Patrick Laine is the gift that keeps on giving – the NHL is undeniably a better place when Patrik Laine is actively involved. There was drama again, when Laine returned to Columbus for the first time in a Montreal shirt during Christmas, and was traded to Montreal in the summer.
Laine hit his former employer while speaking to the media during the match and caused an immediate uproar. According to Laine, Columbus is content to keep losing, while he plays to win. Laine removed the fuse and sharply criticized Columbus, but refused to specify whether the criticism was aimed at the club management or the players.
As a result of the comments, the club management canceled the planned thank you video for Lainee in the opening round. Columbus veteran, defender Zach Werenski stated that he was really disappointed with the Finn’s comments after the match and characterized them as horse shit.
The match itself was won by Columbus 5–4. Laine himself left the match after the opening set due to an upper body injury.
Who surprised?
How many were ready in late October or early November to wrap up Pittsburgh’s season? Signed at least. In spite of that, structurally, Pittsburgh played well in many places during a weak fall. Now there are fewer individual moments of disaster and oh-so-turns, and the course has turned in a confusing way.
For the previous month (27.11- ), the Penguins are the fourth best team in the entire series, having won nine of the previous 13 matches. Kärki carries, the superiority game rolls with 30 percent and Alivoima as much as 90 percent powers. Pittsburgh is still a team whose games hurt and happen – the game is more likely to end 6-4 than 2-1, but the most important thing is that the pulse is felt again.
The fall depression season is over and the team is undoubtedly still listening to the head coach Mike Sullivan. I would like to say that Pittsburgh will not break again this season, or even bend, like in the fall. However, we still don’t dare to promise a place in the playoffs after Christmas.
Who cheated?
Much is said about Buffalo’s pitching cycle, but a similar fire is raging in Detroit. Year after year, the team from the car city wanders aimlessly in everyday NHL life. No rhyme or reason. If any team in the NHL has really learned to be an excellent loser, it’s Detroit.
Thirteen games, four wins, classless special situation play, weak goalkeepers and so on. The top is not working, the leadership gap is huge, and not a much-hyped club boss and sports legend Steve Yzerman get the pipe fixed. It’s okay to ask, how many years does Yzerman need to even build a credible team?
Yzerman’s toughest choice so far has been head coach Derek Lalonde. Detroit is a poorly coached and bad hockey team, and to top it all off, an undisciplined one. It’s up to the coaching staff and, above all, the club management. All activity in the club has been lost for quite some time now.
Rough work.
Finnish goal of the week
of Colorado Joel Kiviranta is the Finnish surprise of the autumn season. Coming into the season, it was difficult for Kiviranta to plan what kind of role he would play in Colorado. A maximum of ten minutes of responsibility in a quadruple chain. The versatile and tenacious Kiviranta has, however, forcibly cleared for himself more responsibility and the coach’s credit.
Kiviranta has played all the way up to the first team throughout the fall in almost all roles and has charmed with his consistent play. On top of everything, the result has been nice. Ten goals for Kiviranta by Christmas is a fantastic achievement. Just before Christmas, the second hat trick of his NHL career was born.
Whose bingo card found Kiviranta in fifth place on the Finnish goal exchange during the Christmas break? Not from anyone.
Ruthless work ethic, tenacity and reliability sometimes go further than raw, limp talent.
What next?
Jesse Puljujärvi the situation gets interesting. Major hip operations, huge rehab work, return to the NHL, a bright start and finally a complete sideline. At the same time that Pittsburgh has taken off, Puljujärvi has been thrown off the wagon. The Tornio striker is not one of head coach Mike Sullivan’s trusted players, rather the opposite.
Puljujärvi started the season well, but didn’t seem to really enjoy the coaching’s confidence. Both the player and the coach talked about the nuances of the defensive game and “stopping in the right place in their own area”, but maybe there is more to the background.
Now the question is: what next?
With his new hips, Puljujärvi can’t remain a standard panelist in the Pittsburgh press box. The merciless rehabilitation work is going down the drain when the player is unable to play at all. And the situation will probably not change in Steel City in the future.
Why not follow them Puljujärvi to the transfer list or through it to the farm to play? I guess playing in a big role in the AHL would be a better option in Puljujärvi’s case than not playing at all?
Very quickly a stalemate arose. At first, Pittsburgh seemed just the right place for Puljujärvi, but now it has become a prison. Puljujärvi is an NHL player, but where would you find the promised land, where the coach’s line would be a little wider? It’s also possible that nothing ever happens in the NHL world.
The worst option is still to sit in the stands and not play at all.