McVespa99
Registered User
- May 13, 2007
- 6,058
- 2,799
Im curious what his decision making process will entail? What criteria will he use to decide which asses to kiss? Size? Prominence of the player attached to the ass? Other?
New elite center Patrik Laine has a message for all the top centers in the NHL
- Thread starter ViD
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TheNumber4
Registered User
- Nov 11, 2011
- 48,678
- 60,538
Strikes me as a big booty guy personally. But who knows, he also struck me as a hair having individual.
dirtydanglez
Registered User
- Oct 30, 2022
- 5,874
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Bixby Snyder
IBTFAD
He brought it up with coaching last season when they were really short on centers due to injuries.
Ezpz
No mad pls
- Apr 16, 2013
- 15,518
- 12,188
Babcock resigned because he knew he couldn't control Laine. He is a master chef of the air fryer.
Rabid Ranger
2 is better than one
nowhereman
Registered User
Big words but let's see him back them up. I'm not sure Laine is the kind of player whose game is suited for the responsibility of a center. It is a very different game compared to that of a shoot-first winger. But we'll see.
Except none of that has been true since he got to Columbus. There's established star centers in the league who have a greater sample size who have a worse faceoff rate than he did in preseason. It's a teachable skill and he's got a pretty decent coach in Jenner. Not to mention his he's been working out with Barkov in the offseason for years and mentioned they added faceoffs into the routine this year.
- Jan 24, 2007
- 7,679
- 8,390
Laine becoming an elite center would break a lot of statheads' brains, i welcome the potential chaos.
tsujimoto74
Moderator
- May 28, 2012
- 31,085
- 24,341
Hey, it worked for Tage Thompson
Cowumbus
Registered User
Playing center forces him to move his feet, he’s a lot better player when he does.
Viqsi
"that chick from Ohio"
He's already managed two out of three and is getting better at the third. (FO% is somewhere in the thirties)
I3LI3
Registered User
Voodoo Child
Registered User
- Jun 16, 2009
- 6,661
- 2,939
Always thought he could be a C. He’s got the frame and the smarts and the shot clearly.
But the motor? I don’t know.
But the motor? I don’t know.
Lapa
Global Moderator
- Feb 21, 2010
- 13,208
- 2,113
Laine gets so much hate, it’s weird.
Hopefully he does well at C, first games certainly looked promising.
Hopefully he does well at C, first games certainly looked promising.
We should embrace the fact that the NHL still has some personalities. Not everybody has to be a robot player.
Can the center experiment fail? Yes.
But would it not be fun if it worked out great? Not done by many.
People may call him lazy. And he often appears such, even at those times when he is skating past defenders.
He is not great at the boards.
His hockey IQ? Now, that is at a league top 10 level. You have it or you do not. Laine has it. And that is the most important thing to have for anyone who hopes to be in the mix for the best players.
I hate the suits. And I am his fan. But this league needs these kind of guys.
Can the center experiment fail? Yes.
But would it not be fun if it worked out great? Not done by many.
People may call him lazy. And he often appears such, even at those times when he is skating past defenders.
He is not great at the boards.
His hockey IQ? Now, that is at a league top 10 level. You have it or you do not. Laine has it. And that is the most important thing to have for anyone who hopes to be in the mix for the best players.
I hate the suits. And I am his fan. But this league needs these kind of guys.
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Those words are actually not that hard to prove.
All he has to do is NOT to kiss anybody’s ass, which is not something unattainable. Hell, I can promise the same, and I do not even play in the NHL.
The amount of lazy takes in this thread is not entirely surprising.
If I counted right I think he's played 6 games now as a center, 2 last season and 4 in the preseason and I believe he's yet to be scored a 5v5 goal against playing center, while also rocking really impressive shot metrics and something like 1.8 points per game. Now, preseason is preseason and the 2 games last season he was kinda sheltered, so remains to be seen how well it'll go in actual games that matter, but there's really been absolutely no signs it'll be a disaster, which really shouldn't be that big of a surprise to anyone who's actually watched him play the past couple seasons.
Faceoffs are going to be a challenge and while he's been engaged in both zones, who knows if he has the motor to keep it up over 20, 40 or 80 games. But there's really nothing to lose for Jackets here, while the center situation looks good for the future if at least two of Fantilli/Johnson/Sillinger pan out, they are not there yet. OTOH Laine at best is already a legit #1C and even at worst he'll be a winger who's better for the experience and can chip in at center in special situations or when you lose a guy to injury.
For all the lazy talk, this is a guy who entered the league at 18yo with probably the best shot arsenal in the world and I don't think he was born with it. From all I hear he's been really excited about the whole center thing, so I bet he's been working his ass off to give it a chance to stick. I think people underestimate how competitive he is and how much he wants to help his *team* win.
It'll be really interesting to see how it plays out and whether he succeeds or fails, I bet it'll also give the mods something to do
If I counted right I think he's played 6 games now as a center, 2 last season and 4 in the preseason and I believe he's yet to be scored a 5v5 goal against playing center, while also rocking really impressive shot metrics and something like 1.8 points per game. Now, preseason is preseason and the 2 games last season he was kinda sheltered, so remains to be seen how well it'll go in actual games that matter, but there's really been absolutely no signs it'll be a disaster, which really shouldn't be that big of a surprise to anyone who's actually watched him play the past couple seasons.
Faceoffs are going to be a challenge and while he's been engaged in both zones, who knows if he has the motor to keep it up over 20, 40 or 80 games. But there's really nothing to lose for Jackets here, while the center situation looks good for the future if at least two of Fantilli/Johnson/Sillinger pan out, they are not there yet. OTOH Laine at best is already a legit #1C and even at worst he'll be a winger who's better for the experience and can chip in at center in special situations or when you lose a guy to injury.
For all the lazy talk, this is a guy who entered the league at 18yo with probably the best shot arsenal in the world and I don't think he was born with it. From all I hear he's been really excited about the whole center thing, so I bet he's been working his ass off to give it a chance to stick. I think people underestimate how competitive he is and how much he wants to help his *team* win.
It'll be really interesting to see how it plays out and whether he succeeds or fails, I bet it'll also give the mods something to do
MCR74
Registered User
- Nov 11, 2022
- 4,170
- 5,041
