and was summarily schooled by the professional player.
The Winnipeg Jets forward and No. 2 pick of the 2016 NHL Draft didn't win a hole against Sami Valimaki, a European Tour winner, in a nine-hole match on the Rock Course at Nokia River Golf just west of Tampere, Finland.
The match was conceived as a way to create some live sports content while much of the world is in lockdown, practicing self-isolation and social distancing due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. The NHL season was paused March 12 and the European Tour suspended its season until further notice March 16.
No fans were allowed on the course for the match. Laine, Valimaki, Viasat hockey and sports commentator Antti Makinen and one cameraman were the only people present for the match on a windy, partly sunny day with the temperature one or two degrees above freezing.
"A friend of mine runs the club and we do a lot of stuff with him for golf and he came up with the idea that it would be fun to play against Sami and that's how it kind of started," Laine said from Tampere on Friday. "And Antti is a friend of mine, too, so it worked out pretty well that way.
"The social distancing, that was important for us. They've had the guidelines at the club on how you have to play if you're there, keeping distances between people, leave the flag in, all of those things. That was very serious for us and we took it seriously and did not want to be a bad influence. No fans around the course, no media.
"We wanted it to look good, be simple."
Laine and Valimaki, both 21, have known each other since they were kids. Valimaki won the Oman Open in a playoff against Brandon Stone on Feb. 29. It was his sixth start on the European Tour after turning pro last year.
Laine has 63 points (28 goals, 35 assists) in 68 games for the Jets this season. He said the quality of his golf Friday did not compare.
"My driving was good, short game not so much, that's it in a nutshell," Laine said. "I hit some good ones off the tee. But in the beginning, five putts on the first hole, that was pretty awful. It's just a lack of consistency from not having played.
"It was a chilly day, the weather hasn't been great and I haven't been able to get out much, just a couple of nine-hole (rounds) a couple of weeks ago. I would have done way better if this had been in a couple of months. But the day was a lot of fun and that's the main reason I agreed to do it."
