Patrik Laine returns to Columbus for first time since he was traded to the Montreal Canaidens
Tonight is the night! A healthy and happy Patrik Laine returns to Columbus to face the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first time since he was traded this past off-season.
The Montreal Canadiens roll into Columbus winners of their last three and will look to steal another one in their last game before the Christmas break.
Laine has been lights out since he came back from injury. In nine games this year, he has eight goals, including a hat trick, and one assist for nine points.
After the Habs had their morning skate, Laine had some interesting things to say about his time in Columbus. The Athletic's Aaron Portzline cited a few Laine quotes that the media asked him, and they weren't too flattering.
Per The Athletic article, “I feel like we were just doing the same thing year after year. I was tired of losing and just giving up when it’s December to start focusing on next year. I’m not going to do that. That’s frustrating as a player when you’re trying to win and some people are, you know, not like that.
“They’re a little too satisfied and too comfortable where they’re at. It wasn’t really a fit for me anymore. But here (in Montreal), it doesn’t matter if we’re winning or losing, we’re always trying our best. That’s what I felt about it (in Columbus).”
Laine was also asked to clarify if he meant his teammates or the CBJ management group that was here at the time. “I’ll leave that for everybody’s imagination,” Laine said. “But there were certainly, certainly people like that who were a little too comfortable and fine with losing and just doing the same thing year after year. I’m going to leave that up for discussion for everybody else.”
Patrik Laine had one more parting shot for the Jackets regarding tonight's game, “If we win, we’re going to jump them." “That’d be awesome to leave them behind.”
The game starts at 7:00 p.m., where the Blue Jackets will most likely honor him as a former member of their organization.
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