LW Patrik Laine - Tappara, Liiga (2016 Draft) IX

[CashMash]

Welp, still not coming in here again. Is the Matthews thread as bad?

Who cares if he says he wants to be the best and believes himself to be the best pick? Ovechkin, his idol, did it too. A lot of prospects have done it. It's not unheard of in sports. I don't see the big deal at all. It's no better on twitter. Look at how some responded to Cox' recent Laine tweets.

"This guy has attitude issues written all over him"

What nonsense.

He isn't a prospect in the McDavid tier, no one else currently is.

 

[Plural]

Oh the skating again. He is one off-season behind there and working with one of the best skating coaches in the world. If Barkov can turn one of his weaknesses into strengths, so should Laine. He's already way faster than Barkov when compared to their respective pre-draft years.

We are looking into a type of draft with 1a and 1b in the top two (Laine would go first in most draft years) so "good #2 drafted player" is just a bit of an understatement.

The thing is, Laine needs much more speed than Barkov in his game. Skating and pace of the game is a legitimate concern with Laine. I'm sure he will adapt and be an impact player anyways. But his currebt explosiveness is jut clearly under par for highly skilled goal-scoring winger. He is going to get better, but will it be enough?

 

[Ippenator]

I don't know what to tell you then if you think Ovechkin is not a very good player. You probably should watch more NHL hockey than FEL. Ovechkin was one of the more dominant players in this years playoffs before his team got eliminated.

I have watched enormous amounts of NHL hockey for decades already. I watched this season about 70-80 FEL games, about 40 KHL games and about 40 NHL games. In addition to these several games from SHL and NLA. I have watched altogether during two decades a huge amount of games where Ovechkin has played, so don't start judging, when you don't know jackshiiit about the facts.

You just didn't seem to understand from my post that I give almost zero value to regular season goals and points. Ovechkin makes his teams play way too onesided as he demands the plays to be made all the time for him, and has virtually no good quick passing game himself. This makes it easier especially for opponents to shut his team down in the playoffs and international tournaments.

He has not really impressed me at all, at least as a superstar in NHL playoffs. And he has been absolutely abysmal in almost every top class international tournament that I have seen him playing at

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Patrick Laine on comparing himself to Matthews. A perfect answer to an obvious question by now.

“At this point I think we’re quite even, he’s better than me at some stuff and I’m better than him at some things,” said Laine. “I think we’re quite even and that Toronto will have a tough decision to make.”

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/patrik-laine-matthews-point-quite-even/

 

[ijuka]

Laine will never be better than McDavid.

You Finnish homers are giving us all a really bad reputation on this board. Finnish hockey "knowledge" by fans has taken a massive hit in the past 6 months.

If he said that he'll be the best hockey player in the world, he'll eventually have to be better than McDavid, though.

 

[CashMash]

Patrick Laine on comparing himself to Matthews.



http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/patrik-laine-matthews-point-quite-even/

B-b-but...Attitude problems...

Confidence is a good thing and he isn't even overblowing it, like some are suggesting.

 

[Future]

Laine will never be better than McDavid.

You Finnish homers are giving us all a really bad reputation on this board. Finnish hockey "knowledge" by fans has taken a massive hit in the past 6 months.

I feel bad for you guys, I really do. Same guy you're quoting said that Matthews would be lucky to reach Barkov's current level and one of the other guys above compared Matthews to Sebastian freaking Aho. Never seen anything like what's happening on these boards recently. Sucks because there are some great and knowledgeable Finnish posters that are getting lumped in with these guys.

Laine is a great players and the Leafs could very well select him first, but even as a leaf fan and if he does come to Toronto, I'm going to standby what I say when I say that some of these statements being thrown around are blatantly ridiculous.

 

[ijuka]

I have watched enormous amounts of NHL hockey for decades already. I watched this season about 70-80 FEL games, about 40 KHL games and about 40 NHL games. In addition to these several games from SHL and NLA. I have watched altogether during two decades a huge amount of games where Ovechkin has played, so don't start judging, when you don't know jackshiiit about the facts.

You just didn't seem to understand from my post that I give almost zero value to regular season goals and points. Ovechkin makes his teams play way too onesided and it makes it easier especially for opponents to shut his team down in the playoffs and international tournaments.

He has not really impressed me at all, at least as a superstar in NHL playoffs. And he has been absolutely abysmal in almost every top class international tournament that I have seen him playing at

While I don't entirely agree with you, it's puzzling how much value people put on the regular season. If you want to win the cup, it seriously makes no difference whether you win the president's trophy with an overwhelming point difference or whether you are the second wild card.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

B-b-but...Attitude problems...

Confidence is a good thing and he isn't even overblowing it, like some are suggesting.

Agreed. I don't see any of the supposed attitude problems at all this year. Period.

 

[ijuka]

I don't see any of the supposed attitude problems at all this year. Period.

Have you been reading the reddit thread about Laine saying that he'll be Ovechkin's equal in 5 years?

 

[Plural]

Yup. As I said. Massive hit.

 

[Future]

I have watched enormous amounts of NHL hockey for decades already. I watched this season about 70-80 FEL games, about 40 KHL games and about 40 NHL games. In addition to these several games from SHL and NLA. I have watched altogether during two decades a huge amount of games where Ovechkin has played, so don't start judging, when you don't know jackshiiit about the facts.

You just didn't seem to understand from my post that I give almost zero value to regular season goals and points. Ovechkin makes his teams play way too onesided as he demands the plays to be made all the time for him, and has virtually no good quick passing game himself. This makes it easier especially for opponents to shut his team down in the playoffs and international tournaments.

He has not really impressed me at all, at least as a superstar in NHL playoffs. And he has been absolutely abysmal in almost every top class international tournament that I have seen him playing at

I'm sorry to break the news to you, but other than the Olympics, most NHL players don't care about International Competitions. Also Crosby has never been that great in international competitions and that doesn't make him any less of a player. Rick Nash seems to have always been great in International Competitions and he's just Rick Nash.

 

[Joe MacMillan]

That's because they haven't played in the same league. WJC and WC is what I've been using is simply because they all have played those leagues at similar ages. The world cup as well as the beginning of next season will tell us a lot more.

I don't think that Laine will ever have as nimble skating as McDavid, McDavid is probably the best overall skater in all of NHL. But I don't think that it's completely impossible he'll eventually become a better or even a comparable player, utilizing his own strengths.

Don't mean to jump right in the middle but I am honestly curious what makes you think that? I can easily see Laine becoming the better goal scorer but I can't see a scenario where he becomes a better or equal player unless something really goes wrong with McDavid. McDavid simply does everything so much better other than shooting and maybe handling the puck (equal).

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Have you been reading the reddit thread about Laine saying that he'll be Ovechkin's equal in 5 years?

When did Ovie make the NHL? 20? In 5 years Laine will be 23. We shall see then I guess. I have called Laine 'potentially' the best winger of his generation. When Ovie is declining in 5 years, he may be just correct.

 

[ijuka]

The thing is, Laine needs much more speed than Barkov in his game. Skating and pace of the game is a legitimate concern with Laine. I'm sure he will adapt and be an impact player anyways. But his currebt explosiveness is jut clearly under par for highly skilled goal-scoring winger. He is going to get better, but will it be enough?

At least in Liiga, Laine has been able to slither his way out of silly situations despite having no space or time(1v2 starting from a standstill). Even with his current skating, he could have a decent rookie season in NHL, but it surely will improve at least some, especially as they are specifically concentrating on the problem areas.

 

[CashMash]

Yup. As I said. Massive hit.

Agreed. What's worse is that it's so very undeserved. Only a tiny fraction of Finnish posters post in these threads, yet the entire fanbase will now be having to carry the burden of the image it has created.

 

[JA]

When did Ovie make the NHL? 20? In 5 years Laine will be 23. We shall see then I guess. I have called Laine 'potentially' the best winger of his generation. When Ovie is declining in 5 years, he may be correct.

Laine wants to achieve a 50-goal season by the age of 23. Ovechkin scored 50 goals this year. I see nothing wrong with his comment. He strives to be like his idol, and he believes that he can do it.

 

[ijuka]

When did Ovie make the NHL? 20? In 5 years Laine will be 23. We shall see then I guess. I have called Laine 'potentially' the best winger of his generation. When Ovie is declining in 5 years, he may be correct.

Ovi was 20, yes. Laine will be 18.

To me, saying he'll be "equal to Ovechkin" means he wants to score 50 goals, by the way. You can take it how you want.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Laine wants to achieve a 50-goal season by the age of 23. Ovechkin scored 50 goals this year. I see nothing wrong with his comment. He strives to be like his idol.

Ovi was 20, yes. Laine will be 18.

To me, saying he'll be "equal to Ovechkin" means he wants to score 50 goals, by the way. You can take it how you want.

A lot will depend on what the NHL does to try to address the decline in scoring. But 50 for Laine when he is a peak player at 23. I would say in 5 years this is a reasonable target that is not out of the question. If anything, it atleast shows confidence and ambition to want to be one of the best in the game. A player that is not willing to sit on his laurels. I see no supposed attitude problems in this at all. Rather it is a positive attitude being displayed.

 

[93LEAFS]

Agreed. What's worse is that it's so very undeserved. Only a tiny fraction of Finnish posters post in these threads, yet the entire fanbase will now be having to carry the burden of the image it has created.

Pretty easy to remember who the more reasonable ones were. The threads been a mess for awhile, to be honest it would of been better if the Matthews vs Laine threads stayed open because it kept all the garbage in one place, but I can understand that was a mods nightmare. Both sides easily fan the flames, there are bad leaf posters and bad finnish posters. Certain Finns don't like being told Laine isn't as good as they think he is, Leafs fans in return are tired (I include myself in this) of hearing that Leafs are going to make a mistake, Winnipeg fans are so much better, etc.

 

[ijuka]

A lot will depend on what the NHL does to try to address the decline in scoring. But 50 for Laine when he is a peak player. I would say in 5 years this is a reasonable target is not out of the question. If anything, it atleast shows confidence and ambition to want to be one of the best in the game. A player that is not willing to sit on his laurels. I see no supposed attitude problems in this.

Laine certainly works hard. His improvement for this season is largery because of how ham he went during last summer's training. He also said that during training, when others went for a break and to get something to drink, Laine stayed behind as it was a good time for some extra shooting practice.

He also said that he shoots around 100 times per training session(Apparently quite a bit above the norm).


v etcetera: Is talking about Laine worse than complaining about Finnish posters giving other Finnish posters a bad name in a Laine thread? It's not like there's anything wrong with being positive about your most promising prospect in history.

 

[FinPanda]

Yup. As I said. Massive hit.

Agreed, it doesn't feel good. I just can't leave this thread because all the things said here.

Agreed. What's worse is that it's so very undeserved. Only a tiny fraction of Finnish posters post in these threads, yet the entire fanbase will now be having to carry the burden of the image it has created.

Agreed with this too.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Laine certainly works hard. His improvement for this season is largery because of how ham he went in last summer's training. He also said that during training, when others went for a break and to get something to drink, Laine stayed behind as it was a good time for some extra shooting practice.

He also said that he shoots around 100 times per training session(Apparently quite a bit above the norm).

No doubt, I have read this about Laine. If you are a GM drafting Laine, you can sleep because He's never satisfied. He said this in the WHC, he didn't care how many points he was putting up, as long as in his mind he could even play better.

Laine is low maintenance, you won't have to force him to train with a strength or skating coach summers, nor will he be just satisfied on what he has accomplished the past season. He's the total package. Talent and a terrific head on his shoulders.

You know when his career is over, he will have done everything in his power to have left no stone unturned on being the best player he is capable of being in the NHL.

 

[Future]

On the off-chance that the Leafs do pick Laine, HF boards will never be the same. You'll have the majority of leaf fans that wanted Matthews forever scarred and angry for the next 15 years. You'll also have the craziest of Leaf fans and craziest of Finnish fans joining forces to create a hype-train that HF has never before seen, which could be even worse if Laine has some kind of ridiculous rookie year.

Would be funny to see to be honest.

 

[Ippenator]

I'm sorry to break the news to you, but other than the Olympics, most NHL players don't care about International Competitions. Also Crosby has never been that great in international competitions and that doesn't make him any less of a player. Rick Nash seems to have always been great in International Competitions and he's just Rick Nash.

Doesn't really matter, as Ovechkin has sucked and choked big time also in the Olympics. Oh, and I don't know which international tournaments you have been really watching, but Crosby has been magnificent in them really. Maybe not always pointwise, but he has been the team leader and the clutch player. He has given his all and played also great defensively. He has been in fact everything that Ovechkin has not been in international top tournaments.