
On the inside of the boots, the skates feature the Reverse Retro logo of the Eastern Conference that half the participants will wear in addition to the NHL All-Star Weekend logo. On the outside of the boots, the skates twice feature Marner’s dog Zeus. On one side Zeus riding a shark. On the other side, Zeus is in front of a pair of crocodiles.
On the back, the logo of Mitch’s Marner Assist Foundation is featured.
Marner said he was inspired by some custom skates that teammate Auston Matthews wore this season. One of those was for Movember, the other was an ‘Ugly Christmas Sweater’ theme.
“True (Marner’s hockey skate provider) and I decided to make something up,” Marner explained. “There’s another treat coming that I already have that will be for one of the games, but that will be later as part of the show and tell.”
Marner said he was getting chirps from his teammates for the skates, including teammates Alex Kerfoot and Justin Holl who were playfully flipping pucks at his skates in an effort to scuff them up.
“I think everybody probably likes them but they’ll never say it to your face because it’s easier and funnier to chirp you,” Marner said. “It’s how this team rolls.”
Marner said there are no plans to wear the boots for a regular-season game, but now that he knows his skate provider can make some custom designs, he’ll likely come up with some more. That includes some skates that will be auctioned off this summer for his Marner Assist Fund charity.