Finland: Siltanews – News Desk
Patrik Laine made his Montreal Canadians 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.
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 Canadians player on Team Finland; forward Joel Armia was also named to the roster.
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), Alexander 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 Canadians. 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.”