Patrik Laine got a serious knee injury in Tappara’s juniors.
In his first full league season, Patrik Laine scored 17 goals in the regular season. Mika heather
Patrik Laine career was at a turning point more than eight years ago. That’s when Laine, who played playoff hockey in Tappara’s juniors in the spring, got a nasty knee injury that required surgery.
The Finnish cannon was revealed of The Athletic in the interview, that Laine’s playing career was about to end due to his stubbornness before it even started properly.
Laine’s good friend and also a player in the Columbus Blue Jackets organization Joona Luoto told an American newspaper about the situation.
– Laine had just had an operation, so she moved with sticks. We had physical exercises on the football field. Laine wasn’t supposed to come because she couldn’t really do anything. Still, he showed up, Luoto recalled.
Laine had put the sticks aside and started angrily shooting pucks at the goal with one foot.
– It kind of destroyed my knee. The joint was completely broken. One doctor said I might not play hockey again. It wasn’t good news for a 15-year-old. The next year was also terrible. I even considered quitting because I couldn’t move with it (the knee), Laine stated.
Although Laine played a breakout season for Mest in LeK, he was able to practice his even more devastating shot thousands of times a day. In the end, Laine debuted in the same season as a 16-year-old in the League.
After that, the biggest attention was paid to the second draft of the 2016 NHL Draft. The following season in Tappara, Laine scored 17 goals in the regular season and ten more in the playoffs before the Winnipeg Jets signed the Finnish forward to the NHL.
Laine will be seen in Finland this coming weekend against the Colorado Avalanche in the NHL Global Series matches at the Nokia Arena.