LW Patrik Laine (2016, 2nd, WPG) XIV

[Joe MacMillan]

He was one of (if not THE) best players on his team. I imagine these posts would be a lot different if Laine was on Team NA and Matthews was on Finland, but what can you do.

He wasn't. There were a couple players who stood out positively (Risto, Granlund) and Laine wasn't among them. He wasn't among the worst either, merely average.

 

[vivalavili]

Best player on a terrible team.

Doesn't mean ****.

It doesn't either mean that Laine would neccesarily bust. Laine wasn't used properly in this WC, no quality passes in PP, no help from teammates, nothing. He wasn't good but he wasn't bad either

 

[Purity*]

It doesn't either mean that Laine would neccesarily bust. Laine wasn't used properly in this WC, no quality passes in PP, no help from teammates, nothing. He wasn't good but he wasn't bad either

I suppose you can say that.

Utilized properly he probably could have scored some goals. Vantanen was being pretty selfish at times.

 

[JetsHomer]

Player X did also play in the World Championships with Maroon, Vatrano and Jordan Schroeder as linemates. Finished PPG.

You're really going to compare Finland (a team that scored 1 goal in 3 games) to the American team that finished the World Championships 4th overall? Yeah those seem like equally bad teams

 

[scan15*]

It doesn't either mean that Laine would neccesarily bust. Laine wasn't used properly in this WC, no quality passes in PP, no help from teammates, nothing. He wasn't good but he wasn't bad either

He was 'invisible', which is a really bad word to use when describing a sniper and supposed offensive force like Laine.

 

[Gavy]

He was one of (if not THE) best players on his team. I imagine these posts would be a lot different if Laine was on Team NA and Matthews was on Finland, but what can you do.

No, these posts would be different if he played better.

People need to stop jumping on a TEENAGED player if he has an off game.
He also doesn't need to be defended when it's pretty obvious he wasn't their best player or having a good game.

He didn't have a great tournament, it's not because of skill, it's because of inexperience. He's not used to the smaller ice or the calibre of players he played against.

He showed flashes of what we can expect on the NHL and I think him not scoring much was due to Finland not being able to set up the PP properly.

 

[vivalavili]

He was 'invisible', which is a really bad word to use when describing a sniper and supposed offensive force like Laine.

He's also only 18, not like he has any room to improve. To be one of the best, you really have to hide your weaker sides well and learn to embrace the strengths. He has a lot of time to improve and you cant really expect the youngest player in the tournament have game-changing effect every night.

 

[BB88]

Another disappointment today.

Everyone says that he's got a great shot, but then why did the Russians find it so easy to block his shots?

There was one particular PP where Finland looked very dangerous but every time Laine got the puck, he would shoot it at the Russian defender's skates.

His every shot seemed to create a big rebound, Bob wasn't getting those cleanly.
Problem was we had no one in front of the net to score from those.

It's great that Finns had the worst team in this tourney, scored 1 .........ng goal in this tourney and to x fans it's all on Laine.
Kids line was our best line n this tourney, the bar wasn't really high for that but they were.

You're really going to compare Finland (a team that scored 1 goal in 3 games) to the American team that finished the World Championships 4th overall? Yeah those seem like equally bad teams

It's been pretty pathetic to read how many have tried to make that USA team sound garbage, like you said they finished 4th overall and atleast 7 players from that team would have made this Finnish World Cup team, not to mention the quality difference in competition.
But for x fans Worlds and World Cup are the same thing, as well as finishing last and 4th.

 

[Gavy]

You're really going to compare Finland (a team that scored 1 goal in 3 games) to the American team that finished the World Championships 4th overall? Yeah those seem like equally bad teams

No, he's comparing the quality of linemates which is a legitimate argument.
This is not about Matthews, so try to ignore anyone referring to Matthews.

How many times does a mod have to warn the thread?

 

[strat1]

I've been saying that all along and lots of posters balked at me for it.

Guess I was right all along.

Yes and i'm pretty optimistic that he can learn from his mistakes.

 

[Hokinaittii]

We can all agree that Laine was disappointing at this tournament.

The only disappointed people are the ones who got btthurt during the summer when Laine took most of the general attention away from Matthews. Now you are all circlejrking the same phrase game after game.

If you look how Laine played compared to other Finnish NHL ready wingers (Donskoi, Lehterä, Teräväinen, Granlund, Komarov) he was the least disappointing. Well, okay, I guess Granlund played great although he didn't score but I'd Laine he met the expectations way better than Donskoi, Lehterä, Teräväinen did. Those are the guys that should have stepped up and scored the goals when needed, not Laine.

 

[klmdg]

He's going to need to make some serious adjustments to his game if he's going to make any impact at NHL level.

He looked predictable and easy to defend.

Now don't get me wrong he has the tools to be one of the very best scorers in the NHL but it doesn't mean anything unless he can put it all together.

I agree. Watching him in the WHC it looked pretty obvious his game, namely his strengths, were ill-suited to NHL style play. He thrived when the play was more stationary and he had space to operate in.

Watching him in this tournament, his accuracy just isn't there when he is moving at speed and he is extremely weak along the boards and in close quarters. He also concedes possession far too easily.

If Laine is going to be a star in the NHL, he needs to completely transform his game. It wouldn't surprise me if he spends part of the season in the AHL.

 

[Purity*]

The only disappointed people are the ones who got btthurt during the summer when Laine took most of the general attention away from Matthews. Now you are all circlejrking the same phrase game after game.

If you look how Laine played compared to other Finnish NHL ready wingers (Donskoi, Lehterä, Teräväinen, Granlund, Komarov) he was the least disappointing. Well, okay, I guess Granlund played great although he didn't score but I'd Laine he met the expectations way better than Donskoi, Lehterä, Teräväinen did. Those are the guys that should have stepped up and scored the goals when needed, not Laine.

You're not telling the whole story.

But Laine practically performed exactly how I expected. Struggling to adapt to smaller ice with less time and space than he's normally used to.

There was an article referring to him as the "Calder frontrunner." I think that looks utterly foolish now, he's got tons of work to do.

 

[strat1]

Adjusting to Na style of game and rink is a learning process. I still think that he will find his game when NHL-season is halfway

 

[Whileee]

He was 'invisible', which is a really bad word to use when describing a sniper and supposed offensive force like Laine.

Nonsense. Led his team in shots (tied with Crosby, Gaudreau, Toews, Matthews, etc.) and had the puck a ton. He made a lot of very good plays. The Finns were a disappointment, but Laine was just fine as the youngest player in the tournament.

 

[Joe MacMillan]

Nonsense. Led his team in shots (tied with Crosby, Gaudreau, Toews, Matthews, etc.) and had the puck a ton. He made a lot of very good plays. The Finns were a disappointment, but Laine was just fine as the youngest player in the tournament.

SOG or shots taken?

 

[Whileee]

I agree. Watching him in the WHC it looked pretty obvious his game, namely his strengths, were ill-suited to NHL style play. He thrived when the play was more stationary and he had space to operate in.

Watching him in this tournament, his accuracy just isn't there when he is moving at speed and he is extremely weak along the boards and in close quarters. He also concedes possession far too easily.

If Laine is going to be a star in the NHL, he needs to completely transform his game. It wouldn't surprise me if he spends part of the season in the AHL.

Ridiculous.

 

[Whileee]

sog or shots taken?

sog.

 

[BB88]

I agree. Watching him in the WHC it looked pretty obvious his game, namely his strengths, were ill-suited to NHL style play. He thrived when the play was more stationary and he had space to operate in.

Watching him in this tournament, his accuracy just isn't there when he is moving at speed and he is extremely weak along the boards and in close quarters. He also concedes possession far too easily.

If Laine is going to be a star in the NHL, he needs to completely transform his game. It wouldn't surprise me if he spends part of the season in the AHL.

You were watching 18y prospect learning to play in NHL rink against the best the World can offer and happened to be one of the best forwards for Finland.
I think he's bust level is extemely low. You're writing like hes a player in his prime.

You're not telling the whole story.

But Laine practically performed exactly how I expected. Struggling to adapt to smaller ice with less time and space than he's normally used to.

There was an article referring to him as the "Calder frontrunner." I think that looks utterly foolish now, he's got tons of work to do.

It's weeks untill the season starts, how the hell does that look foolish now.

 

[scan15*]

It's been pretty pathetic to read how many have tried to make that USA team sound garbage, like you said they finished 4th overall and atleast 7 players from that team would have made this Finnish World Cup team, not to mention the quality difference in competition.
But for x fans Worlds and World Cup are the same thing, as well as finishing last and 4th.

Let me list of a few Hall of Famers from that Team USA:

Matt Hendricks (Captian)
Jordan Schroeder
Frank Vatrano
Pat Maroon
JT Compher
Miles Wood
Hudson Fasching
Brady Skjei
David Warfosky

Only players of note on that team were Matthews, Hanifin, Larkin, and Brock Nelson.

Why do you continue to spread this misinformation that Team USA was strong? They were predicted to fail badly in that tournament. The over performed because of Larkin and Matthews playing dominant hockey.

 

[vaiski]

Not a very good tournament from him. That's what was to be expected given the circumstances in my opinion. The people writing him off already should just stop trying to stir up this thread. There is no point to it, did you really expect an 18-year-old to carry the worst team in the tournament?

He faced adversity here and I think that's better than everything going right all the way to the NHL. He'll show up to Winnipeg with a chip on his shoulder. He'll face lesser opponents, better PP passes and build confidence. Eventually he should learn the tricks of small ice too. I'm confident he'll become an elite player with time.

 

[BB88]

Let me list of a few Hall of Famers from that Team USA:

Matt Hendricks (Captian)
Jordan Schroeder
Frank Vatrano
Pat Maroon
JT Compher
Miles Wood
Hudson Fasching
Brady Skjei
David Warfosky

Only players of note on that team were Matthews, Hanifin, Larkin, and Brock Nelson.

Why do you continue to spread this misinformation that Team USA was strong? They were predicted to fail badly in that tournament. The over performed because of Larkin and Matthews playing dominant hockey.

They finished 4th overall out of 16.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why are you continuing to claim that they were rubbish?
They were one of the best teams there.

Just in last thread I named 7 players from that roster who would have made team Finland, but not surprisingly you left out 3 names.

 

[Itkonen]

Definitely not a good tournament but when compared to the rest of his team he was among the middle of the pack. I was kinda scratching my head at some of the expectations put on an 18-year old who obviously still has a lot of developing to do thrown up against the best players in the world. He played pretty much as I expected. Nice flashes here and there but also quite a lot of rookie mistakes. Didn't diminish my belief in him at all. My expectations for his upcoming seasons remain unchanged: a rookie season where he will mostly be learning the NA game, a sophomore season that's a bit better but nothing spectacular, and then emerge as one of the game's premier goalscorers.

 

[FinPanda]

He played against the very best players in the world.. He played quite well. He needs to learn some things but he is a young guy.

 

[Joe MacMillan]

For his sake I am glad this is over and he'll be able to join the Jets for full TC and work on his game.