Patrik Laine is not the same anymore: he should have shut his mouth

My grandmother always told me to always – because I often had the habit of getting into trouble – to bite my tongue seven times before speaking.

Marco, my buddy from childhood, would just tell me to shut my mouth.

It meant the same thing, even though it didn’t sound the same to my ears.

I don’t know what tone to take with Patrik Laine, but the message would be the same: you should have shut your mouth, Pat.

You’ll understand that I am referring to the comments made by the Finnish winger on December 23rd, when the CH was about to face the Blue Jackets. Laine had admitted to asking for a trade because he was tired of losing in Ohio, feeling that not all players and management had a winner mentality, and that he was fed up seeing his team give up, only to focus on the upcoming season by December.

The irony is that the Blue Jackets have four more points than the Canadiens this morning in the standings…

Mathieu Olivier and Zach Werenski were questioned about this, and there was no doubt: their former teammate’s comments had disturbed them. It was no coincidence that all Blue Jackets players were hitting Laine hard (on the shoulder) and that the main interested party did not play the last two periods of the game.

Why am I bringing up these events?

Because since that afternoon, Patrik Laine is no longer the same. And the numbers prove it.

Before December 23rd, Laine had scored 8 goals and 1 assist in 9 games. We’re talking about a pace of one point per game and nearly one goal per game.

Since then? He has only obtained 4 goals and 5 assists in 17 games! That’s about one point every two games… and one goal every four games.

Laine is paid $9.1 million this season and will receive the same amount next year. Most of that money is offered to him to score goals. 4 in 17 games isn’t enough to justify such a salary.

It’s as if something has broken in Patrik Laine’s mind. #Swag

He still indicated a few days ago that his confidence was not very high at the moment…

There is a reason why the Canadiens got Patrik Laine at a discount. We’re currently experiencing it. Laine is a scoring machine who – when not in his zone and not filling the net – isn’t of much use otherwise. Effort, physicality, leadership, defensive play… those are sadly lacking.

Jean Trudel raised the hypothesis this week that Laine didn’t enjoy playing hockey.

It’s clear that when you finish eight games in a row with a neutral or negative differential, playing hockey is less fun…

Even more so when you are the least used player in a game like last night!