Player Discussion Patrik Laine: Part 2 - Healthy Living Edition

[Habssince89]

PP has stalled because teams are overplaying Laine - Habs haven’t found an alternate solution yet

Which is odd because he can be used as a decoy. They need to set up plays that look like they're setting up PL and they actually set up someone else like say Hutson backdoor or Suzuki/Caufield in the slot.

 

[LaineBOOM]

Paywalled article in main Finnish newspaper today. I will try to quickly summarize my takeaway. (Writing in a hurry, sorry if there is mistakes)

1) he was diagnosed with depression shortly after the death of hid father. But that wasn't the only cause, maybe not even main cause. His quality as a person and a human was for a long time seen through a lense of how he plays hockey.. a good game = good person, a bad game = bad person.

2) as the first athletic person in his family he was expected to generate not only wealth but generational wealth.

3) missed WHC in Latvia due to mental reasons, not physical injury, even though injury was claimed as the reason at the time.

4) now working to have other identities besides a hockey player (such as "dog owner")

5) he heard of his father's death because girlfriend of the time had phone on speaker mode. The message was along the lines that "... We can't tell Patrik yet".

6) for a long time he was going to sleep around 3-4am, waking up at 7. Video games were more of a symptom than a cause, the voice chat allowed him to talk to friends who he wasn't really equipped to call up and have a chat with otherwise.

There's quite a bit more and my rough points don't really do much justice to the article. I hope some English outlet will pick it up and do better translation.

A different article but probably from the same interview just came out in Finnish with some additional things:
- Patty sold away all his expensive cars during the process of figuring our this newer healthier identity of his.
- He started to go to church with his gf and their family, he has also started to pray before the games; at times alone and at times with his gf.

 

[llwyd]

Paywalled article in main Finnish newspaper today. I will try to quickly summarize my takeaway. (Writing in a hurry, sorry if there is mistakes)

1) he was diagnosed with depression shortly after the death of hid father. But that wasn't the only cause, maybe not even main cause. His quality as a person and a human was for a long time seen through a lense of how he plays hockey.. a good game = good person, a bad game = bad person.

2) as the first athletic person in his family he was expected to generate not only wealth but generational wealth.

3) missed WHC in Latvia due to mental reasons, not physical injury, even though injury was claimed as the reason at the time.

4) now working to have other identities besides a hockey player (such as "dog owner")

5) he heard of his father's death because girlfriend of the time had phone on speaker mode. The message was along the lines that "... We can't tell Patrik yet".

6) for a long time he was going to sleep around 3-4am, waking up at 7. Video games were more of a symptom than a cause, the voice chat allowed him to talk to friends who he wasn't really equipped to call up and have a chat with otherwise.

There's quite a bit more and my rough points don't really do much justice to the article. I hope some English outlet will pick it up and do better translation.

His new girlfriend seems to have been a very positive influence. For a Finnish hockey star to talk about these things is pretty huge, he must have been really in a bad way. He also thought about giving up hockey altogether. Has now turned religious too, prays etc. Well, whatever works - he clearly is now in a good place and feeling well.

 

[LaineBOOM]

This is the shorter free article which refers to the longer paywalled article that @Calendal mentions above:

HS: Masennusdiagnoosin saanut Patrik Laine pohti uransa lopettamista – myi luksusautonsa ja kääntyi uskoon

Patrik Laine kertoi Helsingin Sanomien kuukausiliitteessä pohtineensa uransa jatkoa hänen taisteltuaan mielenterveysongelmien kanssa. Terapian ja uskonnon kautta uusia tuulia löytänyt laituri kertoo myös tehneensä merkittävän muutoksen elämäntavoissaan.

www.jatkoaika.com

 

[LaineBOOM]

PP has stalled because teams are overplaying Laine - Habs haven’t found an alternate solution yet

To me it seems more like (as per stats) other teams are doing their best to avoid taking penalties in order to basically fully eliminate Laine. Habs apparently havent been able to use the chancea and the extra room/opportunities coming from it.

Just my estimate/guess based on the stats. Ive seen only single periods from the last 4 games.

 

[LaineBOOM]

His new girlfriend seems to have been a very positive influence. For a Finnish hockey star to talk about these things is pretty huge, he must have been really in a bad way. He also thought about giving up hockey altogether. Has now turned religious too, prays etc. Well, whatever works - he clearly is now in a good place and feeling well.

His gf is definitely wife-material from everything we've seen. I can kinda see them getting married next summer, and then having a baby the following year. Patty becoming a dad would give him so much extra joy and meaning. His dad used to watch all of his games. I believe having your kid in the games would have a similar effect mentally. + a kid is a good distraction when you need to forget a bad game.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Both Dach and Laine need time, but let's not pretend everone has been super patient with one guy and not the other. Both have/had lots of people being impatient with them. I'd even go as far to say Dach had more people being impatient but both have had defenders and critics.

I’m not pretending anyone did anything. Only that some have fairly exercised extreme caution with Dach and shit all over Laine.

Anyone who can look at someone with a statline of 12g and 6assists in 22 games and conclude he is dragging down his teammates with 10g and 9 assists in 50 games can’t be taken seriously.

Trying to be the smartest guy in the room with comments like those, but they only show a bias and a lack of understanding. This idea that PP goals do not count for some reason is bat shit crazy too. He’s an elite sniper who has barely played ove a couple of seasons who isn’t far off a PPG. As Carey Price would say, chill out.

 

[ReHabs]

There is literally no decision to be made. All this grumbling about this contract dilemma is just negativity. He’s clearly not at 100% — he knows it, the team knows it, the GM knew it coming in, and the fans know it.

They won’t need to talk contract until they can see he’s healthy and fit. His career could end at any instant — this is his mentality right now.

He’ll have until the end of season to see how much he can catch up.

Talk about his performances and grumble about that, it’s totally fine. The contract stuff is just hate fuel for nothing.

 

[Revansky]

He has a second year to his contract. I think next year's going to be the year to do a better assesment of his play. He was better at 5 on 5 with Columbus, i'm not worried about this part of the game getting back on track. With Demidov next year, it could also help as newhook isn't bad per say but isn't a top 6 player.

 

[the]

PP has stalled because teams are overplaying Laine - Habs haven’t found an alternate solution yet

Yeah teams are now watching him. He can't be stationary, he needs to move around.

Him and Caufield should switch places during the play when that happens.

 

[Sorinth]

I’m not pretending anyone did anything. Only that some have fairly exercised extreme caution with Dach and shit all over Laine.

Are the same posters actually holding those two opinions? Because I've seen posts from people saying that they've crapped on both players, and I've seen people defend both (Myself included).

 

[Laboeuf]

Laine is dependant on his center.
Demidov will help Laine.

I’m not sold on Dach as a center.

 

[VT]

Laine is dependant on his center.
Demidov will help Laine.

I’m not sold on Dach as a center.

Patrik played with Jenner, with whom he had 1 PPG, and Roslovic (actually Jack is a winger playing some time at center in the CBJ), with whom he had a 0,95 on an injury-plagued team, include him. I don't think they are centers who radically improve players.

 

[Scriptor]

Patrik played with Jenner, with whom he had 1 PPG, and Roslovic (actually Jack is a winger playing some time at center in the CBJ), with whom he had a 0,95 on an injury-plagued team, include him. I don't think they are centers who radically improve players.

Chemistry plays a big role. With the type of shot in Laine's arsenal, it's not like he needs to play with Wayne Gretzky either.

Until we've tried Laine with someone else than Dach at even strength -- like maybe Suzuki for a legitimate stretch of games -- it's hard to blame Laine exclusively for lacklustre performances of an entire line. All three of Dach, Newhook and Laine have sucked of late and it's Laine's fault, not the C that is supposed to drive that line? At least to some degree?

 

[sampollock]

PP has stalled because teams are overplaying Laine - Habs haven’t found an alternate solution yet

shows the depth is not there yet for this team

 

[HHel]

shows the depth is not there yet for this team

I think in last game they went right direction. They tryed to set Caufield in the slot. If they try to play more from the right side, that will eventually open Laine more.

 

[VT]

Chemistry plays a big role. With the type of shot in Laine's arsenal, it's not like he needs to play with Wayne Gretzky either.

Until we've tried Laine with someone else than Dach at even strength -- like maybe Suzuki for a legitimate stretch of games -- it's hard to blame Laine exclusively for lacklustre performances of an entire line. All three of Dach, Newhook and Laine have sucked of late and it's Laine's fault, not the C that is supposed to drive that line? At least to some degree?

No need Suzuki, your centers aren't bad.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Are the same posters actually holding those two opinions? Because I've seen posts from people saying that they've crapped on both players, and I've seen people defend both (Myself included).

I’ve seen posters defend Dach and shit on Laine, yes. Interestingly, some of them were also the ones who didn’t want Laine in the first place. Rather than admit their assessment was off they need to double down to win points on an Internet forum.

 

[Scriptor]

shows the depth is not there yet for this team

I think we can all rest assured that there won't be any over-commitment to Laine on our PP once Demidov is on the same wave. Or, at least, there won't be any over-commitment to Laine without our opponents quickly paying the price!

Laine, Caufield, Suzuki, Demidov and Hutson:

Four snipers and three elite playmakers, with the other two players not shabby passers either.

Sucks for Slafkovsky to fall off the first PP wave, but, hey, what can you do?

Or, maybe the Habs put Heineman on the first PP weave to play a net front presence and spread Slasfkovsky's skills with Caufield and Dach on the 2nd PP wave?

PP1: Laine, Suzuki, Demidov, Heineman, Hutson
PP2: Caufield, Dach, Slafkovsky, Guhle, Matheson

I'd go with two Ds on the second PP wave because I don't think that having Gallagher, Anderson, Newhook, or some other schlepp that will kill plays on that PP wave just to have ONE D and four forwards is warranted.

Maybe once Hage comes up, or if Roy (who would be great on the PP) makes a case to be a regular in the lineup at the NHL level?

Then again, Montreal -- especially with the rising Cap ceiling over the next three years (95.5M, 104M, 113M) -- could potentially sign a player like Ehlers as an UFA, after selecting a player like Ryabkin at the 2025 draft, and ice a killer top-9 that could play similar minutes while matching up against any of our opponents' lines and have a 4th line that plays 8-10 minutes a game on a lesser dollar.

Slafkovky - Ryabkin - Demidov
Caufield - Suzuki - Heineman
Ehlers - Dach - Laine
Anderson - Beck - Gallagher

The players that are bolded actually bring defensive awareness to their lines.

The third line would be used as an offensive, exploitation line that faces off against lower competition from our opponents. The offensive production would far outweigh any potential defensive weaknesses, IMo

PP1: Laine, Suzuki, Demidov, Slafkovsky, Hutson
PP2: Ryabkin, Caufield, Ehlers, Dach, Matheson/Reinbacher

You can split the PP waves with even 1 minute or so TOI per power play and even alternate who starts off each PP to keep opponents guessing.

 

[Sorinth]

I’ve seen posters defend Dach and shit on Laine, yes. Interestingly, some of them were also the ones who didn’t want Laine in the first place. Rather than admit their assessment was off they need to double down to win points on an Internet forum.

Fair enough, but if they didn't want Laine in the first place then it's not necessarily hypocritical of them since the issue at hand isn't giving time to fully recover from an injury, it's whatever stupid character/personality issue they had with Laine in the first place which time to recover from injuries won't change.

Anyways I agree with your assessment that Laine as expected needs more time to really get to 100%, after missing so much hockey last year and so far he's proven that mentally Montreal is a good fit for him.

 

[VT]

If you want all Laine's interview from that Finnish site in English, here is it: