Patrik Laine Torches His Old Team, Revealing Why He Asked for a Trade
Dave Litman
Monday, December 23, 2024 Columbus Blue Jackets, Montreal Canadiens
Patrik Laine has rediscovered his scoring touch with the Montreal Canadiens with eight goals in nine games since his debut. Sometimes a fresh start can just do wonders for a player.
But from the sounds of it, it was more than a fresh start with a new team that Laine was looking for when he asked out of Columbus. He revealed to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, ahead of his first visit back to Ohio on Monday night, just exactly why he asked for a trade from the Blue Jackets. And he didn't hold anything back.
“I feel like we were just doing the same thing year after year. I was tired of losing and just giving up when it’s December to start focusing on next year. I’m not going to do that. That’s frustrating as a player when you’re trying to win and some people are, you know, not like that.
They’re a little too satisfied and too comfortable where they’re at. It wasn’t really a fit for me anymore.”
But wait, was Laine talking about the Blue Jackets players, or team management as being "too comfortable" and not focused on winning?
“I’ll leave that for everybody’s imagination,” Laine said. “But there were certainly, certainly people like that who were a little too comfortable and fine with losing and just doing the same thing year after year. I’m going to leave that up for discussion for everybody else.”
Interestingly, former GM Jarmo Kekäläinen was fired late season and Don Waddell was hired to take over this past summer. It was Waddell who traded Laine to Montreal.
Last year Laine was able to play only 18 games for the Jackets, and spent the last three months of the season in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.
“When I signed (a contract) here (Columbus), I made it clear that I loved being here, that it was going great, and I didn’t want to leave. Obviously, things happened, and that was kind of it for me."
Laine is playing 15:37 per night thus far with the Canadiens, after coming back earlier this month from a preseason knee injury that knocked him out of, essentially, the first two months of the season. He has eight goals and an assist for nine points in nine games and feels completely rejuvenated.
“I’m having the time of my life here (in Montreal)."
Patrik Laine has rediscovered his scoring touch with the Montreal Canadiens with eight goals in nine games since his debut. Sometimes a fres...
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