Canadian’s assessment | Patrik Laine found the pleasure of playing

There are several ways to analyze the season that Patrik Laine has just concluded.

Posted at 4:29 p.m.

You can dwell on its 20 goals, including 15 in digital advantage, in just 52 games. Or his return to competition after a year of absence attributable to injuries and mental health problems. But we can also note his often erratic game to five against five which melted his ice time, or his shy harvest in a single point in the last nine games in the campaign, while the Habs fought for a place in the playoffs.

Wool, he chose his camp. He will remember the 2024-2025 season as the one in which he found his love for this “incredible sport” which he thought he was giving up for good before being exchanged in the Canadian.

Last January, as part of the Balado show Spittin’ Chicletsthe Finn had said that he had already juggled, earlier in his career, with the idea of ​​making a cross on hockey. He was then at the heart of depressive episodes, and probably returned to the game too early at the time, he estimated.

Friday, in front of the journalists gathered in front of him at the CH training center, he was categorical.

“I have almost retired,” he said. I said it to my managing director and my agent. They were not words in the air. I was going to do it. But I am happy not to have done it, because I had a ton of pleasure [à Montréal]. »

Let’s talk about it, figures. His 20 goals logically attract attention, but his 33 points in 52 games constitute one of the most shy harvests in his career, and his defensive indicators were the worst among the regular players of his club after December 3, date of his official beginnings in the blue-white-red uniform.

His involvement in the overall course of the game also seemed to decline in the final stretch of the season, to the point that one might wonder if the serious knee injury that he had suffered during the preparatory calendar had not returned to haunt him. Everything was in walking, he confirmed on Friday.

He certainly broke a finger with his right hand in the second match of the first round series against the capital of Washington, which prevented him from participating in the last three duels. “I couldn’t hold a stick or shoot as I wanted, when it is my specialty,” he said. But apparently, no other significant physical boredom slowed it down.

“We can always play better,” he nuanced. But when we look at the circumstances, what many people who judge me do not do, I had not played for a year, I almost retired, I came back, I injured myself right away, I came back again … What I accomplished this season, I am proud. Many guys would not have done as well as me in circumstances not easy at all. And I experienced pleasure in doing it, which was the only thing I wanted. Anything above that, it’s bonus. I am satisfied. »»

Spark

According to him, “the organization and the city” helped restore “the spark” which had died at home. The pressure inherent in the Montreal market, he swore, did not shake it-“I have always liked to find myself in these situations”-and the energy of his teammates helped him “cross difficult moments”, especially when he cared for his knee injury at the start of the season. “It’s so a good group, a good organization … I’m happy to be part of it. »»

While an operation in the shoulder had shorted his preparation before the most recent campaign, he does not need to go under the scalpel this time. He agrees with a full week of rest, after which he will start his training for the next training camp.

An “important summer” awaits him, recognizes the one who will become a autonomous player without compensation in July 2026.

“I am happy to have all the time necessary to be in good shape from the start of the next camp,” he concluded. He will have to be ready. Because Ivan Demidov, who quickly stood out on the first unit of digital advantage, now represents a direct competitor in attack.

But water still has time to flow under the bridges by September. The career of Patrik Laine, after all, is not at the near twist.