Patrik Laine Part VI: Help! He's Being Repressed!
- Thread starter Romang67
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puck stoppa
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Trilliann
Tier 2 fan
Me too
at least they didn't give us that white toilet seat collar
Yeah wtf is up with those collars
Id rank his strenghts like this:
1. Shot/Scoring - Elite in all aspects, a special scoring arsenal.
2. Mental side of things - This is almost as important as his shot. The fact that he thrives from being the player who is counted on in the last minutes of the game.. he is not scared to take that responsibility, he wants it. He really doesnt have any nerves when it comes to playing hockey. This is what really, really separates him from the rest. He said 2-3 years ago that his target is to be the best player in the world, and many laughed.. If not for Connor he actually might be that player eventually. The determination level is crazy. Also, what I see as a very important, were the troubles he had in 14-15 season. He was almost labeled as a bust back then, almost. But that season made him so much stronger mentally(with a help of sport psychologist, which is still some kind of taboo).
3. Will to work - Contrary of many beliefs, Laine has always been a hard worker, from a very young age. He has trained since mid-May this summer..it will show when the puck drops in October.
4. Off ice stuff- This guy..he doesnt know anything else than hockey..he doesnt care about anything else.Try to find some gossip **** about him..yeah, good luck with that. He doesnt even drink or party. They won the u20 gold, and he celebrated it with a pizza in local restaurant in Tampere. Same thing happened when Tappara won the sm liiga playoffs. He lives and breathes hockey, simple as that.
5. Passing+ Hockey iq - Its funny that when I saw Patrik the first time when he was 14-15y old, the thing that caught my attention was his passing+iq. Those were some hard and accurate passes he dished out there. He used the boards very wisely,he could make plays in tight areas. In addition to this he shot the puck like Ovie and had hands like Malkin...which is nice.
6. The rest (size,skating etc).
Next season, if healthy, will be huge. Get ready for 50+ goals, people.
100% accurate description of Laine. All this is stuff that practically only Finnish ice hockey fans that have been following Laine for a few years can know well. I have noticed that most of hockey fans of other nationalities really don't seem to understand for example the unbelievable drive and motivation that Laine has. He is exceptional already in several skill areas but his real strength is still at the same time with his devotion to hockey and training. And his IQ on the ice and concerning his career in general is also exceptional. Only the all time greatest have had the similar kind of combination of exceptional skills and exceptional attitude and commitment. This is exactly why I believe that without bad injuries Laine has all the chances to become even the best player in the world, as his goal is.
Sure he has a long way to make that happen, and McDavid is still the likeliest from this generation to hold to that title. But it's also good to remember that Laine will always have the benefit of being bigger, stronger and with a way better shot than McDavid. Sure McDavid will be always the better skater, but I'm also sure that Laine will be able to make the gap smaller in that area, as McDavid might also be able to close the gap a bit with shooting. But strength and size difference will always be there, so it will be after all interesting to see how good Laine can really be in the future. I do have a strong feeling that it will be McDavid and Laine after all in a few years time mostly competing for being the best player on the planet. In my opinion these two have such exceptional talent. Both have over the top hockey IQ and each of them has their strongest strength in one of the most important areas in hockey - McDavid with skating and Laine with shooting. And they both are pretty darn good or at least have good potential in practically every other area in hockey.
Just can't wait for the season to already start...
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Skidooboy
Registered User
what I'v noticed in theese last few days is his 200 foot game. I think it's pretty good, and his hitting.
He doesn't always bowl guys over or slam them hard into the boards(he does both of those things as well) but the little hits he uses in open ice to unsettle the guy carrying the puck.
In one of the Liiga videos theres a sequence where Laine just sort of catches up to an opponent, and gives him a hard little shoulder check, strips the puck, and skates down for a goal. I don't think he did it as successfuly on the Jets, but he tried it quite a few times last year and often either stripped the puck or caused the opponent to lose control of it.
I get chills watching him..
He doesn't always bowl guys over or slam them hard into the boards(he does both of those things as well) but the little hits he uses in open ice to unsettle the guy carrying the puck.
In one of the Liiga videos theres a sequence where Laine just sort of catches up to an opponent, and gives him a hard little shoulder check, strips the puck, and skates down for a goal. I don't think he did it as successfuly on the Jets, but he tried it quite a few times last year and often either stripped the puck or caused the opponent to lose control of it.
I get chills watching him..
Hokinaittii
Registered User
- Aug 15, 2015
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Finprospects surely nailed it with that post.
It's also been nice to notice how much less he has given time for the media during the summer than some of the other top prospects had given before. As far as I'm concerned, his biggest interview this summer was for the Donald Duck magazine when he got a character for a sketch.
He definately wasn't joking when he said he is going to spend the whole summer with training in mind.
And yeah, like Skidooboy said, his two way game is criminally underrated here, mostly because he scored that silly own goal and some people who doesn't watch him enough like to jump on the conclusion that he must suck defensively. Yeah, some nights he couldn't be as effective with his back checking even if he tried but that was mostly due to him being undeveloped physically and just couldn't yet outmuscle some of the guys in the league. The mindset for a great two way player is definately there and I doubt he would somehow lose that mindset during his prime.
Once he fills his body, I expect him to be such a pain in the ass for defenders when he activates his full forecheck mode, similarly as you can see in this random shift from 2015 preseason:
Shift starts at 1:00:05
After watching him go in U18s, I thought he was a magnificent prospect due to his offensive skillset but there were still some sights of him not playing two way game with his full heart (issue with conditioning?). But when I watched him a few months later, I remember wondering what the hell happened during the summer? Did someone like say to him "Hey Patrik, you know if you want to be the best player out there, you also gotta do the work in both ends".
My point being, he was completely a different player after just one big summer of training. Really makes you think what's in the store for next season?
It's also been nice to notice how much less he has given time for the media during the summer than some of the other top prospects had given before. As far as I'm concerned, his biggest interview this summer was for the Donald Duck magazine when he got a character for a sketch.
He definately wasn't joking when he said he is going to spend the whole summer with training in mind.
And yeah, like Skidooboy said, his two way game is criminally underrated here, mostly because he scored that silly own goal and some people who doesn't watch him enough like to jump on the conclusion that he must suck defensively. Yeah, some nights he couldn't be as effective with his back checking even if he tried but that was mostly due to him being undeveloped physically and just couldn't yet outmuscle some of the guys in the league. The mindset for a great two way player is definately there and I doubt he would somehow lose that mindset during his prime.
Once he fills his body, I expect him to be such a pain in the ass for defenders when he activates his full forecheck mode, similarly as you can see in this random shift from 2015 preseason:
Shift starts at 1:00:05
After watching him go in U18s, I thought he was a magnificent prospect due to his offensive skillset but there were still some sights of him not playing two way game with his full heart (issue with conditioning?). But when I watched him a few months later, I remember wondering what the hell happened during the summer? Did someone like say to him "Hey Patrik, you know if you want to be the best player out there, you also gotta do the work in both ends".
My point being, he was completely a different player after just one big summer of training. Really makes you think what's in the store for next season?
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Good post. #2 is the aspect of Laine that's either completely overlooked or just entirely unknown. I guess it's hard to quantify, so you can only recognize it when you see it -> Finnish fans who have followed him extensively for a long time.
I believe that this is one of the most important things for being a difference maker. He's always greatly elevated his play in every way when the stakes are the highest. I'm not sure if this is in the same category or deserves a separate bullet point. But I really hope that Jets make the playoffs just so I can see playoff Laine play.
Another thing that comes to mind is his ability to learn and pick things up quickly. The first thing that comes to mind here are his coach's comments from his junior years when it was time for Laine to start learning about defensive play after almost entirely ignoring it and learning in a month what took most players years to get down. And we saw this at work during the NHL season as well.
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Evil Little
Registered User
- Jan 22, 2014
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I agree with all of the above. Except that I think Laine will take over McDavid as well.
There's a lot more hockey player there than majority sees yet. They will though.
nobody important
the pessimist returns
nobody important
the pessimist returns
I think some of you Finns need to dial down your expectations. An elite winger will never come close to a generational center.
nobody important
the pessimist returns
My apologies, I did not realize that calling him an elite winger was such an insult to His Greatness. I am prepared to have the scales removed from my eyes if you wish to enlighten me.
kelsier
Registered User
- Aug 17, 2013
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Being a center or winger doesn't have anything whatsoever to do with how good of a player can become. Of course in the past all the "great ones" have been mostly centers (such as Gretzky, Lemieux) or defenders (Orr) but that's a different story. Lets see if Patrik can break this myth. In this era you cannot expect anyone to break 200 point barrier. If the old legends time-machined here, they wouldn't do it either.
"Beating" McDavid won't be easy, but if anyone has the kind of potential, it's Laine.
Does anyone have good statistics of the game score from situations when Laine scores? I've a hunch that he scores exceptionally low when his team is ahead by 2+ goals (admittedly such situations are rare, but still).
Trilliann
Tier 2 fan
That would be interesting to see,
I was just thinking about it too when watching highlight videos etc
TannedBum
Registered User
- Jul 23, 2014
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Agreed.
Crosby has it all. McDavid has it all + size. Laine would have to change at the cellular level so he could become as good as those two. Which is impossible. For example, Laine will never have the same kind of physics as McDavid has, which limits his ability in different areas.
kelsier
Registered User
- Aug 17, 2013
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That is non-sense. They don't have it "all" or do you see McDavid blasting the puck into the net from the blue line? Also the size is rather questionable. 6"1 is pretty average in the NHL and so is his weight I would imagine. He is a world class skater, with world class hands and vision. Enough to be the best player on the planet at the moment. However, I wouldn't be signing Laine out of the contest just yet. He does have the size and he does have probably the best shooting technique of the entire league along with passing, vision and the hockey IQ. Laine came into NHL less developed. Lets see if he can catch up.
- Mar 10, 2010
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Yea McDavid got 100 points last year on a team that is not great without him as a 19 year old. That is the bar if you want to be a generational talent. They are very different players and that debate is way premature (if it ever happens). Perhaps one day Patrik will be good enough to lead us to a few cups and if he does that he will be a god in Winnipeg so who needs to limit oneself to generational talent when you can reach supreme status. 
its about the once piece of hardware and the rest is just noise.
its about the once piece of hardware and the rest is just noise.
Laineux
Registered User
- Aug 1, 2011
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Kovalchuk would be a much closer comparable to Laine than the likes of Crosby and McDavid. They had fairly similar rookie years as well, Laine's slightly better.
For what it's worth I think McDavid will be even a step above Crosby, but Laine will also be better than Kovalchuk.
For what it's worth I think McDavid will be even a step above Crosby, but Laine will also be better than Kovalchuk.
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