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Patrik Laine

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Patrik Laine
Born (1998-04-19) 19 April 1998 (age 26)
Tampere, FIN
Height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight 209 lb (95 kg; 14 st 13 lb)
Position Winger
Shoots Right
Liiga team Tappara
National team  Finland
NHL draft Eligible 2016
Playing career 2014–present

Patrik Laine (pronounced "line-eh") (born 19 April 1998) is a Finnish ice hockey player. He currently plays with Tappara in the Finnish Liiga. Laine is rated as a top prospect in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, and is expected by hockey analysts to be a top-two overall selection.[1]

Playing career

Laine made his Liiga debut at the age of 16 with Tappara during the 2014–15 season, logging six games and scoring one point.[1] He spent most of that season, however, on loan with LeKi of Mestis.[1]

He began the 2015–16 season with Tappara, and over a span of 46 games with the club scored 17 goals and 16 assists for a total of 33 points.[1]

Prior to the start of his NHL draft season, Laine was ranked in numerous hockey publications as the fourth-best prospect in the 2016 NHL Draft.[2][3] Due to strong play with Tappara early in the season and an impressive showing at the 2015 IIHF World U18 Championships where he scored 8 goals in 7 games, Laine's ranking on most draft lists rose from the previous season, when he had been considered a mid-first round prospect.[4][5]

After a dominant performance at the 2016 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships where he won a gold medal, was the third-leading scorer with 7 goals, 6 assists, 13 points in 7 games, and was named to the tournament all-star team, Laine began to receive greater attention from scouts and casual observers.[6] By January 2016, Laine had moved up the ranking on most lists to second overall.[6] McKeen's Hockey notably ranked Laine first overall on its January 2016 list.[7] According to hockey analyst Bob McKenzie's mid-season draft report, Laine had become the "clear consensus No. 2 choice" over fellow Finnish prospect Jesse Puljujärvi.[8] This was due to what scouts described as a "'dynamic' element," with one scout elaborating that "Laine maybe is more of a pure goal scorer, a game-breaker with a little higher offensive ceiling."[8]

By February 2016, Laine was considered by some scouts, such as those from McKeen's and those represented in Bob McKenzie's report, to be a potential challenger for first overall at the 2016 NHL Draft, challenging the previous consensus choice, top-ranked prospect Auston Matthews.[8] When asked by McKenzie if Matthews was still the favorite to be selected first overall in the June 2016 draft, several scouts expressed that they "had to think long and hard about it . . . Laine is right there."[8] One scout justified that "in the end, we favoured the centre over the winger but I don’t think it’s a reach at all to see Laine going first overall. A lot of our European scouts who see these guys think Laine is better."[8]

In April 2016, McKenzie reported that Laine had further closed the gap between himself and Matthews, with two of the ten NHL scouts surveyed by McKenzie reporting that they would choose Laine first overall ahead of Matthews.[9] The other scouts in McKenzie's April report, meanwhile, stated that they needed to think "long and hard about their decision" to rank Matthews ahead of Laine.[9] The National Post, meanwhile, published an article with a headline proclaiming Laine to be the "NHL draft's true No. 1."[10]

Laine's 2015–16 regular season campaign with Tappara ended in March 2016 with his team finishing third overall in the Liiga standings and thus qualifying for the subsequent postseason.[11] Laine played a pivotal role in the semifinal series against second-ranked Kärpät, scoring six goals in the seven-game series, including three last-minute goals to tie Games 4, 5, and 6; two of those goals occurred in the final five seconds of the third period of their respective games, with Laine's Game 6 goal being scored at 19:59 of the third period.[12][13][14][15] With his last-second tying goal in Game 6, his eighth of the playoffs, Laine broke Liiga's previous goal-scoring record of 7 goals in a single rookie playoff campaign.[16] Laine and Tappara consequently defeated Kärpät and advanced to the 2016 Liiga Finals.[17] Trailing 2–1 in the Liiga Finals series against HIFK, Tappara coach Jussi Tapola moved Laine to the team's first line with Jani Lajunen and leading scorer Kristian Kuusela for Game 4, where Laine recorded a goal and two assists to lead his team to a 2–2 series tie.[18][19][20] This was Laine's first ever game on Tappara's top line—for the first part of the 2015–16 campaign he had played with Jere Karjalainen, Veli-Matti Savinainen, and Stephen Dixon, while for the majority of the season he played on the team's second line with Arttu Ilomäki and Jukka Peltola.[18][19][21][22][23][24] For the first 15 games of the playoffs, meanwhile, his line featured Jan-Mikael Järvinen at center with Peltola on right wing.[25][26] Laine scored once more in the series-clinching match, as Tappara defeated HIFK in six games to win the 2016 Liiga championship title.[27] He was consequently awarded the Jari Kurri Trophy as Liiga's 2016 playoff MVP, finishing the postseason with 10 goals, 5 assists, 15 points in 18 games.[27]

International play

Medal record
Representing  Finland
Men's ice hockey
IIHF World U18 Championship
Silver medal – second place 2015 Switzerland
IIHF World U20 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2016 Finland

In August 2015, Laine participated in the 2015 IIHF World U18 Championships for Finland, playing on a line with teammate Jesse Puljujärvi.[4] Through 7 games in the tournament, Laine scored 8 goals, 3 assists, 11 points to help lead his team to the gold medal match against Team USA and an eventual silver medal finish.[4]

Laine subsequently played for Finland at the 2016 World Junior Championships, where they won gold on January 5, 2016. Due to his impressive play throughout the tournament with linemates Jesse Puljujärvi and Sebastian Aho, Laine was named to the tournament all-star team.[28] During the tournament, Laine scored 7 goals, 6 assists, 13 points in 7 games.[28]

Following his 2016 Liiga championship, Laine was named to the Team Finland roster at the 2016 IIHF World Championship, becoming the youngest Finnish player to ever play at the tournament.[29] He debuted against Team Belarus, scoring 2 goals and 1 assist to become the youngest player in the tournament's history to score 3 points in a game.[29] He followed this with a second consecutive two-goal, one-assist, three-point game against Team Germany, tallying 6 points in 2 games to become the highest-scoring 18-year-old player in the tournament's history; the previous record was held by Jaromír Jágr, who at the same age scored 3 goals, 2 assists, 5 points in 10 games at the 1990 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships in Switzerland.[30][31]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2013–14 Tappara Jr. Fin-Jr. 40 26 11 37 43 1 0 0 0 0
2014–15 Tappara Jr. Fin-Jr. 6 4 1 5 4 — — — — —
2014–15 Tappara Liiga 6 0 1 1 2 — — — — —
2014–15 LeKi Mestis 36 5 7 12 14 2 0 0 0 2
2015–16 Tappara Liiga 46 17 16 33 6 18 10 5 15 6
Liiga totals 52 17 17 34 8 18 10 5 15 6

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2014 Finland IH18 5th 3 1 0 1 2
2015 Finland WJC18 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 8 3 11 0
2016 Finland WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 7 6 13 6
2016 Finland WC 2 4 2 6 0
Senior totals 2 4 2 6 0
Junior totals 17 16 9 25 8

Awards and honours

Award Year
IIHF World U18 Championship All-Star Team 2015 [32]
IIHF World Junior Championship All-Star Team 2016
Jari Kurri Trophy (Liiga Playoff MVP) 2016

References

  1. ^ a b c d Eliteprospects.com – Patrik Laine. Eliteprospects. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  2. ^ Elite prospect Matthews tops McKenzie's ranking. TSN. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  3. ^ Sportsnet's Top 30 2016 NHL Draft Prospects. Sportsnet. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  4. ^ a b c NHL Draft: Patrik Laine's Stock Is Rising. The Hockey Writers. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  5. ^ Confidence key for Finnish draft prospect Laine. NHL. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  6. ^ a b Craig's List: Can't go wrong with Puljujarvi, Laine. TSN. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  7. ^ McKeen's 2016 Top 30 NHL Draft Rankings (Jan-2016). McKeen's Hockey. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d e TSN Mid-Season Draft Ranking topped by Big Three. TSN. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  9. ^ a b Laine closes gap on Matthews atop TSN draft rankings. TSN. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  10. ^ ‘He takes over games’: Patrik Laine, not Auston Matthews, might be NHL draft’s true No. 1. National Post. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  11. ^ Liiga details – Eurohockey.com. Eurohockey. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  12. ^ Kärpät – Tappara Game 2 summary – 2.4.2016. Liiga. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  13. ^ Kärpät – Tappara Game 4 summary – 7.4.2016. Liiga. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  14. ^ Kärpät – Tappara Game 5 summary – 9.4.2016. Liiga. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  15. ^ Kärpät – Tappara Game 6 summary – 11.4.2016. Liiga. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  16. ^ Patrik Laine nousi sivuamaan Liigan ennätystä. Liiga. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  17. ^ Tappara kultajahtiin - Kärpät taipui Raksilassa. YLE. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  18. ^ a b Tappara tasoitti loppuottelusarjan. Kaleva. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  19. ^ a b Tapparan kokoonpano uusiksi – Laine nousee ykkösketjuun. YLE. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  20. ^ HIFK – Tappara Game 4 summary – 22.4.2016. Liiga. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  21. ^ Statistical analysis from the Finnish League: Jesse Puljujärvi and Patrik Laine. Jatkoaika. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  22. ^ Tappara official game-day lineup from January 17, 2016. Twitter. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  23. ^ Tappara official game-day lineup from February 24, 2016. Twitter. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  24. ^ Tappara official game-day lineup from April 22, 2016. Twitter. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  25. ^ Tappara official game-day lineup from March 8, 2016. Twitter. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  26. ^ Tappara official game-day lineup from April 19, 2016. Twitter. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  27. ^ a b ‘He takes over games’: Patrik Laine, not Auston Matthews, might be NHL draft’s true No. 1. National Post. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  28. ^ a b Finland’s Jesse Puljujarvi, Patrik Laine improve draft rankings after gold medal at world juniors. National Post. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  29. ^ a b Patrik Laine puts on record-setting show in worlds debut. Sportsnet. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  30. ^ A look at how Patrik Laine broke Jagr’s 26-year-old record. Sportsnet. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  31. ^ Laine dominates as Finland beats Germany. TSN. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  32. ^ IIHF announces U18 All-Star Team. IIHF. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
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