Patrik Laine Went As Top Bunk As Humanly Possible For His First Goal In His First Game With The Habs
Matt Garies. Getty Images.Patrik Laine has had a pretty up-and-down first half of his National Hockey League career. It's crazy because he's still just 26-years-old, but this is Laine's 10th season in the NHL. He came into Winnipeg as the 2nd overall pick in the draft with so much hype and expectation around him. He put up 36 goals in his rookie year, and followed that up with 44 goals in his 2nd season. That's 80 goals all before his 20th birthday.
But after those first two seasons, things just never seemed to fully click for him in Winnipeg. He was maybe considered to be a little "disgruntled" so after 1 game in the 2020-21 season, the Winnipeg Jets and Columbus Blue Jackets just swapped the 2nd and 3rd overall pick from the 2016 draft by trading Laine for Pierre-Luc Dubois. Disgruntled for disgruntled.
Nothing in Columbus ever seemed to work out for Laine. He was pretty much a point-per-game player from 2021-2023, but he had injury after injury that shortened all of his seasons there. After another injury in 2023-24, he went into the Player Assistance Program. He's been pretty out and open about dealing with his mental health over the years, and this year he had a chance to get a fresh start in Montreal. That is, of course, until he got injured again in a preseason game after taking a knee-on-knee hit.
So much promise at the beginning of his career. So many glimpses of greatness throughout the past 10 years. But so, so many bumps in the road along the way. If anybody in hockey deserves a big night, it's Patrik Laine. Which is what he had last night when he finally got a chance to make his debut with the Montreal Canadiens. After missing the first 24 games of the year, Patrik Laine is right on pace to be a point-per-game player in the NHL again.
Holy fucking snipe.
That's the shot that made him the 2nd overall pick in 2016. That's the shot that made everyone believe he could be one of the best pure goal scorers in the league. He hasn't had a ton of opportunities to show it off over the last few years, but that was as good as it gets from Patrik Laine. And say what you want about Habs fans, but they gave that snipe the roof-exploding pop that it deserved.
I just can't tell who was more excited between the fans or Cole Caufield.
P.S. -- How about those New York Islanders, huh? 3-4-3 in their last 10 games. Last place in the Metro Division. One of the worst prospect pools in the NHL. Thank god they have Borrelli's or else there wouldn't be a sadder organization in hockey. But great pizza is at least a plus.