Patrik Laine Part III: More Hats, please.

[psycho_dad*]

Very much that. I mean, those expectations just got out of hands and went right into the sky like a rocket. He has literally been having a record breaking rookie season for 18 year old thus far. He has been right there with the all time best 18 year old rookies in scoring goals thus far..
But i quess nothing is enough..

Off course he has a lot of things to improve, and a lot of room to improve. Which is the best part, if you ask me. I mean, he is doing that great allready with all those things that can be improved a lot. That screams to me a totally insane potential, hes ceiling is in the outer space.

Yeah it's important to keep perspective. He is rivaling legends of the game with his pace and the legends played in an era where they averaged 2-3 goals per game more than today.

**** yes he has a lot to learn. Imagine when he does. Someone who rivals the legends at 18 and on a ridiculous learning curve he has been able to uphold. From mestis to Liiga playoff MVP to world championships MVP to rivaling Crosby in his best goal scoring year ever. At 18.

Think of that for a second. How fast is this child developing?

 

[Trilliann]

Most common one of the nature names that doesn't any "-nen" or other addition to it. In fact that kind of names are called 'Laine-type names' among the scholars of the field.

Yea, my Twitter feed was confusing,
Laine with a sweet pass YAY, Laine shootout goal YAAAYY, Laine beat up a Swedish nazi in a police car YAAA.. wait, what ?? Oh, some other Laine dude..

 

[QnebO]

Laine shot the puck 101mph in winnipeg skills test.. thats pretty ****ing solid for an u20 junior

 

[Male75FromFinland]

Laine shot the puck 101mph in winnipeg skills test.. thats pretty ****ing solid for an u20 junior

WOW, how hard he is going to shoot 5 years from now when he has more muscle

 

[KingBogo]

Laine shot the puck 101mph in winnipeg skills test.. thats pretty ****ing solid for an u20 junior

WOW, how hard he is going to shoot 5 years from now when he has more muscle

In today's FP they had a quote from Laine asking if he considered using Buff's stick to get an edge (122 flex Vs. Laine's 87 flex). Laine replied that I think it would have cracked my hands so he didn't want to try. Good choice, no use risking that weapon of his.

 

[JayJay]

Not sure if solely criticizing every move a player does can be regarded as an objective view. I don' t think anyone is suggesting that Laine is perfect in all areas of the play or that there isn' t any room/need for improvement. And he does acknowledge the weaker sides of his game and is working hard to get better. But that doesn't take away the amazing things kid has already done this season. Sometimes it sounds almost like he is complete useless player who hasn' t done a single good thing during his career. Lose puck once on the o-zone and you are done. Everything seems so black and white at times.

Overly criticizing Laine has been a favorite sport of many since last spring. I guess that is a byproduct of the hype that got totally out of hands. I agree that the hype was bit too much but the wave of critique was (and still is) even more ridiculous. It became more trendy to down play everything Laine does and not really appreciate anything he has accomplished. Not getting into the hype seemed to mean you have to beat the kid at every chance you get.

I don't know if people expect him to be perfect all the time or what is it. You can point out the areas he still needs to work on and give the critique when there is reason for it. That's okay. But criticizing 18yo for not being the best player on ice on every shift, while playing with accomplished players, doesn't seem fair. He isn't supposed to be the best one out there quite yet. But that doesn't change the fact that what he has already done is remarkable and that he has great potential to become one of the better ones in the game. He might not be the best player in the team but he has been a crucial part of Jets offence all season.
I feel that Laine wouldn't face a half of this criticism he is getting now if he hadn't had so much success on his young career already.

ps. those worried of his recent point production; 5 goals and 8 points in the last 10 games played. Wouldn't consider that as a weak performance by any means.

 

[Insthofen]

Laine and Ehlers might become the most feared duo in the league in the near future playing with a good center. They already seem to like each other a lot. I don't think they have yet practiced together a lot, and that's why they don't seem to connect very well.

 

[MrBoJangelz71]

Not sure if solely criticizing every move a player does can be regarded as an objective view. I don' t think anyone is suggesting that Laine is perfect in all areas of the play or that there isn' t any room/need for improvement. And he does acknowledge the weaker sides of his game and is working hard to get better. But that doesn't take away the amazing things kid has already done this season. Sometimes it sounds almost like he is complete useless player who hasn' t done a single good thing during his career. Lose puck once on the o-zone and you are done. Everything seems so black and white at times.

Overly criticizing Laine has been a favorite sport of many since last spring. I guess that is a byproduct of the hype that got totally out of hands. I agree that the hype was bit too much but the wave of critique was (and still is) even more ridiculous. It became more trendy to down play everything Laine does and not really appreciate anything he has accomplished. Not getting into the hype seemed to mean you have to beat the kid at every chance you get.

I don't know if people expect him to be perfect all the time or what is it. You can point out the areas he still needs to work on and give the critique when there is reason for it. That's okay. But criticizing 18yo for not being the best player on ice on every shift, while playing with accomplished players, doesn't seem fair. He isn't supposed to be the best one out there quite yet. But that doesn't change the fact that what he has already done is remarkable and that he has great potential to become one of the better ones in the game. He might not be the best player in the team but he has been a crucial part of Jets offence all season.
I feel that Laine wouldn't face a half of this criticism he is getting now if he hadn't had so much success on his young career already.

ps. those worried of his recent point production; 5 goals and 8 points in the last 10 games played. Wouldn't consider that as a weak performance by any means.

Good post.

Not aware of our board being harshly critical of this kid, or blindly positive either. Leaf fans are another story.

For me, it's the thought of what Laine will be in 5 years time, the potential for him to be elite in multiple areas of the game, that has me smiling ear to ear.

Imagine if a Laine makes similar gains to that of Scheifele, from his first season, till now, what that could look like.

 

[JayJay]

Good post.

Not aware of our board being harshly critical of this kid, or blindly positive either. Leaf fans are another story.

For me, it's the thought of what Laine will be in 5 years time, the potential for him to be elite in multiple areas of the game, that has me smiling ear to ear.

Imagine if a Laine makes similar gains to that of Scheifele, from his first season, till now, what that could look like.

Yep, mostly not a issue on this board. I was writing more about overall feel I'm getting all around. Not just recently but since April. I'm not targeting my text to Jet fans or any specific poster and that's why I opted not to quote any exact post with my earlier reply. There seems tobe a few posters who have very little positive to say but mainly folks here are viewing the wider picture.

 

[FVM]

The URL of the HFJets subforum is "http://hfboards.mandatory.com/forumdisplay.php?f=29" Now is that an omen or what?

Carry on.

 

[kelsier]

Haven't missed a single Jets game yet and not planning to either. I hate winter itself, but when you have a hockey tv packet, projector and a warm sofa there's not much you can complain about.

The kid has outplayed almost all the expectations this season. You kind of just have to wonder where Laine's ultimate peek is. He has only scratched a surface of that potential and already is one of the most feared shooters in the game at the age of 18. Personally I wouldn't be surprised if he was rivalling for the Hart trophy along with rockets' throughout his career.

 

[Stubu]

Most common one of the nature names that doesn't any "-nen" or other addition to it. In fact that kind of names are called 'Laine-type names' among the scholars of the field.

What would be these scholars in the field? Etymologists? I wanna link.

BTW, is a laine just a small lake wave, chasing a proper aalto? Then you have amalgamations like a sea tyrsky let alone maininki, but those are constructed of aaltos rather than laines. Need to know what are lake and what are sea words.

Hey, what's your view on -nen? It's sometime "-like", sometimes "little -", it's a bugger.

 

[Lempo]

What would be these scholars in the field? Etymologists? I wanna link.

BTW, is a laine just a small lake wave, chasing a proper aalto? Then you have amalgamations like a sea tyrsky let alone maininki, but those are constructed of aaltos rather than laines. Need to know what are lake and what are sea words.

Hey, what's your view on -nen? It's sometime "-like", sometimes "little -", it's a bugger.

Ask and you shall be given: https://fi.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirkka_Paikkala . It's her classification in her lastname book.

I'd rather you used the wish for a win or a hatter but *shrug*.

In last names my view is that -nen is pretty much like shortened -lainen. Folks from around the lake, river, rock -> Järvinen, Jokinen, Kivinen respectively. People of Seinäjoki for example still insist to be called "seinäjokinen" instead of more grammatical "seinäjokelainen".

 

[Halberdier]

Didn't have another set of hats today, but not too bad: 1+2 and a beautiful shot on goal post in the 1st period.

If I got it right, Laine has now 18+11=29 in 34 games, and is leading the Jets in +/- with +7. Add in the largest number of power play points (9, Wheeler is 2nd with 6) and the fact that Jets is "-10" with 90 goals for, 100 against, and you see how impressive those Laine's +/- and PPP are. With a simple and conservative calculation, Laine has been on the ice at least 16 times more when his team scores than when the opposite player does.

Out of 90 points by the Jets, Laine has got points for almost 1/3 of them (Scheifele has exactly 1/3 with his 30 points), and has scored exactly every 4th of those goals.

When compared to other Calder trophy candidates, the TOP-5 for rookie point leaders looks currently like this:

1. Patrik Laine 34. 18+11=29, +7 0.85 PPG
2. Auston Matthews 30. 14+9=23, -1 0.77
3. Mitchell Marner 30. 8+15=23, -3 0.77
4. William Nylander 29. 6+14=20, -2 0.69
5. Zach Werenski 28. 6+14=20, +7 0.71

Werenski's stats are off the charts really, for a rookie d-man. As the Blue Jackets have been playing better than the Jets, his +/- is still only the 9th best of his team. Only one regular Blue Jacket has +/- stat lower than +5 (Boone Jenner, -2)! Werenski has also a huge number of PPPs, 10, tying for 4th place on his team.

Marner has worst +/- of the Toronto forwards, Matthews is below average and Nylander is in between of these guys. Nylander is the best PP player for Toronto in points, whopping 11 PPPs. Matthews is the 2nd with 8 PPPs, and Marner has "only" 5, which is still a good number.

 

[kxx]

The URL of the HFJets subforum is "http://hfboards.mandatory.com/forumdisplay.php?f=29" Now is that an omen or what?

Carry on.

I have also noticed that and thought it was pretty funny.

29 points for 29 as it stands.

 

[Thai jet*]

Not sure if solely criticizing every move a player does can be regarded as an objective view. I don' t think anyone is suggesting that Laine is perfect in all areas of the play or that there isn' t any room/need for improvement. And he does acknowledge the weaker sides of his game and is working hard to get better. But that doesn't take away the amazing things kid has already done this season. Sometimes it sounds almost like he is complete useless player who hasn' t done a single good thing during his career. Lose puck once on the o-zone and you are done. Everything seems so black and white at times.

Overly criticizing Laine has been a favorite sport of many since last spring. I guess that is a byproduct of the hype that got totally out of hands. I agree that the hype was bit too much but the wave of critique was (and still is) even more ridiculous. It became more trendy to down play everything Laine does and not really appreciate anything he has accomplished. Not getting into the hype seemed to mean you have to beat the kid at every chance you get.

I don't know if people expect him to be perfect all the time or what is it. You can point out the areas he still needs to work on and give the critique when there is reason for it. That's okay. But criticizing 18yo for not being the best player on ice on every shift, while playing with accomplished players, doesn't seem fair. He isn't supposed to be the best one out there quite yet. But that doesn't change the fact that what he has already done is remarkable and that he has great potential to become one of the better ones in the game. He might not be the best player in the team but he has been a crucial part of Jets offence all season.
I feel that Laine wouldn't face a half of this criticism he is getting now if he hadn't had so much success on his young career already.

ps. those worried of his recent point production; 5 goals and 8 points in the last 10 games played. Wouldn't consider that as a weak performance by any means.

I think you may be over reacting a bit. Other than some baiting by Leaf Fan and some Finn rival fans he has had a lot of support from what I have seen. Long time Jet fans know that Patrik is not the most hyped 18 year old rookie the Winnipeg Jets have had in their history. Dale Hawerchuk came to us as a consensus #1 overall pick and led the Calder race all season. We have been lucky to have had them, plus Teemu, come to our team.

 

[Hokinaittii]

Seems like Avs' announcers got a bit excited when Laine scored. Not so excited after Ehler's goal.

 

[randomhockeyfan]

Didn't have another set of hats today, but not too bad: 1+2 and a beautiful shot on goal post in the 1st period.

If I got it right, Laine has now 18+11=29 in 34 games, and is leading the Jets in +/- with +7. Add in the largest number of power play points (9, Wheeler is 2nd with 6) and the fact that Jets is "-10" with 90 goals for, 100 against, and you see how impressive those Laine's +/- and PPP are. With a simple and conservative calculation, Laine has been on the ice at least 16 times more when his team scores than when the opposite player does.

Out of 90 points by the Jets, Laine has got points for almost 1/3 of them (Scheifele has exactly 1/3 with his 30 points), and has scored exactly every 4th of those goals.

When compared to other Calder trophy candidates, the TOP-5 for rookie point leaders looks currently like this:

1. Patrik Laine 34. 18+11=29, +7 0.85 PPG
2. Auston Matthews 30. 14+9=23, -1 0.77
3. Mitchell Marner 30. 8+15=23, -3 0.77
4. William Nylander 29. 6+14=20, -2 0.69
5. Zach Werenski 28. 6+14=20, +7 0.71

Werenski's stats are off the charts really, for a rookie d-man. As the Blue Jackets have been playing better than the Jets, his +/- is still only the 9th best of his team. Only one regular Blue Jacket has +/- stat lower than +5 (Boone Jenner, -2)! Werenski has also a huge number of PPPs, 10, tying for 4th place on his team.

Marner has worst +/- of the Toronto forwards, Matthews is below average and Nylander is in between of these guys. Nylander is the best PP player for Toronto in points, whopping 11 PPPs. Matthews is the 2nd with 8 PPPs, and Marner has "only" 5, which is still a good number.

What the rookies are doing this year is beyond amazing. Next year is gonna be a disappointment compared to this.

 

[psycho_dad*]

Avalanche broadcast said Laine is the best shooter in the league. As I said earlier, it won't take long for that fact to be self evident and obvious to most.

 

[winnipegger]

In my local game tonight I was coming down the left side on a 2 on 1 and I am a right shot. I tried to one time it like Laine. I failed. It was embarrassing. That's harder than it looks.

 

[Tesaka]

In my local game tonight I was coming down the left side on a 2 on 1 and I am a right shot. I tried to one time it like Laine. I failed. It was embarrassing. That's harder than it looks.

Hehehe, that one timer for sure is not as easy as he makes it to look. Little over 6 yrs ago this little boy was playing as goalie too. I am waiting to see when he gets some power and uses little stiffer stick, he will be destructive. If Ehlers also starts scoring now then Laine will add up plenty of assist too.
This young Jets team will be something to watch for!

 

[NotCommitted]

Hehehe, that one timer for sure is not as easy as he makes it to look. Little over 6 yrs ago this little boy was playing as goalie too. I am waiting to see when he gets some power and uses little stiffer stick, he will be destructive. If Ehlers also starts scoring now then Laine will add up plenty of assist too.
This young Jets team will be something to watch for!

Wasn't his slap shot the 2nd fastest on the team by 0.1mph after Buffy? I don't know much about sticks but does it really make any sense for him to go for a stiffer stick? I'm under the impression a lot of his shot is about having a great technique utilizing a bendy stick.

 

[CorgisPer60]

Seems like Avs' announcers got a bit excited when Laine scored. Not so excited after Ehler's goal.

My favorite thing about watching Altitude Sports feeds is when the Avalanche get scored on. Their play-by-play guy is such a homer, that when they get scored on, he does what he did on the Ehlers goal. It's hilarious.

 

[psycho_dad*]

Wasn't his slap shot the 2nd fastest on the team by 0.1mph after Buffy? I don't know much about sticks but does it really make any sense for him to go for a stiffer stick? I'm under the impression a lot of his shot is about having a great technique utilizing a bendy stick.

Once his power (and mass) improves he might need to move to a slightly stiffer flex. Meaning even harder shots. Technique wise he is ahead of other shooters of today. He should only improve in both accuracy and velocity. I can't think of other teenagers shooting at 101 mph. I'm sure there are some but I can't think of one.

 

[psycho_dad*]

Laine commented on his goal to Finnish tabloids. 99 times out of 100 he will bury that great of a chance. The one time the stick breaks. Confidence, it's a helluva drug