Laine’s attitude a breath of fresh air
Confident top Finnish prospect not afraid to put himself out there
For the record, Patrik Laine is not a jerk.
Nor is he conceited, arrogant or the hockey player version of a James Bond villain. This needs clarifying because some of the things that Laine has said recently have been misconstrued or taken the wrong way.
Part of it is the language barrier. Part of it is that Laine speaks honestly, sometimes almost to a fault.
The Finnish top prospect was called cocky when he suggested he might be a better player than projected No. 1 pick Auston Matthews and he was called even worse when he said the worst part about the NHL Draft Combine was “going outside and having to sign those autographs.” (To clarify, he meant those autograph hounds who re-sell signatures on eBay — not kids or fans).
“People can think what they want to think. I don’t care,” Laine said on the morning of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, where he and four other top prospects (Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Alex Nylander) received a tour of the SAP Center.
“People who know me better, they know that I’m a good guy and (have) a lot of confidence in the right way. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. People can think what they want to think.”
For what it’s worth, this writer thinks the NHL needs more players like Laine, who are unpolished and unashamed of their hockey ability. The 18-year-old is refreshing in a league where many top players read from the same how-to-speak-without-speaking handbook of clichés.
Not only is he one of the most exciting prospects to come along in a while, but he also is equally entertaining off the ice. One of the first impressions fans and general managers received from Laine came on the night of the draft lottery, when he was interviewed while lying on his bed on national television.
It looked like he had been woken up in the middle of the night. And some suggested the time change — he was in Finland when the interview was conducted — was the reason for it. But Laine said that wasn’t the case.
“It was filmed during the day. I was quite awake,” he said.
“I just wanted to be me in the interview and not have to pretend I was someone else.”
Still, it’s not fair to say he doesn’t care. After losing to Canada in the gold-medal game at the world championship, no one looked more disappointed than Laine — and this was after he was awarded the tournament MVP.
What he doesn’t care about is how the public perceives him. Like Teemu Selanne and Alex Ovechkin, whom Laine counts as hockey idols, he is not afraid to put himself out there. And he’s certainly not afraid of backing up his words with his play.
“I just want to show people what I can do on the ice and if it’s entertaining then it’s good, of course,” said Laine. “I don’t really care. I just want to play my own game and play my team’s game and people can think what they want. I just want to focus on what I’m doing.”
Laine won gold at the world juniors, where he tied Matthews with a tournament-leading seven goals and finished third with 13 points in seven games. He then won a league championship with his club team Tappara Tampere, claiming MVP honours in the playoffs after scoring 10 goals and 15 points in 18 games. And he capped it off with a silver medal at the world championship, where he scored seven goals and 12 points in 10 games.
It was everything a draft-eligible player could have hoped for. And yet, on Monday, Laine went out of his way to praise Matthews, who he said is his equal and rival — especially if one ends up in Toronto and the other in Winnipeg.
“I think we’re quite even and he’s better than me in some stuff and I’m better than him in some of the things,” said Laine. “I wouldn’t say that one of us is better than the other. I think we’re quite even right now.
“It’s good to have a guy that pushes you forward.”
In other words, playing in a Canadian market is not going to faze Laine. If anything, it’s the perfect landing spot for someone who not only embraces the attention, but also handles it with aplomb.
“I just want to come here and just give some good interviews,” he said.
“I don’t have to think really before these interviews or be nervous. Just be me. I know what I can say and what I can’t. That’s good to keep in your head during these interviews.” So, what can’t Laine say? “I’m not going to say those things,” he said smiling.
Hey, maybe the kid has a filter after all.