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

[The Winter Soldier]

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.

Just going to make this 1 comment about Crosby and the Olympics since we do not want to get away from the topic too much which is Laine. But other than scoring the golden goal in 2010. He has never really stood out as the best player for Canada on either gold medal team. IE Vancouver or Sochi.

 

[ijuka]

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.

That was the most impressive thing about worlds, perhaps. How after every game / in between periods despite leading his team in scoring, even when he was at 4+2=6 after 2 games, he kept saying that he's playing badly and has to improve, es well as things like(loose translation): "The media likes talking about scores and whatnot, but me and the coaching staff know what I have to improve upon so I will concentrate on that and let the media / the people handle discussing the score sheets"

Considering this, all the talk about him being cocky, well...

 

[Joe MacMillan]

Just going to make this 1 comment about Crosby and the Olympics. But other than scoring the golden goal in 2010. He has never really stood out for Canada on either gold medal team.

True about the Olympics but against lesser competition at WHC he's been pretty good (for obvious reasons).

 

[Stephen]

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.

Didn't Laine and the power house Finns choke in the WC gold medal game? The parallels are eerily familiar...

 

[ijuka]

Didn't Laine and the power house Finns choke in the WC gold medal game? The parallels are eerily familiar...

Canada's team actually was much stronger and I've already criticized the coaching enough.

Laine did have some scoring chances when his team barely had any, that's good enough for that game in my opinion.

 

[Ippenator]

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


Agreed with this too.

I in fact see the situation in the way that we have a few pathetic Finns whom are butt kissing the North Americans as hard as they can. Probably wannabe Americans with the typical low Finnish self esteem. And envious of very well doing young Finnish country mates. These posters are in fact the minority in the Finnish hockey fans, but they think that they are somehow the majority. Thank God that is not the truth though. But I at least am ashamed of these kind of posters specifically.

 

[CashMash]

Didn't Laine and the power house Finns choke in the WC gold medal game? The parallels are eerily familiar...

Powerhouse? Did you look at our D-men? Not a single NHLer.

 

[Fairview]

Come on.

I'd trade the #2 pick for McDavid in half a second.

His only strength over McDavid at this point is his shot. McDavid blows him away everywhere else.

My only concern regarding McDavid is his recent injury problems. The last 2 seasons he missed significant time due to injury. This upcoming season is a big one for him, any injury that causes lengthy time off would raise red flags about his long term durability. The sports world is filled with many examples of very talented athletes having their careers cut short due to the fact that they just can't seem to stay healthy.

 

[FinPanda]

I in fact see the situation in the way that we have a few pathetic Finns whom are butt kissing the North Americans as hard as they can. Probably wannabe Americans with the typical low Finnish self esteem. And envious of very well doing young Finnish country mates. These posters are in fact the minority in the Finnish hockey fans, but they think that they are somehow the majority. Thank God that is not the truth though. But I at least am ashamed of these kind of posters specifically.

What? Being realistic isn't butt kissing.

 

[Plural]

When someone is saying that they mostly care about national team and follow that up with the notion that Ovechkin is a net negative to his team, well maybe it's time to ignore that poster.

I've seen a lot of weird and outlandish opinions during my time in HFBoards, but Laine threads take the cake. So much misinterpretation of basic hockey and glaring biases. It's sad, since most of the posters here are reasonable and actually want to discuss the player. But it's basically impossible when all reasonable critic/praise gets huge amount of mindless posts that either completely and unrealistically overrate Laine or bash him to the depths of hell.

That Laine v. Matthews thread was a good thing, since it kept a lot of the nonsense there. These Laine threads have been really low-grade after L vs. M thread was closed.

Too bad, since there is a great deal of good things (most notable the massive info in the OP) in this thread. They just get lost in the endless Laine-train.

 

[ijuka]

Endless Laine train? People being positive about Laine? No, that's not a problem at all. The thread is obviously supposed to be positive.

The problem is these certain people who complain about people being positive and want them to be "realistic" and "reasonable" without actually adding anything substantial to the discussion. The logic that becoming the best player in the world is impossible for a record breaker is one I don't follow. The current best players don't just stay the best forever, there's new blood and there's nothing wrong with discussing it.

The Matthews thread is already full of backhanded insults and stabs against Laine, how about not bringing that stuff here as well?

 

[Plural]

Endless Laine train? People being positive about Laine? No, that's not a problem at all. The thread is obviously supposed to be positive.

The problem is these certain people who complain about people being positive and want them to be "realistic" and "reasonable" without actually adding anything substantial to the discussion. The logic that becoming the best player in the world is impossible for a record breaker is one I don't follow. The current best players don't just stay the best forever, there's new blood and there's nothing wrong with discussing it.

The Matthews thread is already full of backhanded insults and stabs against Laine, how about not bringing that stuff here as well?

I'm all for being positive for Laine. Heck, he's my favorite prospect ever. Never have I followed or rooted for any prospect this much.

But when some people are saying that they expect Laine to overtake Ovechkin and Selanne as a player (yes that has happened in these threads) sooner than later you know that the thing has gotten out of hand.

Now, lets be positive. But I just can't help but to feel embarrassed by some of the Finns posting in this thread. The overhyping of Laine (and the mindless insults are just as big of a problem too) is on a level I've never seen before. Even worse than what happened when Finnish Baby Jesus was about to hit NHL ice.

 

[CashMash]

Endless Laine train? People being positive about Laine? No, that's not a problem at all. The thread is obviously supposed to be positive.

The problem is these certain people who complain about people being positive and want them to be "realistic" and "reasonable" without actually adding anything substantial to the discussion. The logic that becoming the best player in the world is impossible for a record breaker is one I don't follow. The current best players don't just stay the best forever, there's new blood and there's nothing wrong with discussing it.

The Matthews thread is already full of backhanded insults and stabs against Laine, how about not bringing that stuff here as well?

It's fine to want to be positive, but it shouldn't be an echo-chamber of just that either.

Laine is a fine prospect, but he doesn't have the same tools a player like McDavid has. Most of the time, its not enough to WANT to be the best. I obviously hope he strives for it, because it will make him the best he can be, but he is just not as talented as McDavid. That's not to say it is outlandish for him to win awards like the Richard, Hart or the like, but that would require a down year from McDavid or an unreal performance by Laine. Provided that both of them are healthy and play up to their potential, McDavid will take the cake.

Every young player would probably like to be the best, but not all of them are capable of it.

 

[Fairview]

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.

How so? he had 12 points in 12 games. 1GWG , 5 G total , 3 of which came on the PP. This is the same thing that all the Laine haters like to say about him. Too many goals on the PP and not enough 5 on 5. Ovie benefited by playing on a very good team, much like Liane.

 

[Lempo]

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.

Of course, international hockey still is very much a thing to a whole lot of people, no matter what opinion an individual North American may personally have about it, hockey professional or otherwise. If not the thing. Showing up only in a jersey that you get paid six millions a year to wear is gonna reflect upon you no goodly on that kind of people's eyes.

 

[Stephen]

Of course, international hockey still is very much a thing to a whole lot of people, no matter what opinion an individual North American may personally have about it, hockey professional or otherwise. If not the thing. Showing up only in a jersey that you get paid six millions a year to wear is gonna reflect upon you no goodly on that kind of people's eyes.

This is another example of the strange mental gymnastics people are resorting to in the Laine debate.

 

[IamherefortheFinn]

Oh come on guys,

couple of Finns here might have lost the moped from their mittens in their projections of Laine future career, but i dont think that the rest of the hfboards posters are going to make ridiculous conclusions like "most Finns are delusional homers". At least they shouldn't.

I also think that it's a bit weird how some posters here seem to get so personally upset when a handfull of those overenthusiastic Finns compare Laine to Ovie or *glup* dare i say the Canadian heroes like Lemiuex. It is just natural to hype your countrymen or the players in your team. If it's a bit over the top, just let it be. Time will tell who was right.

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.

This please, i't would provide great entertainment for years

 

[LeafFever]

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



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

Sounds like he really wants to go to the Leafs.

 

[Stephen]

Powerhouse? Did you look at our D-men? Not a single NHLer.

They were quite powerhouse when steamrolling various nations in the tournament, such as Belarus, Hungary and a few others.

 

[Joe MacMillan]

I'm all for being positive for Laine. Heck, he's my favorite prospect ever. Never have I followed or rooted for any prospect this much.

But when some people are saying that they expect Laine to overtake Ovechkin and Selanne as a player (yes that has happened in these threads) sooner than later you know that the thing has gotten out of hand.

Now, lets be positive. But I just can't help but to feel embarrassed by some of the Finns posting in this thread. The overhyping of Laine (and the mindless insults are just as big of a problem too) is on a level I've never seen before. Even worse than what happened when Finnish Baby Jesus was about to hit NHL ice.

I personally think the "closer to Lemieux than Armia" stuff is the worst. I mean when you consider that Armia isn't exactly some low life plug but actually a decent NHLer who has still room to improve, and people taking it as an insult to Laine when it is acknowledged by some that he's closer to Armia potential wise than Mario friggin' Lemieux.

 

[LeafFever]

Want to talk about selfish? How about a young Mats Sundin, who on a 2-on-1 could have given defenceman Curtis Leschyshyn his hat trick goal into an empty net, but instead shot the puck into the net himself.

http://www.hockey-fights.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/211375/



Curtis Leschyshyn averaged three goals per season over a 16-year NHL career. Mats, on the other hand, was trying to pad his career-high goal total in April.

Mats Sundin, not a leader . . . at the age of 23.

I love linking to that Cherry quote. The Leafs ripped-off Quebec so bad in that trade. An aging Wendal Clark was not worth a 1st overall, and already established big two-way centre who had a season over 100 points

Clark last one strike shortended season in Quebec. Sundin lasted 14 years in Toronto as their #1 centre.

 

[CashMash]

They were quite powerhouse when steamrolling various nations in the tournament, such as Belarus, Hungary and a few others.

Sure, but your premise was that a powerhouse team choked in the final game. The opponent was Canada and our players happened to have a bad game, getting little going. Little to do with choking when you don't have D-men who can pass to perform a breakout.

Finland had played well, but Canada was better that game. The whole team had issues, not just Laine.

 

[Lempo]

This is another example of the strange mental gymnastics people are resorting to in the Laine debate.

Actually no, but yours is an example of people misunderstanding a completely unattached tangential notion to have something to do about the Laine debate.

Mine was an off-handed comment chastising the sadly common misconception that only NHL hockey is "real" hockey and everything else is a sideshow at best.

 

[Stephen]

It is just natural to hype your countrymen or the players in your team. If it's a bit over the top, just let it be. Time will tell who was right.

To some degree yes, but also keep in mind that a lot of us think with our club teams in mind, so a Canadian who prefers an American as opposed to a Finn isn't thinking about nationalistic homerism, because honestly, if Laine played Matthews game, and Matthews was a big time scorer, you'd see Leafs fans prefer the Finn. Nor is there any real North American solidarity. Nor are Leafs fans going to be pumping the tires of every Canadian kid, just because they're Canadian. So in a lot of ways this crazy nationalism talk is more on the Finnish end.

 

[CashMash]

I personally think the "closer to Lemieux than Armia" stuff is the worst. I mean when you consider that Armia isn't exactly some low life plug but actually a decent NHLer who has still room to improve, and people taking it as an insult to Laine when it is acknowledged by some that he's closer to Armia potential wise than Mario friggin' Lemieux.

I think Armia won't amount to much, personally. He will try for a couple of years and then maybe go play somewhere else. He is 23 and has done jack squat so far.