Patrik Laine made his Montreal Canadiens debut Tuesday. This February, the forward will be skating in Montreal representing his home country at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Laine was one of 17 players named to the roster for Team Finland on Wednesday, joining the first six who were selected in June. The best-on-best tournament featuring teams consisting of NHL players from Finland, Sweden, Canada and the United States will be held from Feb. 12-20, with games at Bell Centre in Montreal on Feb. 12-15 and at TD Garden in Boston from Feb. 17-20.
"It's been a journey and a half but just being able to play again and enjoy what I'm doing for a living, I think sometimes you forget how cool this is. So now I've kind of found that again, so that's really special," Laine said Thursday. "I had some talks with the coaches and the management late in the summer. so I knew I was on the list, at least, but didn't have too many expectations since obviously I haven't played, except Tuesday. But I knew if I'm on my game and if I've been playing, I could help the team and I probably should be in. So I was obviously happy to be named to the roster and it's really special."
Laine, who is in his first season with Montreal and scored in his debut with them Tuesday after sustaining a lower-body injury in the preseason, is not the only Canadiens player on Team Finland; forward Joel Armia was also named to the roster.
"I was kind of hoping and expecting that I'd be on the team, especially since we have two months until the tournament," Laine said. "But you never know what way they're going to go, how they're going to evaluate players, but I knew what I'm capable of, and I know that, and I know that I could be a really good thing for the team and I just appreciate the trust that they had to name me and to know that I'll be dialed in a couple months when the tournaments starts."
Since entering the League in 2016-17 after being the No. 2 pick by the Winnipeg Jets at the 2016 NHL Draft, Laine is fourth among active Finnish players with 205 goals. The other three, Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche (277), Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers (272) and Sebastian Aho of the Carolina Hurricanes (261) were all named to Team Finland’s roster in June.
“We know Laine, what he’s able to do, special teams, power play, what he can do there and of course, short tournament, the special teams are going to be a big part of that,” Team Finland general manager Jere Lehtinen said. “We’ve been talking with him and knowing where he’s at and it’s great for him and the Canadiens. He’s back early and he played last night, (it) was a great thing.
“But overall, there are two months before the tournament starts so there are a lot of games before then, and I think it’s enough time to get him in good game shape and playing well there. Last night he showed he has those skills.”
The defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers have the most players on Team Finland, with four. Forwards Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen, and defenseman Niko Mikkola, will join Barkov.
“It’s big value,” Lehtinen said. “You have a few who have won have been in tough situations tough situations through their career, so when it comes to a tournament like that, it’s a quick tournament. You have to be ready right away and play good hockey if you want to succeed there.
