But I think that you are representing him as some kind of superhuman. He certainly is mentally really strong, but expecting this kind of situation not to have some mental affect on him
Sure - it probably does to some extent. And those who are strong of will use adversity like this as a rallying mechanism to help find solutions to the problem, whether through internalizing, or team based solutions.
In any event: my main point, if you go back to what started this, is that none of us can know whether or not it affects them. I'd like to think (based on what I've been through and able to overcome in life) that it wouldn't affect me. I'd like to think that Laine's strong enough to battle through this. Others would like to think it's affecting him greatly.
At the end of the day, we're all guessing, as we're not in his head, nor in his shoes. Personally: I think he'll be fine, because of the will to overcome that he's displayed throughout his hockey career, both at the amateur and pro level.
In this post:
It wouldn't affect me. I don't know how it would affect you, or Laine, or anyone else for that matter. It's possible, but really just conjecture, and based on listening to Laine talk, I think he's far stronger mentally than you might be giving him credit for.
You concentrated on the bolded part of that statement, and not the more important part: none of us know how it affects him - it's all conjecture. Some would like to think it's affecting him greatly - I disagree. But none of us can really say with certainty, which is my real point.