Patrik Laine will finally be making his regular season debut tonight as the Montreal Canadiens take on the New York Islanders.
Kirby Dach echoed the general sentiment very well after practice this morning when he said to the media: "To get him back, it's like getting an early Christmas present, we're all excited".
The Montreal Canadiens went through a rollercoaster of emotions this off-season. The selections of Ivan Demidov and Michael Hage were celebrated at the end of June and then, the Habs settled into a boring Summer...until GM Kent Hughes acquired Patrik Laine from the Columbus Blue Jackets, immediately sending the fans into a frenzy.
Come training camp, everyone wanted to see the Canadiens' new Finnish sniper, but the "injury ninja" had other plans. Two minutes and 22 seconds after the start of his second pre-season game at the Bell Centre, he fell victim to a knee injury that kept him out of action since then.
After sitting out for the first 24 games of the season, the big Finn will finally take his first regular season strides in front of the home fans tonight and the excitation is palpable. Not only on social media, but on the ice in Brossard and in the Canadiens' dressing room as well.
Speaking to the media, Laine explained how excited he was to play and went as far as saying he knows he should temper his expectations and it could take time for him to get back in the swing of things, but as he said with a smile, it might just be like riding a bike. Personally, this is what I like about Laine, what you see if what you get and he doesn't just give you clichés, he tells you what he's really thinking.
Of course, it would be prudent for fans to keep their expectations low as Laine has not played in a real NHL game since Dec. 14, 2023. But no one will get them to curb their enthusiasm tonight. The atmosphere in the Bell Center should and will be electric. As Laine said it himself:
I mean, if somebody plays here and doesn't get fired up, there's something wrong with them. So I don't think that should be an issue. I think the crowd will be buzzing as always and as we play tonight, we'll excite them even more. That will be helpful after the couple of games we had.
Laine will be making his debut on the second line, flanking Kirby Dach on the left with Jurj Slafkovsky playing on the right. Asked about the fact he's putting the returning sniper with two players who have had issues this season, Martin St-Louis explained he expects them to help each other, he wants them to be part of each other's solution.
With Laine's return, the lines will be as follows:
Caufield-Suzuki-Newhook
Laine-Dach-Slafkovsky
Gallagher-Dvorak-Anderson
Heineman-Evans-Armia
It's also worth noting Laine will slot in on the first wave of the power play, replacing Dach on the top unit, who will in turn take over Armia's spot on the second unit. Not a bad outcome, keep Armia fresh for penalty killing duty and Dach is, at least on paper, the biggest offensive threat of the two.
The coach explains he expects Laine to fit in organically, since his injury, he's stayed around the team and not only watched the games from the press gallery, but also taking part in the pre-scout meetings, learning the team concepts and how to play without the puck. Tonight will be his first regular season game physically, but mentally, he's been dialed in.
St-Louis also added that he always likes to keep the injured players involved, Rafael Harvey-Pinard and David Reinbacher have also been taking part in those pre-scout meetings which the coaching staff tried to make as interactive as possible to get the players talking and likely, to see how well they were understanding the concepts the staff was teaching.
As captain Nick Suzuki put it in his media availability, get ready for the battle of the Patri(c)ks Canadiens fans! I don't think there's a need to warn you about patience being needed with a player who's just returning from injury when they haven't played in a year, Dach was just the cautionary tale needed, but since the center put us in the spirit of the season, allow me to wish you a Joyeux Noël et un(e) bon(ne) Laine!
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens