Player Discussion Patrik Laine: ruining the tank

[waitin425]

Are you a professional athlete? The impact of the flu on someone with a regular job is vastly different from its effect on someone whose work requires high physical demands.

I'm not. I know a couple former ones though. I'll ask them about illness for a team and whether they knew anyone who gamed the system for "time off".

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

give the guy break

when you miss work for a few days. are you faking or sick?

Team has shown they can win without him for the time being , not the end of the world , Laine is our little luxury anyways

 

[Frankenheimer]

Woah! Easy there. I am taking a shit kicking for being slightly concerned about a 10 day flu absence. I've never missed work for 10 days because of a flu, but apparently some have here and there is nothing to be concerned about. We shouldn't even discuss it. In fact it is alarmist and offensive to talk about concerns for a player.

I hope he is just fine and comes back roaring at the same pace he had at the end of 2024, and that I am proven to be an idiot.

I think it depends on the line of work. In professional sports, you can be replaced, and unless you perform better than your replacement, you're better off recovering until fully ready.

10 days for a flu is not excessive especially if its a gastro and you end up losing some weight/muscle. Some jobs that don't require world class conditioning and physical strength can be peformed adequately at the tail end of a flu. The threshhold for a professional athlete is significantly higher, particularly in Montreal where fans are ready to go for the jugular when you're not performing well. So yeah, better to be in optimal condition before hitting the ice for the habs.

 

[InsideLaine]

Seems more and more like the Columbus game broke Laine. 0+1 in 4 games with just 4 shots on goal since going back to Columbus and now sitting out for the 4th straight time. That's 8 straight games of basically nothing from Laine. Hate to say it but this might be a situation were both Laine and @thebus88 were right. Laine was right about Columbus and the terrible mindset that the team had when it comes to winning and loosing, while bus might be right that Laine is just getting by because he has one of the best shots of all time and pretty much nothing else...

I agree on the first part, which is the effect of the Columbus game. To me it seems like Laine maybe fell back, at least momentarily now, to the mental health struggles which he hoped he was free from. Nothing uncommon about that though, it happens, and it takes time to bounce back.

Maybe he has the flu as well. Maybe he is feeling fatigued due his brain having to work overtime in order to handle the additional stress from the Columbus-hassle. And yes, it can happen.

I will not guess any more specific details, but I definitely feel for him. I myself have struggled with anxiety for over a decade, which then brought depression and extreme fatigue for the past few years. Was finally diagnosed with ADHD, and after receiving the correct medication for it the fatigue and the depression disappeared. Anxiety stayed but became a tad easier to deal with.

Im not trying to diagnose Laine, only saying that the issues he is dealing with might affect him more than him or others thought. He is also very young when it comes to dealing with e.g. mental health issues. Here's to hoping that he can find ways to minimize the negative effects of mistakes, failure, not reaching his own expectations etc.

 

[Marioesque]

Team has shown they can win without him for the time being , not the end of the world , Laine is our little luxury anyways

Exactly. And that's what excites me a lot here. This team is now showing it's a solid playoff candidate, you don't beat so many top teams in a row by chance. So now we have a playoff bound young team that's capable of challenging the other top teams.

This reminds me a lot of the situation Laine found himself in with Tappara in Finland. Top level team, he came in and played 3rd line minutes in regular season (mind you he was 16 and it's a great feat). In playoffs he broke the scoring record, was MVP and team won the championship. His unicorn shot decided every playoff series, one against my favorite team. I couldn't even be mad, because I was watching evolution of hockey. I was excited.

Now he's playing with the best offensive defenseman he has ever played with, someone who draws attention and can find Laine in space. That's going to amount to so much. Especially on PP, but you can get more from him if you surround him with top talent 5 on 5 as well.