Toronto Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner jump on viral meme

It all started with a photo that went viral on twitter, now Toronto Maple Leafs forwards Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews are having some fun at Marner’s expense.

When Mitch Marner returned from the World Championships, the last thing he expected was to be the next viral trend on twitter, with his Auston Matthews enjoying some fun at his expense. Well when his plane touched down at Toronto’s Pearson Airport the Toronto Maple Leafs forward was greeted by press and it led to this photo being shared on twitter.

There is a lot to like with this picture. The fact that Marner looks like a teenager with the way he is wearing his Toronto Blue Jays hat and how unimpressed he looks in the picture. This is what Marner had to say about the picture and the memes on social media that went viral talking with Andi Petrillo, Host of TSN 1050’s Leafs Lunch.

"“Ya, I’ve seen a couple of them, it’s a tough photo. I mean, I was up for 48 hours straight or something like that. So I mean, got asked to get a photo of me walking out of the airport and I just – I had a broken tooth, so I didn’t want to show that either. I just tried to do the best I could, but it’s been pretty funny.I’ve seen a lot of them – it’s a pretty big thing in our household right now, my parents and my brother are enjoying it. The Internet seems to be enjoying it as well. It’s pretty funny to see what people come up with, they’ve creative minds out there, but yea, 48 hours without sleep, a chipped tooth which I didn’t want to show off either, so I just tried to do the best I could.”"

Once the picture was shared on twitter by Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun, it was not going to take long before the memes would start to circulate.

Then last night Matthews would decide to take advantage of the opportunity that was in front of him.

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Credit Matthews for the photoshop skills and the creativity because it takes the social media war to a new level. This tweet also reminded everyone one about Nathan MacKinnon‘s quote from the tournament.

“We’ve grown pretty close since the tournament started. I didn’t know what to expect. He kind of looks like a little nerdy kid, but he’s not at all. He’s got a lot of swag and confidence. He’s unbeleivable” said MacKinnon.

“He’s going to be one of the best passers in the game for a long time. I didn’t know how good he was until playing with him here. He’s going to be a great, great playmaker for a long time. It’s a treat. I wish I could take him to Denver with me. I think carry-on would work.”

That last remark certainly describes Marner’s reputation across the league as a player who does not intimidate people with his size but surprises them with his play on the ice. As people were taking a chance to poke fun at Marner, he decided instead of fighting back, the best response was to embrace it.

There is no doubting that the young players on the Leafs enjoy poking fun at each other. There are several examples from the Leafs video series but one that took the prize was Marner and Mathews singing along to Bon Jovi.

Then there was this one from the Leaf where the rookies were taking a stroll in the Distillery District during Christmas time.

While those are great examples of how much joy they get in poking fun at each other especially Marner. Nothing beats the video taken with him and Matt Martin during one of the mandated off weeks back in January.

https://twitter.com/sydneyesiason/status/818966295924396033

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