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LW Patrik Laine - Tappara, FEL (2016 Draft)

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I've always seen Laine as a more talented player than Puljujärvi, but he shouldn't be better than Pulju right now. And that's only criticism towards Kärpät and Puljujärvi himself. First Kärpät were rushing him into their stacked lineup, even though there were big holes in his game. Then he was bounced between Kajaani and Oulu, and that makes a 16-year-old pretty much homeless, at least mentally. Add WJC U20 and U18, and Pulju played 80+ games or something, most of them against men.

Whereas Laine seemed like an intriguing option for Tappara offensively, but his agility wasn't there, so it was a simple decision to send him to LeKi. And even if he was bounced around, it's only like 15 minutes drive between Tampere and Lempäälä. And if I've gotten it right, he trained with Tappara the whole season, organization that is often named as the Finland's best on physical training.

Then I don't know what Pulju did during the summer, but he hasn't really improved from where he left off, even though he has been on Kärpät's top line almost the whole preseason. Now Laine has gotten his skating together and it's not just good for his age+size, but it's actually pretty good for Liiga-level. If he only could add more accuracy to his shot, he'd score scary amount of goals this season. And I'm saying this as someone, who has seen Liiga's two-time top goal scorer Olli Palola live in about 100 games last two season. Laine is more creative and gets more scoring chances, and has at least as hard a shot. Add more accuracy, balance and muscle, and Laine is NHL-level top6-forward. Puljujärvi needs to improve his decision making and hockey IQ, and then we can return to comparing them.
 
Raimo Sillanpää said:
You don't win the scoring race/rookie of the year/first overall/whatever if you are too humble. Laine should push the envelope at all times but not open it, be borderline but not uncontrollable.
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It's hard to judge these kinds of things objectively. Say he threatens to kill the coach of he doesn't get more ice time -- When he does that at 15 he's considered an unstable kid, a threat to hockey culture and society at large etc. When he does that at 20 he's considered an ambitious player who knows his self worth and whatever.

The hockey media tries to sell its product by any means so they resort to throwing things out of proportion, just like any media fighting for attention.
 
Risingwind said:
It's hard to judge these kinds of things objectively. Say he threatens to kill the coach of he doesn't get more ice time -- When he does that at 15 he's considered an unstable kid, a threat to hockey culture and society at large etc. When he does that at 20 he's considered an ambitious player who knows his self worth and whatever.

The hockey media tries to sell its product by any means so they resort to throwing things out of proportion, just like any media fighting for attention.
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Of course. That's why I said within reason, and had the asterix bit.
I think Jukka Jalonen compared Laine and Puljujärvi well, iirc he told Puljujärvi that he must be more focused on himself and not always making the team play. Laine's doing exactly that, that's why he's rising.
 
Raimo Sillanpää said:
Of course. That's why I said within reason, and had the asterix bit.
I think Jukka Jalonen compared Laine and Puljujärvi well, iirc he told Puljujärvi that he must be more focused on himself and not always making the team play. Laine's doing exactly that, that's why he's rising.
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Easier said than done in Marjamäki's system.
 
VLU5 said:
Easier said than done in Marjamäki's system.
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I just dont like what is happening with Pulju...Someone mentioned that he has to develop his hockey iq, but how? decision making will get better once player will mature but hockey iq is basically something you are born with or without. As for Jesse, it doesnt seem to be one of his strenghts to be honest. And that is a damn shame..

Then this all around play-nonsense.. me no likey.
 
Laine will have to learn to skate(no where near nhl level) before we can talk about him being there with Puljujarvi.
 
Tuomaz said:
Laine will have to learn to skate(no where near nhl level) before we can talk about him being there with Puljujarvi.
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And Puljujarvi has to learn to think the game at another level before he can challenge Laine as the top Finnish prospect of the next draft.
 
Loffer said:
And Puljujarvi has to learn to think the game at another level before he can challenge Laine as the top Finnish prospect of the next draft.
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i know you are huge Laine fan but he really needs to work on his skating. It is maybe enough on the big ice where there isn't opponents near at you but in NHL you will need to be quick. If he does not we will have another Marko Anttila on our hands.
 
Laine's skating is not that bad anymore. I think it's going to be really close between Puljujarvi / Laine next summer.
 
Guys who bash all the time here Laine's skating haven't obviously seem him play during the last month. I can't see any kind of huge weakness there, it's not a strength, but not a weakness anymore. Summer workouts have done big things.

And nothing prevents him getting better, guy is freaking 17-year-old. :D He doesn't even have to be a superb skater, because that long reach gives so superb advantage, that you don't have to close gaps with skating, or burn away with skating. Just use the stick and game-sense.

Watch the games.
 
Henkka said:
Guys who bash all the time here Laine's skating haven't obviously seem him play during the last month. I can't see any kind of huge weakness there, it's not a strength, but not a weakness anymore. Summer workouts have done big things.
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Agreed. Skating isn't a huge weakness for Laine, but it's probably the weakest point of his game right now. He has good speed for his size but isn't very agile. Some more lower body strength should improve his first steps. With time I can see him developing similar skating ability to Barkov, who is quite a good skater nowadays.
 
Alexandrov said:
Agreed. Skating isn't a huge weakness for Laine, but it's probably the weakest point of his game right now. He has good speed for his size but isn't very agile. Some more lower body strength should improve his first steps. With time I can see him developing similar skating ability to Barkov, who is quite a good skater nowadays.
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IMO his biggest weakness is his balance. He doesn't go down easily, but he's like a deer on the ice almost everytime he hits or gets hit. And his hits don't seem to do much against men. So bolded is pretty obviously what he needs. But it's much better to have holes in physical game than in hockey sense like JP.
 
Finnish Tank Support said:
IMO his biggest weakness is his balance. He doesn't go down easily, but he's like a deer on the ice almost everytime he hits or gets hit. And his hits don't seem to do much against men. So bolded is pretty obviously what he needs. But it's much better to have holes in physical game than in hockey sense like JP.
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Pulju lack of hockey-iq could be a result of trying to please his team too much. Laine has a attitude, he want the puck and he wants to score and contribute. Havent seen that attitude from Pulju in the CHL, but he has it. In the JWC he showed a far more offensive attitude. Aint that simple to be a teenager and play in a mens team.

Laine is looking very good, its gonna be a tight race between these two guys but ill stick with Pulju going first at the moment. I really would like to see them on smaller ice thou.

One thing i really like with Laine is that his mentallity and playstyle is so "Un-nordic" i think its a well needed fresh breath in the Scandinavian hockey World (wich i honestly think is rather boring)
 
Tuomaz said:
i know you are huge Laine fan but he really needs to work on his skating. It is maybe enough on the big ice where there isn't opponents near at you but in NHL you will need to be quick. If he does not we will have another Marko Anttila on our hands.
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Laine won't probably never skate, like Rantanen or Barkov.
But he has 4 strengths 1 Big size 2 Good Hands 3 Explosive shot 4 Killer Instincts for goal scoring.

Those strengths might be enough to some GM, to pick him TOP5.
If / when Laine will shine in liiga and world juniors, i won't be surprised if he'll rise TOP3 before last 2016 NHL draft ranking
 
It's funny to see people still commenting Laine's skating like it's going to be the end of the world if he can't improve it drastically before the draft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH783RKHuOg

There's a full game of the last CHL game Tappara had. I'll be editing some highlights as soon as I'm able to finish the game.

At 7:20 there's a good example of his skating. Or 53:55. Tappara seem to trust a lot in Laine at taking the puck into the zone on their PP.

EDIT: 2 posts for him in the same shift starting at 11:40 or so.¨

EDIT: Fine example of how to intercept the pass 23:05. Or how about 1:00:20, man... shame he didn't score.
 
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I think the issue that a lot of people have with Laine's skating is that his acceleration seems to be his biggest weakness. Getting up to top speed over a long distance and powering through opponents is one thing, but the fact remains that the vast majority of footraces in NHL games are won or lost in the first two steps. It's not as though everyone needs to have Bure-level acceleration to succeed at the NHL level, but it's probably going to be the biggest hurdle Laine has to face.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db7pgIPDnN8

New interview from Laine in Finnish but also couple of new plays on the video from the games not streamed during the summer for those who are interested.

The first couple of questions has nothing interesting in them (how did you become such a good goalscorer - "well dunno you know, i practiced shooting a lot when i was young etc).
But when he was asked about his training during the summer, he talked about becoming better as overall player but especially from the defensive side he needed a lot improvement there and felt that was his biggest weakness.
Then the interviewer asked "how do you feel yourself, have you improved as player then?" where he answered with a smile: "To be quite honest, I feel good. I believe that (I've gone forward) and I can feel it."

Tappara's head coach Tapola expected Laine to pick a new level in his game so he could have the consistency that playing the whole year in men's league requires for young player.

Tapola was asked how he feels Laine has improved during the training/CHL games which he replied: "Pate has done well and it's nice to see him keeping up with pacing of the game, skating and the game in overall while things are going nice for him. But he also said things can change for him when everything doesn't go as planned which is the hardest part of playing full season of men's hockey, you need to find that mental capability to handle all the bad moments and keep the consistency in your game.

Lastly Tapola was asked which part of the game Laine has improved the most. "Skating and the overall playing, like when to just shoot the puck deep and when to try the fancy moves but he also said they are working on him all the time to make him as better player but not forgetting his strengths. They are basically trying to find the balance of "you can't do that in men's games" and still playing with his own strengths.

Oh and apparently Laine has one of the best shots Tapola has ever seen, who would have thought? :sarcasm:
 
JJTT said:
http://areena.yle.fi/1-2986201

Stubb/Jalonen talk about Laine from 39 minutes onwards.

Interview with Puljujärvi is around 1:15.
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Thanks for posting this. It was nice to hear what Stubb and Jalonen had to say about Laine. It was the second time Jalonen has publicly praised him, and it really looks like Laine's so called character issues haven't been an issue for Jalonen. Stubb also spoke highly of him (Laine), although he said he's only met Laine once personally. Laine Hype Train has really gained an extra gear in the Finnish media, and Laine has surpassed Puljujärvi as the most talked about Finnish hockey prospect. I think it's too early to say that Laine will be drafted before Pulju, but Laine has definitely outplayed Pulju since the U18 WJC, there's no question about that.
 
Finnish Tank Support said:
IMO his biggest weakness is his balance. He doesn't go down easily, but he's like a deer on the ice almost everytime he hits or gets hit. And his hits don't seem to do much against men. So bolded is pretty obviously what he needs. But it's much better to have holes in physical game than in hockey sense like JP.
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Yeah. You can always build physics. He doesn't have to physically ready for years. And don't worry about physics, Tappara is the best place in Finland to build physics and especially physics for a big player. The tradition in very long from Rautakorpi's first days almost two decades ago.

Also, there's now an interview on Youtube, where his head coach Tapola says his biggest improvement this summer has been skating. Also he has learned a lot about overall system things, and coach was pleased for that. Tapola said, that it's kind of the starting point to get a spot from Liiga. Now the concentration point during the season will be mental balance and consistency. Coach Tapola also praised his shot, "probably the best I've ever seen" (for a Finnish player).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db7pgIPDnN8

Laine feels that defensive game is his weakest area. Also says himself that summer training was good for his skating.

Looks like that short video material is from Tappara-Sport game 2 weeks ago.
 
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People need to stop saying hockey IQ can't be improved. People often have this misconception of the brain thinking its not morphable and you can't improve your brain's capacity.

Puljujärvi is a teen, his brain is under constant development, sure his IQ is unlikely to reach Laine's but his IQ's still VERY morphable.

Your brain can change physically, at any age, especially with the right stimulation.

Also it's not even guaranteed his IQ is that bad, the reason to why Laine outshines him there is mostly due to him seizing his individual creativity more than Puljujärvi who sacrifices a part of his creativity by playing more team play than Laine


Expressing creativity and following orders hardly goes hand-in-hand
 
http://yle.fi/urheilu/patrik_laine_-_paha_poika_vai_seuraava_supertahti/8294444
(I hope it works to people not from Finland also)

"Bad boy or next superstar?". Horrible interview otherwise considering the first minute was about reporter asking is he a bad boy or a-hole refering to the events of 2014 Ivan Hlinka when he was kicked out from the team. Laine said he don't recognize the person behind those words anymore and thinks he has grown out of those kind of situtations on ice.

But more importantly Laine said he is willing to play in the NHL as soon as possible so I guess there goes the talks about him not wanting to leave Finland and not being mentally stable to move away. It takes a lot courage as a 16 years old guy to talk publicly about him seeing the psychologist and calling him/her after games. Guy clearly realized he had problems and was willing to work on them.
 
From Corey Pronman latest rank:

10. Patrik Laine, LW, Tappara (Liiga)

Laine has been on the radar for a number of years, and as a 17-year-old who is 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, with a ton of skill, one can imagine he’ll remain there. He’s a fantastic playmaker whose high level of vision and overall instincts complement his physical gifts, making him a top-end prospect. His skating is a work in progress, though. Laine has been dinged in the past for off-ice issues, and while there are still some concerns, NHL people I’ve talked to have felt he’s shown signs of maturing.
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Looks like Pronman is badly off the board when he describes one of the purest sniper ever as a "playmaker".

Funny how that Puljujärvi-analyze, in reality, reminded me more of Laine than this Laine-analyze. Maybe he has messed up some text lines with them. :D Pulju was ranked 2.

This is about Pulju:

The best word to describe his game is “excitement,” because every time he’s bringing the puck up the ice, you think a goal is seconds away because of his high-end combination of size, speed and skill. XXX has a flair for the spectacular from close in and possesses a fantastic shot to finish from medium distances.
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Put Laine to that XXX, minus that speed-word and you have what Patrik Laine currently is.
 
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