Toronto Maple Leafs forwards John Tavares and Mitch Marner were voted by fans to be part of the Ontario Hockey League’s Quarter Century Team.
Tavares was named to the OHL QC First Team which included Connor McDavid, while Marner was featured in the OHL QC Second Team. The results came after three stages of voting that began in March with the announcement of the QC teams for each OHL squad.
Both players were voted onto the QC rosters of their respective junior teams, with Tavares getting the distinction with the Oshawa Generals while Marner received the honours from the London Knights. They were also named the QC rosters for the East Division and the Midwest Division, respectively, given that those are the divisions where the Generals and Knights play.
The two Leafs players being named to the OHL QC team makes sense given how productive both were during their junior careers.
Tavares became the first player in CHL history to be granted exceptional player status, which allowed him to begin his OHL career a year early. He went on to produce 433 points (215 goals and 218 assists) across 248 games split between the Generals and Knights from 2005 to 2009. Tavares would go on to win numerous awards during his junior days, including the OHL’s goal leader twice, the 2009 Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy for leading the OHL in points, and being named the CHL Player of the Year in 2007. He would eventually be taken first overall by the New York Islanders in the 2009 NHL Draft.
As for Marner, he too had a productive junior career and made the most of his three years with the Knights. He amassed 301 points (96 goals and 205 assists) in only 184 games and helped guide London to the 2016 Memorial Cup. In addition to achieving CHL glory, he captured the Red Tilson Trophy in 2016 as the OHL’s MVP, was twice named an OHL All-Star, led the Memorial Cup in scoring and was named tournament MVP. Marner went on to be drafted fourth overall by his hometown team in 2015.
Both players had outstanding junior careers and were able to transition that success into the NHL, even joining forces in 2018 and spending plenty of time together as linemates. Although Tavares and Marner were unable to convert that into playoff success, they nonetheless had their moments across seven years as teammates in Toronto.
