Each year, another player comes into the league and we are all supposed to believe that they are the next generational skater. Nathan MacKinnon was heralded as such, as well as Aaron Ekblad and the list goes on and on. Hockey seems to do this more so than any other sport. Each year, we as fans and writers are looking for the player to bring hockey from obscurity into the limelight. While Patrik Laine may not be the best player in this draft, he sure as hell has an opportunity to change the way we think about the game.
This quote from Laine in a Puck Daddy article is absolutely sensational:
“I think I have the ability to someday become the best player in the NHL, Maybe other guys are good at many different things, but not really good at one thing. I think I am,” Laine said at the NHL Scouting Combine on Saturday. “Toronto has a tough decision to make.”
The NHL always seems to cringe when any player has any sort of arrogance to them. It is labeled as “unbecoming”, when in reality, it means writers covering these players are old and stodgy. Consider how the media often treats P.K. Subban. Embrace the new, the shiny and the verbose. Hockey is a great game with a great history. The problem for the league is that no one cares. Give them a reason to care. He isn’t what we have seen before and that is good. Not being able to understand his confidence doesn’t mean you need to knock him down a couple of pegs. Sit on your hands and watch the magic unfold in front of you.
Inevitably, Laine will celebrate in a way that upsets his opponents and columnists will write an opus about how he doesn’t respect the game. While writing this opus, in the same breath, they must be blinded by what hockey actually is – a game. This is supposed to be fun. Not only for players and coaches, but for fans too.
Laine has a chance to make hockey fun again. Don’t you want to find out where it leads?
