The number of players who have cited the need for a “fresh start” in their careers has long since ceased to count. For Patrik Laine, however, the argument resonates differently.
On vacation in Florida, the Finn and his girlfriend were walking their dog when the trade was confirmed to him. Then, in a video conference just a few hours later, the new member of the Canadiens seemed oddly relaxed as he answered questions from journalists assigned to cover the team.
With his tuque on despite the heat – he had put it on to get used to the Montreal winter, he said – he repeatedly stressed his excitement at the idea of joining the Habs. Having played in Winnipeg, he knows “how crazy hockey is in Canada.”
The nonchalance and lightness that animated the 26-year-old athlete on Monday were encouraging news for him. Because the last few months, and possibly the last few years, have been much darker. At a certain point, by his own admission, he no longer got much pleasure from practicing his profession.
Last January, Laine joined the NHL’s Player Assistance Program, only to leave six months later. He would reveal along the way that he sought help for mental health issues.
Without going into details, he says he now approaches his daily life with more “positivity” than in the past.
“I learned how to handle certain situations,” he said. “Something is always going to happen to you, adversity… I wasn’t always the best [dans ces situations]. Now I navigate through difficult times better, I see the glass more as half full.”
He says the first step toward healing was simple: talking. Sharing his story. It was so liberating that he and his girlfriend started the initiative “From Us to You.” [de nous à vous]a space for sharing and discussion on Instagram. “It’s okay to ask for help, it’s not a weakness,” he insists. “It’s even a strength. We’re very proud [de ce projet]. We want to take it as far as possible and help a lot of people.”
The months away from hockey allowed him to focus “on the person and not the player.”
“I noticed that when you don’t get pleasure from what you do, you won’t be able to perform. I was there.”
Fortunately, he has made progress. To the point where he says he is now “happier than ever”. After having “worked” on himself extensively, he is now “super excited to play, in a new place, with new teammates, in a new city”.
“I’ve learned a lot over the past few years; now it’s time to put it to the test. I’m ready.”
Don’t worry
It’s obviously training camp that will tell us if he’s as ready as he says he is. He spent the last few weeks recovering from shoulder surgery, but he assures us he has “no worries” about the start of the next campaign.
He has been given the green light to skate and has “no problem” unleashing the cannonballs that have made his reputation, he assured with a smile.
He prefers to keep to himself the reasons that pushed him to ask the Blue Jackets to trade him several months ago, citing that the time came, for him and for the team, to move on. “I needed a fresh start. […] “I’m focused on what’s in front of me,” he said, unconcerned about the pressure that awaits him in Montreal. A “passionate” market, sometimes very loving, often very tough. “The most important thing is what the guys think in the locker room,” he believes. “That’s all that matters.”
One thing is for sure, he is not short of ambition. When asked by a reporter if he thought he could ever score 30 goals again, he replied that he wanted to score “40 or 50”. “I’ve done it before, it wasn’t by accident!” he said.
More seriously, he clarified that he did not want to measure his contribution only in statistical terms. “I want to do everything I can to contribute to the team. I’m not 19 anymore, I just want to win.”
He remembers the excitement he felt in his second year in the NHL when the Winnipeg Jets, the team that drafted him in 2016, reached the Western Conference final. He desperately wants to recapture that feeling, and believes he can do it in Montreal.
“That’s why we play, that’s why we train in the summer, that’s why we work so hard: to play these games,” he continued. “I’m going to do everything it takes to get the Canadiens there.”
He will probably have to be a little more patient before that day arrives. In any case, he is not lacking in optimism. It is, after all, somewhat characteristic of a “new beginning”…