IN LAINE FOR MORE
Jets sniper’s increased attention to defence, unselfish play earning him extra ice time
It was the self-deprecating Patrik Laine who came off the ice after practice Wednesday. The Winnipeg Jets winger was asked to relive his breakaway goal against Detroit the night before and this is how his mental replay began.
“(Mark Scheifele) did a good job winning the draw,” Laine said. “After that, our plan was put one guy a little bit higher and then he would bump it back to somebody who has a ton of speed. Now I was the guy who ...”
Laine hesitated, realizing the words “ton of speed” fit him about as well as the word “goon” fits his buddy Nik Ehlers.
“I never had a ton of speed,” a grinning Laine continued. “I’m not the fastest guy. But an average amount of speed ...”
The Finn went on to describe how he deked Red Wings defenceman Dennis Cholowski, then goalie Eric Comrie to score his ninth goal of the season.
His favourite breakaway move? “It’s probably my first or second breakaway in four years, so not really,” Laine said. “I haven’t really had too much time to work on those moves. And I’m probably going to get the next one in four years.”
Poking fun at his own play is old hat for Laine. Just last week he was talking about using his “bad hands” to score a goal against Dallas.
But the 21-year-old’s stat line this season is new.
In fact, it’s close to the reverse of what he was doing a year ago.
Through 29 games last season: 21 goals, five assists, minus-4.
Through 29 this year: nine goals, 20 assists, plus-7.
At this time last season, Laine was coming off a November in which he scored 18 times. He’s on pace for a career-low 25 goals.
“As a team, we’ve won a lot of games, so that’s good,” he said.
“And I have a ton more assists than I have goals, so that’s kind of weird. But points are still points and the team’s winning, so hockey’s still fun.”
The man with the golden touch said he’s never finished a season with more assists than goals at any level and he doesn’t plan on this becoming the new normal. “Absolutely not,” he said.
Not that he didn’t think he had it in him.
Laine’s passing has always caught people by surprise.
“I’ve always been a good passer. But the last three years, every time I get the puck I’m just thinking shot. And now I’m playing with two elite scorers ... so I’ll try to find them, too, so they’re not going to hate me out there.”
Scheifele and Kyle Connor have plenty of love for Laine these days. The trio sits one-twothree in team scoring, after all.
Perhaps some people saw this coming when coach Paul Maurice got around to splitting up Scheifele and Blake Wheeler.
But I can guarantee that nobody saw Laine among the Jets’ leaders in plus-minus after going minus-24, worst on the team, last season.
“Yeah, it was kind of a tough stretch on a winning team last year being minus-24,” he said. “And a playoff team. That’s not very good.”
I suggested the leap in his plus-minus must be a bit of an exaggeration. Surely he’s not that much better defensively.
“Yeah, I am,” he said, unwilling to poke fun at this part of his game. “I’m way better than last year. This year I’m focusing more on defence because that’s the way I’m going to earn more ice time. I’m not a liability out there.” Bingo, said his coach.
“Part of Patrik playing in the three-hole when he first came in was you’re hiding him a little bit,” Maurice said. “So the biggest compliment I could give Patrik is where I play him and who I play him against.”
Maurice said his sniper’s surprising plus-minus is a product of what he’s doing in conjunction with his linemates. Ditching the fancy play as often as not, sacrificing goals at times — that’s not easy for skilled players to learn.
“Well, playing is more fun than sitting on the bench and watching when everybody else plays,” Laine said. “So as a guy who wants to play and be out there to help his team win, it’s a lot of fun.”
As for having to wait four years for his next breakaway, nobody’s going to feel sorry for the guy.
Not even his coach.
“God doesn’t give you everything,” Maurice said. “He just gives you enough. He’s got a lot of enough.”