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Laine v Matthews

Deckie007 said:
Also, don't think we'd all find Laine as awkward if we had the #2 pick :lol
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Fair point. If we had the #2 overall pick, I'd probably be saying how Laine can possibly challenge Matthews for 1st overall pick ...


... and secretly cringe at his socially awkwardness, be scared his lack of social skills is gonna have him eaten alive by the Toronto media, kinda like Kessel, and then also droll at AM's complete overall game and the fact he's a C and Laine is a W.

In fact, come to think of it, for years I was defending Kessel was better or just as good as Seguin, but secretly I always knew Seguin could become and would become more of an impact player than Kessel ... good thing Chia did us the flavour and traded him out of town, and then we traded away Kessel afterall so it became a complete moot point.

But I guess that's what being a fan is all about ;)
 
I don't know. I think you guys are reading too much into nothing. Laine is a ridiculous talent, that had a great 17 year old season. He led his pro team to a championship, won MVP, then put up the best 17 year old WHC tournament ever and was named the best player at the tournament. He is going to be a great player. If Matthews wasn't in this draft I'd be pretty happy to get Laine 1st.

Kessel's problem was never that he is a weirdo. He didn't want to be the best bad enough. He never put the work in that is required to maximize your potential. So he never did.
 
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Micheal Traikos

Worst part of NHL Combine for Patrik Laine: "Going outside and having to sign those autographs. That was not fun."
 
I'm calling it, the kid is going to be a headcase in the NHL. This isn't an Auston V Patrik thing....the kid just doesn't know how to filter the shit coming out of his head and seems to have a shitty attitude about things. Speaking your mind is great when you're well thought and well spoken. This kid borders on arrogance and appears to be a bit of an *******. He's still going to be a dynamite hockey player, and at his age there's a lot of room for personal growth so he could pretty easily move way from this nonsense if he was so inclined, but a lot of the red flags for shitty team mate, shitty leader are starting to pop up.
 
JaysCyYoung said:
I honestly cannot think of a city in the NHL more similar to Finland than Winnipeg.
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Sounds like he's excited at the prospect of going there:

Chris Johnston ‏@reporterchris 1h1 hour ago
Patrik Laine on what he knows about Winnipeg:

-- smallest rink
-- loudest crowd
-- cold city
 
I think (like anyone else), Laine would really like to be picked first overall. Putting up a fight shows some competiveness IMO, it also increases his public profile which never hurts.
 
BG said:
I think (like anyone else), Laine would really like to be picked first overall. Putting up a fight shows some competiveness IMO, it also increases his public profile which never hurts.
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Which part of "putting up a fight" includes talking a bunch of shit at a combine that you're too hurt to perform in fully?
 
BG said:
You'd rather a kid just sulk, and accept his fate?
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There's a wide array of places to go with this that don't include being a socially awkward dick, and sulking. Somewhere in between would probably work just fine. At this point you've done everything you can do to state your case for the #1 pick. All the games are played. You're at the last event that could potentially sway the opinion of the Leafs brass (If Hunter is 50/50 or 55/45 on Matthews/Laine and Laine comes into the combine and ****ing owns it......) but you're hurt. You really think the right way to handle this situation is to talk about how great you are, talk about how you don't like signing autographs, etc? You can still be engaging and interesting (basically the opposite of how these kids are schooled to handle this stuff) without being a twit.
 
Safe to say, this Laine kid is odd ... special, awkward ... choose your word.

BUt he sure isn't polished in media relations and when he speaks his mind, he also doesn't come off as the most friendly or humble person either.

How bad he rubs people off the wrong way depends on the person ... he bugs some people while others are seemingly ok with him. But you can't deny this kid is odd.
 
I get it, a lot of people are sick of the canned response, super bland typical NHL interview. I think most of us like some personality thrown into the mix to help us relate to these athletes a bit more. But, and it's a big but....saying all the wrong things is not better than saying all the right things. Saying all the wrong things is not a breath of fresh air, they're red flags.

Some people will disagree with me here, and that's cool. I'm going in early on this, Teeds style. The kid is a weirdo and is going to be a headcase/problem in the NHL.
 
I don't mind a kid who claims he will be the best but the autograph comment has cause for concern for me, I assumed the kid was used to that sort of stuff with the celebrity he has gained this year in Finland but i guess i was wrong. This is a kid that you draft and park in a vets basement (preferably a Finnish vet) for a couple years to bring him along. To be fair I would also park Matthews in a veterans house for a couple years to learn the ropes (hello Brooks Laich/Matt Hunwick).
 
Aberdeen said:
Micheal Traikos

Worst part of NHL Combine for Patrik Laine: "Going outside and having to sign those autographs. That was not fun."
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Apparently he was referring to the adults waiting outside to sell it on ebay.

Similar to Crosby who won't sign anything expect for kids.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk
 
JaysCyYoung said:
Most European kids grow up with a fluent or near-fluent understanding of English, particularly in the Nordic countries (Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark). If Laine hasn't mastered English yet, it might be because he's a little vacant between the ears, which is honestly just as problematic in comparison to the articulate, well-spoken, bilingual Matthews.
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:lol You guys are really scraping at the bottom of the barrel now. Laine is fluently bilingual (unlike Matthews, btw), and was by all accounts a very good student.

You're also overblowing the "awkwardness" (please) and supposed character issues of Laine, who according to many is quite gregarious. But I guess whatever eases your uncertainty about taking Matthews at #1.
 
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"uncertainty"

Apparently you missed the discussion with Zeke a few weeks ago, if you think the majority of us are remotely uncertain about Matthews.

Considering recent history, you might want to be a bit more worried about your braintrust ****ing up this pick for you, rather than ours ****ing up the #1.
 
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