It is not yet known how long Patrik Laine will be sidelined, but the members of the Montreal Canadiens are obviously disappointed to lose the services of the man who was acquired towards the end of the off-season.
Laine came to the Habs after a difficult stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets . The 26-year-old Finn was limited to 18 games last season due to a broken collarbone and a stint in the NHL Player Assistance Program and the Players’ Association.
Head coach Martin St-Louis has been repeating since the resumption of activities that the most important thing for Laine was to have fun playing.
“It hurts a little more, because I felt he was enjoying coming to the arena,” St-Louis said Monday.
The coach added that he felt his group had welcomed the former 40-plus goal scorer with open arms.
“When you build a house, the building can be beautiful, but it takes more than that to make it your home. Seeing how the guys welcomed ‘Paty’ [Laine], it shows me that we built a house, not just a building,” St-Louis said.
The Canadiens resumed training Monday morning at the CN Sports Complex, without Laine, Josh Anderson and defenseman David Reinbacher.
Laine and Reinbacher went down in the first period of the preseason game against the Toronto Maple Leafs held Saturday night at the Bell Centre.
The Canadiens have yet to provide an update on their health. A team spokesperson told reporters on site that the Habs would have no information to release until after practice and media availability for the day.
As for Anderson, the team said he was enjoying a day of treatment. He finished the game against the Maple Leafs. The latter won the game 2-1.
Reinbacher was injured in a bad fall after being hit.
For his part, Laine received a knee blow from Cédric Paré and remained lying on the ice rink, visibly in pain.
The Finn watched part of the training from the players’ bench on Monday, walking with forearm crutches.
“It’s probably a good thing, he’s staying close to the guys,” forward Cole Caufield said.
“I was devastated,” he added, reflecting on the incident. “We were very excited to have a player of his caliber. To see him in pain like that, it was not fun.”
Laine was the Canadiens’ only major acquisition of the offseason. While management hopes to be “in the mix ” until late this spring, Caufield admitted the loss of Laine dampens the enthusiasm a bit as the season approaches.
“We were all excited to have him join the team. He will still be around the team and in a good frame of mind. However, we will have to find other reasons to be excited for our next season.”
“Everybody’s going to have to work a little harder to make up for it,” Caufield added. “It’s tough to lose a guy like that.”
Time for experiments?
The Canadiens will play the fifth of their six preseason games on Tuesday, when the Ottawa Senators will be the visitors at the Bell Centre.
“That gives us two games and four or five practices. We’ll continue to evaluate,” St. Louis said of the impact of losing Laine and the time he has to adjust his plans accordingly before the season begins. The team plays its first game Oct. 9 against the Maple Leafs.
If the Tricolore trios seemed set in stone since the start of camp, there is now a position to fill on the second trio and on the second power play unit.
St-Louis noted that “anything is possible,” hoping to see a heated internal competition between both youngsters wanting to get a job in the NHL and veterans hoping to get a bigger role and a little more playing time.
In addition, forwards Brandon Gignac and Lucas Condotta were not claimed on waivers. They were assigned to the Laval Rocket, who will begin their camp on Tuesday.
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