Return to play against the Islanders | Patrik Laine, from the Oratory to the Bell Center

Patrik Laine made many people smile on Monday by posting a photo of himself on Instagram in front of Saint-Joseph’s oratory. “I hope Brother André is a hockey fan,” he wrote.

As one might imagine, the reference to the miracle worker renowned for having healed thousands of injured people was not accidental. Laine’s girlfriend had read about the subject, and the couple went to Mount Royal for “a few prayers.” “She felt we had to take all the help we could,” Laine said with a laugh Tuesday morning. It wasn’t bad, nothing crazy. But it was cool, we had to go see that. »

We understand the Finn wanting to put all the chances on his side. One year, almost to the day, after playing his last game in the NHL, he will return to action this Tuesday evening at the Bell Center against the New York Islanders.

And a lot has happened over the last 12 months. It was first a collarbone injury that forced him to rest in December 2023, while he was wearing the Columbus Blue Jackets uniform. A few weeks later, struggling with mental health issues, he joined the Players’ Association and NHL assistance program. He didn’t play again all season.

In the summer, he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens and said he was excited about the idea of ​​breathing new life into his career. This sniper, after all, has already had three 30-goal seasons, including a 44-goal haul in 2017-18.

However, he saw a serious knee injury slow down his efforts at the end of September during a preseason match. He did not undergo surgery, but nevertheless had to undergo a convalescence of several weeks. A familiar refrain for someone who has played barely more than one match in two (176 out of a possible 326) since the start of the 2020-2021 season.

And when the question was asked of him, he put his cards on the table: no, he did not climb the 283 steps of the Oratory, neither on foot nor on his knees.

“We cheated,” he said, mockingly. It was a day off, I shouldn’t wear out my legs too much…”

” Grateful “

All joking aside, it’s obviously a huge relief for the no less immense 26-year-old winger.

He admitted that “nervousness” stole a few hours of sleep last night. “I’m especially excited to be done with all that and to be back on the ice with the guys,” he said.

Aware of the challenge of returning to action after such a long absence, he will want to “keep things simple” in his debut in the blue-white-red uniform. He will complete an offensive trio with Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky.

Laine repeatedly repeated how “grateful” he was as he approached his Bell Center baptism in a season game. To the fans “who have been incredible for me and my family.” But above all towards the organization. He had already talked about it early in his recovery, but his new teammates welcomed him as one of their own from Day 1. And the coaching staff wanted to boost his engagement by inviting him to all the video sessions and integrating it into the process of analyzing opponents in preparation for matches.

“It’s not easy to be away from the game, but they did a good job to include me,” summarized the new number 92 of CH.

“It’s been a long road,” he added, referring to the last few months. There have been ups and lots of downs. I’m grateful to put on this sweater and come back. It will be amazing. »

Expectations

As he did in training camp, head coach Martin St-Louis wanted to moderate expectations for Laine.

“I want it to happen organically,” he said. He hasn’t played in a long time, I want him to have his rehearsals and [s’intègre] the way we play, especially defensively, without the puck. »

The pilot wants to see his protégé reach his full potential, but he will not rush anything to get him there. “When are we going to get there?” I don’t know. We will manage this. »

That being said, the arrival of Laine provides an obvious influx of talent into a team that really needs it. It also allows St-Louis to benefit from complete training for the first time in the campaign.

In Laine, Dach and Slafkovsky, he sees “three big guys” who can “complement each other”. In addition, this change allows him to restore a certain balance over the other trios. Since being paired with Alex Newhook, Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield are going through an excellent streak, with six and five points, respectively, in their last four games.

On the fourth unit, Jake Evans, Emil Heineman and Joel Armia “give good minutes, are tiring to face in the offensive zone and are very responsible defensively”. And in Christian Dvorak, Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher, the coach finds a trio which has given him “a lot of consistency”.

“If we are able to look for other lines that give us consistency, you really start to look like something,” concluded St-Louis.

Patrik Laine, moreover, will be integrated into the first power play unit in place of Kirby Dach, who will be transferred to the second unit. Joel Armia will thus lose his position in this phase of the game.

Samuel Montembeault will be the Habs’ starting goalie against the Islanders. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m.