"He's been my No. 1 fan and supporter always," Laine said after skating in practice for the first time since he suffered an oblique injury Nov. 3 at Colorado. "Not that my mom and sister and everyone else hasn't been, but I think hockey was kind of our thing and our passion. I definitely wouldn't be here without him, and yeah, he always watched my games ever since I was a kid. He woke up at night to watch my (NHL) games (from Finland), so it's definitely tough. Losing my best friend, it's tough."
Laine has always been close with his family, including having his mother Tuija live with him when he began his career in Winnipeg. Harri, meanwhile, also played hockey, and the two would shoot at soda cans in the backyard when Patrik was a kid, as he detailed in an
article in 2018 in the Players Tribune
. Even with Laine in his sixth NHL season, Harri would still wake up at 3 a.m. in Finland to watch each game and lend his support.
"It's been tough for all of us, and I can't really speak on behalf of anyone else than myself, but I know for a fact they've had a really tough couple of weeks like I have," Laine said of his family. "But you just have to find ways to deal with it and think of all the good stuff and the memories and stuff like that. I think everybody just misses him. That's mainly on everybody's mind."
And while hockey was a big part of the bond between Laine and his father, it's also a thing that can help him through the tough time. Laine hadn't skated with the team since Colorado, as after a strong start to the season with three goals and 10 points in the first nine games, the Finnish winger was injured in the third period of that victory against the Avalanche.
He said being back on the ice with his teammates for Monday's practice, including scoring a penalty shot goal during the team's small-area game to end practice, was a good distraction from everything he's been through recently.
"It's definitely fun," he said. "It's been almost six weeks since I've been with the team, so it was definitely fun. And after the times I've had lately, it's always great to be around these guys.
"It's definitely been the hardest times of my life, for sure. It's been difficult dealing with it, and I'm still going through it. It's still on my mind quite a bit, but this helps being here and have at least something to do during the day and something to look forward to."
Laine skated with recent scratches Emil Bemstrom and Yegor Chinakhov during Monday's practice, and his timetable to return to the ice for a game remains up in the air as he makes sure the injury has healed fully and also builds up his stamina after being away for so long.
"I'm happy for him," head coach Brad Larsen said of Laine's return to the ice. "He's been through a lot here, and a lot of times in these situations, (it's good) just to be back with your second family and get out there and have some normalcy in your life. It's great to see him out there smiling and having some fun and getting back at it."
As for the injury rehab, Larsen said, "It's going to take some time. As far as the injury, that's not even cleared yet. We have to make sure. There's a progression there we have to go through and talk with the trainers."
In the meantime, just being back with his teammates is a good start for Laine.
"It's always great," he said of being welcomed back. "These guys have been great supporting me and my family, so it's always nice to come back here with open arms. It's definitely fun being on the ice with them again."
