Player Discussion: Patrik Laine

[Ukkosenjumala]

I think there may be some merit to Laine's game day habits. And I'm not trying to bring up a fight about Matthews but I was at a buddies watching the game and Matthews talks about how he got a good nights sleep, had a good meal and watched game footage before the game. He didn't perform amazingly in his game against ours but looking at Laine's Fortnite stats he plays 4-8 hours of Fortnite before some games. Maybe he should put the paddle down and focus on game day preparation. I'm sure many guys just sit around watching TV before some games as well which is just as much of a time waster but maybe watching some footage and game day prep could be better spent not watching or playing something that has nothing to do with the task at hand.. Focus is the word here and I'm not sure Laine is entirely focused on the right game right now. The Canucks might have a point in keeping young guys off the PS4 and Xbone on the road. Hell just vegging and watching TV seems like a waste of time for a pro athlete before a game.

Yeah I think his focus might be off in general. I was just thinking of Matthews last game when Laine was struggling and how much more prepared and energized he appears to be, as Dorian Yates put it "Each workout is like a brick in a building and every time you go in there and do a half-ass workout you're not laying a brick down. Somebody else is". Now you can't always judge a book by its cover but everything about Laine right now looks like his head is not in the game and he's not preparing well.

 

[Daximus]

Yeah I think his focus might be off in general. I was just thinking of Matthews last game when Laine was struggling and how much more prepared and energized he appears to be, as Dorian Yates put it "Each workout is like a brick in a building and every time you go in there and do a half-ass workout you're not laying a brick down. Somebody else is". Now you can't always judge a book by its cover but everything about Laine right now looks like his head is not in the game and he's not preparing well.

Yeah something is generally off. He came out of the gate really strong and looked like a different player. Right now nothing is really working for him and he's not adapting like he used too. His stickhandling, decision making, passes and shot are all really off from what he is capable of. I think he needs to just drop all of the noise going on around him and get on the ice and work on some stuff. I'm not seeing the dedication to the game from him right now.

 

[grieves]

I thought the post addressed an important issue that should be discussed.
The point brought to the table is clear - goal production, which is also a point that Laine fans have no issue bringing to the table on a regular basis.
I'm not surprised that you would phrase this as "constant complaining" - but others can and will voice their opinion based on their POV when they feel it's needed.

It's good to see that you are defending him - you're obviously a big fan of his. I did the same for Little when he got hammered on a nightly basis for "under performing" - so I understand where you are coming from.

For sure, I'm not the post police, and you are right that it did have some data, although slightly cherry picked.

Yeah I am a big Laine fan. This whole situation is extremely fascinating to me because he is posting historical goal-scoring numbers as a teenager, and it will be interesting to see what he develops into. There is so much data and footage available, and the game itself consists of so many moving parts.

And it is so brilliant that Laine got drafted into a contending team so not only can I follow Laine's development, I get to see the whole team inch their way towards the cup. I love analyzing big pictures with a lot of moving parts. Not only am I learning the game, I'm learning about player development, and all the hurdles that come with that. And on top of that I get to interact with other fools who are doing the same. And some of those fools are EXTREMELY knowledgeable about the game, the analytics and statistics so that's just gravy on top of gravy.

 

[Jets]

They must be in Detroit. Laines been on fortnite for the last hour

 

[Lowered Expectations]

They must be in Detroit. Laines been on fortnite for the last hour

I’m getting vibes this is some kind of stalker board

I’m calling out Laine to improve his weak areas, his last game was bad. But I believe he will get his shit together soon. Meanwhile this board should calm the f*** down. If Laine gets crazy money and does not deliver I could understand some outbursts. But he is still on ELC and possible bonuses will be EARNED.

 

[NotCommitted]

Laine 51 1.3 2.29
Ehlers 42 1.01 2.42
Scheif 40 0.96 2.68
Wheeler 38 0.83 2.25
Little 31 0.89 1.98
Connor 29 1.19 2.26

Sorry for the poorly readable formatting, but that's even strength goals for each top6 player, followed by EV G/60 and P/60. Goal differentials are not there, but I believe Laine to be 2nd currently of all forwards, behind Scheifele. No arbitary cut-off points, stats begin when Laine entered the league.

Yes, he is not playing well at the moment and yes, his game has weaknesses outside the things he's good at. Still, a good reminder this "PP specialist" leads the team in even strength goals and is 3rd in P/60 behind Scheifele and Ehlers during his career. Not bad numbers for someone who can't get anything done 5v5 and is "fundamentally flawed". He'll figure it out eventually, whether it's bad fortnite habits, the wrong way of tying his laces or wrong mental attitude or whatever. Or if he doesn't, then Jets have a decent PP specialist in him. The ~160 NHL games this far would suggest he'll figure it out.

 

[grieves]

Yeah bang-for-buck-wise Laine is still bringing it definitely. Oh he's been the best EV goal scorer for the Jets as well. That's good to note.

Jets TV did some thing with Laine:

 

[Daximus]

Yeah bang-for-buck-wise Laine is still bringing it definitely. Oh he's been the best EV goal scorer for the Jets as well. That's good to note.

Jets TV did some thing with Laine:

It looks like he is working hard. I don't know maybe we see a Barkov/Rantanen kind of effect where he will take some time to develop certain things he needs to remain a solid player. It took until Barkov was about 20 to really start breaking out and he didn't fully break out until last year at 22. Rantanen didn't really break out until about 21.

It could just be the way his off-season advisors do things but it is odd that most of these Finnish guys take awhile to really break out. Even though Laine came into the league well above either of those guys it seems he may be a year or two away from realizing his full athletic potential. Why do they train like this? I know guys like Crosby, McDavid, Kane and many other in NA train far differently.

 

[Daximus]

They must be in Detroit. Laines been on fortnite for the last hour

Whats the link to his fortnite stats?

 

[grieves]

It looks like he is working hard. I don't know maybe we see a Barkov/Rantanen kind of effect where he will take some time to develop certain things he needs to remain a solid player. It took until Barkov was about 20 to really start breaking out and he didn't fully break out until last year at 22. Rantanen didn't really break out until about 21.

It could just be the way his off-season advisors do things but it is odd that most of these Finnish guys take awhile to really break out. Even though Laine came into the league well above either of those guys it seems he may be a year or two away from realizing his full athletic potential. Why do they train like this? I know guys like Crosby, McDavid, Kane and many other in NA train far differently.

Good questions, I can't answer you on that one. Maybe someone has a better understanding?

I know he had the knee-injury thing some years ago (last game of the season, I believe, so it really effed up his whole summer), but I don't know how much of a setback a thing like that is. And then there are the other points you mentioned.

 

[cbcwpg]

Whats the link to his fortnite stats?

I believe it is :

Nalle_Puh29's Fortnite Tracker Profile​

 

[Daximus]

I believe it is :

Nalle_Puh29's Fortnite Tracker Profile​

Looks like he stopped gaming at about 8:27pm last night. And had a two hour session today.

That is much better than some of the 4-8 hour sessions and late night gaming sessions you see on home game days. We'll see if he has anymore jump to his game tonight.

 

[jonu]

It looks like he is working hard. I don't know maybe we see a Barkov/Rantanen kind of effect where he will take some time to develop certain things he needs to remain a solid player. It took until Barkov was about 20 to really start breaking out and he didn't fully break out until last year at 22. Rantanen didn't really break out until about 21.

It could just be the way his off-season advisors do things but it is odd that most of these Finnish guys take awhile to really break out. Even though Laine came into the league well above either of those guys it seems he may be a year or two away from realizing his full athletic potential. Why do they train like this? I know guys like Crosby, McDavid, Kane and many other in NA train far differently.

Generally Finns are considered late bloomers anyways. You see it at junior tournaments like U18s where especially the North American kids are starting to look like young adults with a bit of a beard stubble and the Finns on the other hand look like 15 year old teenagers with milk whiskers

 

[Daximus]

Generally Finns are considered late bloomers anyways. You see it at junior tournaments like U18s where especially the North American kids are starting to look like young adults with a bit of a beard stubble and the Finns on the other hand look like 15 year old teenagers with milk whiskers

It's just so weird given how they are usually all pretty big kids. 6'1-6'4 teenagers. Could be the different styles of training that kids in Canada do. Most kids are training pretty hard from an early age. But the parents pay for a lot of that out of pocket so they have a vested interest in making sure they get the most out of it.

 

[jonu]

It's just so weird given how they are usually all pretty big kids. 6'1-6'4 teenagers. Could be the different styles of training that kids in Canada do. Most kids are training pretty hard from an early age. But the parents pay for a lot of that out of pocket so they have a vested interest in making sure they get the most out of it.

Lanky but tall, except Barkov was more heavily built but not on the muscle department

 

[Daximus]

Lanky but tall, except Barkov was more heavily built but not on the muscle department

Whereas Canadian kids are usually smaller and have very strong cores from an early age. Kind of have to train that way when you are smaller.

 

[jonu]

Whereas Canadian kids are usually smaller and have very strong cores from an early age. Kind of have to train that way when you are smaller.

Nah, IIRC Barkov was our first big bodied blue chip prospect who was actually taller than 5'11..

Oh I remember the days when our best blue chippers were Sami Vatanen, Toni Rajala, Mikael Granlund and Teemu Pulkkinen. Thank the gods they finally fixed our junior system.

 

[Daximus]

Creepy

Meh I don't care. Don't put your username on Twitch if you don't want people to see it. Apparently he often games on Twitch with JT Brown which is likely where people got his username. Pretty sure him and Ehlers have also streamed live for some games.

 

[grieves]

I have a feeling that Laine doesn't give a flying F if people stalk his gaming habits. Otherwise it would already be a private profile.

I think having a personality and not being ashamed of it is really cool. I basically never watch any hockey interviews because it's
always the same old boring jargon with zero information. What was the word... "Droning" I think.

With coaches I get that because they have to think strategically but player interviews in the NHL, I got my fill after seeing about 10 of those.

Even if Laine becomes a 4th line PP specialist, you want him on the team just because of the weird **** he does . Like the beard, that was a hilarious move looking back.

Oh and people got his Fortnite account because he met a Fortnite streamer in the gym in Finland and he asked if Laine wanted to play together on stream. They became friends and played together on stream. I'm quite certain it was a good play on the streamer's part.

 

[mustam10]

Yeah bang-for-buck-wise Laine is still bringing it definitely. Oh he's been the best EV goal scorer for the Jets as well. That's good to note.

Jets TV did some thing with Laine:

Wow cant believe a hockey player makes that kind of training where you stand on that thing and "skiing". Definitely doesnt make you quicker.

Cant believe a pro athlete trains like that. Gary Roberts would Never do those excercises.

 

[grieves]

Wow cant believe a hockey player makes that kind of training where you stand on that thing and "skiing". Definitely doesnt make you quicker.

Yeah I mean he should at least have his skates on. Idiot thinks that he's gonna become a better skater running without skates.

Oh and by the way, you forgot to change your account when responding to yourself.

 

[Jetfaninflorida]

I think that Laine will figure it out over time. Does Winnipeg have a specialist coach working with him on the defensive part of his game, and his play away from the puck? He seriously risks becoming a one trick pony / powerplay specialist if we don't help him correct the huge, obvious flaws and weaknesses in his 2 way game.

 

[mustam10]

Yeah I mean he should at least have his skates on. Idiot thinks that he's gonna become a better skater running without skates.

Oh and by the way, you forgot to change your account when responding to yourself.

Yeah or atleast do some explosive running, short sprints like 10-40m.
No man i did it on purpose. Just reactivated my acc and not active writing here so Im not really used to the site.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I think there may be some merit to Laine's game day habits. And I'm not trying to bring up a fight about Matthews but I was at a buddies watching the game and Matthews talks about how he got a good nights sleep, had a good meal and watched game footage before the game. He didn't perform amazingly in his game against ours but looking at Laine's Fortnite stats he plays 4-8 hours of Fortnite before some games. Maybe he should put the paddle down and focus on game day preparation. I'm sure many guys just sit around watching TV before some games as well which is just as much of a time waster but maybe watching some footage and game day prep could be better spent not watching or playing something that has nothing to do with the task at hand.. Focus is the word here and I'm not sure Laine is entirely focused on the right game right now. The Canucks might have a point in keeping young guys off the PS4 and Xbone on the road. Hell just vegging and watching TV seems like a waste of time for a pro athlete before a game.

Even vegging and wasting time would be better than video gaming. Relaxing can be positive. Gaming is not relaxing. Video games are very cunningly designed to draw you in mentally and emotionally. If he is wasting his competitive juices on Fortnite then he has less 'focus' on competing in hockey. ****, it might even be better if he was playing NHL19. That might actually get him a bit fired up for the game.

He is quicker, better at several things than last year. But he is not shooting or scoring like he has the last 2 years. If anything he should be better.

 

[grieves]

Even vegging and wasting time would be better than video gaming. Relaxing can be positive. Gaming is not relaxing. Video games are very cunningly designed to draw you in mentally and emotionally. If he is wasting his competitive juices on Fortnite then he has less 'focus' on competing in hockey. ****, it might even be better if he was playing NHL19. That might actually get him a bit fired up for the game.

He is quicker, better at several things than last year. But he is not shooting or scoring like he has the last 2 years. If anything he should be better.

I think there is something to this. I'm always defending video games here, but I'm not so sure about my position anymore.

I think the biggest problem is that it keeps you from deactivating in the evening, and thus it's problematic for your rest.

But it's the same thing with with Netflix, so it's not a problem with video games per se. It's about winding down and actually grasping that quality sleep. I think it's about our brain thinking it's daytime when it should be thinking night time. There are plenty of apps that shut down some light elements from your screen that you can use (like f.lux), but I very much doubt consoles would have that, and even if they did, competitive guys wouldn't use that.

If Laine wants to really life hack his ****, then he should meditate at least 20 min per day (I don't yet, but it's on the agenda). Meditation has demonstrable benefits. I think gaming in the evening is the antithesis of that.

But it's the same thing with any activity that emits these certain light waves. Gaming is no different than binging on Netflix, except Netflix doesn't improve you in any shape or form (except that there is a LOT of truth in fiction), whereas gaming does (eyesight, reflexes, decision-making, co-operation, spacial awareness).

But it's a zero-sum game if you don't recover in the evening, but activate your brain all the time.