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Message to Richard Labbé’s supporters on Patrik Laine: “You need to calm down a bit”.

 Auteur: jdavis
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Message to Richard Labbé’s supporters on Patrik Laine: “You need to calm down a bit”.
Credit: Capture d'écran / Screenshot

Of course, Patrik Laine represents a very exciting addition to the Montreal Canadiens’ roster for the 2024-2025 season.

Fans are excited to see the former 40-goal scorer in action, this time wearing a Habs jersey.

The only small, or rather big, hitch is that the Finnish forward is likely to be rusty, as my colleague Marc-Olivier Cook, who was in Brossard, has been able to observe over the past two days.

Of course, fans know that Laine hasn’t played competitive hockey in a long time, and that the Finn’s first skate could leave us wanting more.

But even so, a good portion of Habs fans seem to remain confident that Laine can score 40-50 goals.

And that’s where journalist Richard Labbé has a problem.

In his opinion, we really need to calm down a bit when it comes to Laine.

As he explained on the last episode of Sortie de zone, Labbé believes that the 40-50 goal expectations placed on Laine by many fans are greatly exaggerated.

For Labbé, this is a huge expectation, especially considering that the Finnish forward is likely to start the season on Kirby Dach’s line.

Laine will have to find a way to shake off the rust he’s accumulated since his last NHL game on December 14, 2023, with another player at center who needs to shake off the rust quickly.

In short, according to Labbé, Dach’s responsibilities will be far too enormous for a guy who hasn’t played in a year, and so, by the same token, it’s likely to affect Patrik Laine.

Of course, even though I’m one of those who believe strongly in Laine, I think Richard Labbé has a good point when he says that a line-up with two rusty guys to start the season may not be ideal.

Dach will have the pressure of getting Patrik Laine to produce, while having to rack up points easily himself.

In short, expectations are clearly too high for some when it comes to the Finn, so there’s no need to panic or cry failure if Laine gets off to a poor start.

With what we’ve seen in the last two days, the rust could very well still be present in Laine for the October 9 opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Overtime

– Read about the Habs week.

– Really bad luck for him and the Blackhawks.

– Awesome.

– Incredible story.

– Too bad.

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