There are departures that go unnoticed. And then there are those that we feel coming like a storm. That of Patrik Laine in Montreal enters the second category.
From the end of the season assessment, the murmurs had become cries. Fleeting looks. Evasive responses. And, above all, this shared impression that the Finn was never really in his place.
As if he had borrowed a too small jacket, unable to move freely in the culture of the Canadian.
Jean Perron, faithful to himself, did not mince his words: “Me, I think Patrik Laine is not the kind of boy who will help the culture of the Canadian hockey club. »» And for once, no one has raised the eyebrow.
Yes, Patrik Laine helped CH. Yes, he scored crucial goals. Yes, without him, the Canadian probably does not make the series. But at what price?
Man with controversial declarations. The winger who shoots everything that moves, including in media scrums.
Whoever, in a wardrobe who tries to forge a new identity, sometimes gave the impression of wanting a completely different.
It is not that he did not produce. He scored 20 goals in just 52 games, including 16 in digital advantage, a summit in the NHL this season.
His lightning shot has resuscitated a first moribund wave. He allowed the CH to tear off several wins. He was an offensive rescue buoy when the team was tearing it off.
But what he brought in attack, he often scuttled him behind the scenes. His comments on Ovechkin, his arms passes with certain journalists, his looks thrown into the ceiling whenever Martin St-Louis spoke to him. At one point, the rope breaks.
Jean Perron, still him: “Not only does he really play less than his talent, but he made damn comments from the mastiff. »»
No need to look further.
We wanted intensity. We had attitude. We wanted an offensive engine. We had a half-time diva. We wanted an inspired player. We had a guy who gives the impression of thinking about his next career in e-sport.
And it is not a question of language, or even of effort. No one accused him of cheating. But he never married the Canadian’s project.
He was a temporarily useful mercenary. A transitional tool in a season where everything was played on the wire.
Kent Hughes won his bet. He went to pick up a player at a discount, in difficulty in Columbus, and he resuscitated him just long enough to reach the series.
But he knew from the start that it was just a short -term lease. And this lease, in all likelihood, ends this summer.
-There is only one year left for the wool contract. A last chance to exchange it without too much pain.
And above all, an opportunity to move on. Oliver Kapanen is already knocking on the door. Joshua Roy can fulfill this role in digital advantage. Slafkovský took off. Demidov arrives.
The place of Patrik Laine, it is reduced in sight.
Jean Perron goes further: “I think this boy … may go back to Finland … I don’t think he has his head to [la LNH]. »
Maybe it’s an excessive bit. Maybe wool will have one or two seasons in the belly.
But not here. Not in Montreal. And not in a team that tries to build a fraternity, not a capricious star agency.
Patrik Laine did his part. He scored significant goals. He offered a show. He filled the Bell center of “Olé Olé Olé!” ». He even gave a little life to an anemic powerplay.
But the Canadian cannot afford to build an elite culture with this kind of distraction. You have to think of Lane Hutson, David Reinbacher, Logan Mailloux. These young people must grow in a healthy environment. And healthy, it is not exactly the word that stuck to the surrounding wool this season.
And then, let’s be honest: his impact has never been palpable at 5 against 5. He rarely generated chances other than with space. And in a system focused on pressure and support, it became invisible.
It is the end of a strange collaboration, but not useless. An electric parenthesis in a season of progression.
A temporary spark that will have enabled the CH to go to the series. An episode of reality TV at the heart of a sports documentary.
Thanks for the goals. Thank you for the chills. Thank you for the contribution. But it’s time to turn the page.
And if he ever returns to Finland, as Perron suggests, it will not be an exile. It will be a return home.
A free player. A free spirit. But not made for Montreal
And if his last winning launch was not directed to a net … but towards his own freedom.
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