Montreal head coach Martin St. Louis already told last Wednesday Patrik Laine accompanying the traveling team for a three-match away tour.
However, on the away tour against Columbus, Rangers and Boston, Laine was not seen in action yet.
Now on Tuesday it became clear that most likely Laine, 26, will return to real action after a knee injury when the Canadiens host the New York Islanders at 2 o’clock Finnish time on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday.
Based on the morning ice, Laine will play in the match in Montreal’s second chain Kirby Dachin and by Juraj Slafkovsky with.
But what do you expect from a player whose last official match was almost a year ago? Laine was injured while playing for Columbus on December 14th in a game against Toronto and has not played in the NHL since.
A period of a few months in the NHL treatment program can fit in between. Laine has also spoken openly to about her difficulties with, among other things, her mental health.
Laine has therefore not played for almost twelve months. The 2022–2023 season was also very ragged for Lainea and was finally canceled in March.
During the previous four seasons, the Tampere native has lost 120 NHL games to injuries.
‘s hockey expert Ismo Lehkonen would set off in moderation.
– I have seen so many of these comebacks from injuries that I fear the worst. Unless Patrik Laine is an exceptional case. It’s been a year since the last game and we should immediately win the battles, be strong near the wings and have a good feel for the puck in direct attacks, Lehkonen begins.
– Little by little, you’d have to try to jump on board, but it won’t work in Montreal, Lehkonen continues.
Of course, Lehkonen refers to the local media raking the players’ quotes with a merciless comb and even in two different languages.
– There is no fishing line. Well, there will be two games. Things have to start happening pretty quickly. Laine must soon be able to help the team to the wall of victory and sometimes be the best on the field. Otherwise there will be sayings. Here’s how it goes.
Laine has been one of the home crowd’s favorites since the beginning of the training camp. The Montreal public, who live off ice hockey, have shown their unreserved favor to the Finn in every possible situation.
Even writing in the media has been comfortably relaxed, which Lehkonen sees as a small pitfall.
– The writing has now been positive. What does he do, what kind of sandals does he wear and what does his girlfriend like. Now we start evaluating the game again and the expectations that he is an even better scorer than the youngster Cole Caufield. It’s a really tough starting point, Lehkonen states.
A depressing environment
The situation of the team brings its own spice to Laine’s situation. With 19 points, Montreal is the second weakest in the entire NHL. In the Western Conference, Chicago has collected 18 points.
The special situation play has been good, but otherwise Montreal has been the lowest caste both in terms of evidence given by the naked eye and deep data.
For example, Laine will probably get Kirby Dach as his center. Dach is a 23-year-old Canadian prospect who is just getting back to his best form after a serious knee injury. Senter’s balance from 21 matches is one scored goal and the power statistic reading is -17.
On the other side, there is a number one reservation from a couple of years ago, Juraj Slafkovsky, 20, who also played in the number one chain. The Slovakian striker has also scored one hit in eighteen matches.
It may also be that Laine does not fit, at least at first, into the first superior composition that worked well.
Laine has traditionally played predominantly on the left side as a striker, but the team’s most efficient scorer, the previously mentioned Caufield, operates there.
– There is certainly a hope that Laine could be a liberating piece for the team. If he could succeed right away and thereby be a player who would bring relaxation to a losing team and a way of thinking that this is not so serious.
Lehkonen reminds us that Laine does not belong to a particularly fertile environment. Montreal is the last team in the Eastern Conference and is playing in the spring season for nothing but glory.
The team’s season is wrapped up before Christmas – if not mathematically, then practically.
– That’s one big downside of that NHL job, when the team loses a lot. That anxious atmosphere is heavy when trying to find the right feeling and reasons why it’s nice to come to the hall. I don’t think we outside can fully get a handle on this.
According to Lehkonen, whether Laine succeeds in bringing the much-needed spark to an organization that is always underperforming depends on the quality of a lot of training.
– I hope that he is in good enough shape to cope and be able to move at the required level. Coach Martin St. In Louis’ way of playing, we go all the time. In addition, there is a defender, for example Lane Hutsonwho plays as a center forward all the time. There you have to skate quite often and hard to defend.
Number one thing
In the end, the club that pays the salary, the coaching and the friends in the chain are, however, in a broader view, side issues when thinking about whether Patrik Laine’s career will take off again.
According to Lehkonen, it is solely up to the player himself, whether he gives himself the opportunity to return to the level at which he played in the NHL between 2016 and 2019.
– Ice hockey should be the number one thing, that you can operate there at the top level. When you look at the top teams and players, even more it leans in the direction that if there is even a little indifference or if you go “just to play”, you will not succeed.
– Is hockey the number one priority for Patrik Lainee, Lehkonen enigmatically asks at the end.