Blues coach compares Laine to Tarasenko, Ovechkin, Kurri

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This article was published 02/12/2016 (2698 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. LOUIS – It started early Friday afternoon and extended into Saturday morning. With the Winnipeg Jets in town to take on the St. Louis Blues Saturday night in the first of consecutive games this weekend, the love fest for Jets winger Patrik Laine made a brief pit stop in the Gateway City.

Laine, the Jets’ 18-year-old Finnish rookie who has taken the NHL by storm this season, scoring 15 goals in his first 26 games, was once again the talk of the town. Selected with the second overall pick in June’s draft, Laine has the second most goals heading into Saturday’s set of games, just one behind superstar Sidney Crosby – a player many believe to be the best in the sport.

“Oh, boy,” Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock said Saturday when asked where he felt Laine ranked among the best young players in today’s NHL. “He’s right at the top.”

On Friday, Hitchcock, who has over 20 years coaching in the league, drew comparisons between Laine and a pair of perennial goal scorers in the NHL, saying Laine resembled the kind of scoring touch to that of one of his own in Vladimir Tarasenko, who finished third last season with 40 goals for the Blues, and Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin, who finished first with 50 – the latest of seven seasons where Ovechkin has reached the 50-goal mark.

“They don’t miss,” said Hitchcock.

With a number of new scribes in attendance for Hitchcock’s pre-game scrum on Saturday, it was only a matter of time before the topic Laine’s rise was brought up again. This time, however, the Blues coach dug a bit deeper into the past, instead comparing him to one of his fellow countrymen.

“I see a bigger version of Jari Kurri,” said Hitchcock. “I see a guy who puts his body in a position to shoot the puck. He’s always in position to create his own individual space on the ice, where you think you’ve got tight coverage and he can just get loose and then he lets it rip.

“I see a lot of that hockey sense that’s almost impossible to teach because you have to be thinking two steps ahead, not one step ahead. Pretty damn impressive, to be honest with you.”

Laine has garnered attention from every stop, in every city he’s visited this season. After the Jets morning skate, he said he enjoyed playing against new teams, facing new players, which includes the Blues, a Central Division rival. The Blues are also not lost on the fact they too will be seeing the Jets – and Laine – for the first time tonight.

“For us, it will be important for us to take away his time and space,” said Blues forward Alexander Steen. “He’s a player who’s able to shoot from small or tight areas or maybe some unconventional areas and pick his corners pretty good.”

“We’ll have awareness when he’s on the ice,” he added.

As far as the hype trail he’s produced from city to city this season, that couldn’t be further from Laine’s mind.

“I don’t want to think about that. It’s not my job,” he said. “I just want to come to the rink and put on my hockey gear and just play hockey.”

A major concern for other teams, Laine is a blessing for the Jets. He’s already recorded two hat tricks this season, and has brought a much-need spark to the power play, including a league best seven goals on the man advantage.

“He can win a game by himself. He’s that guy who can just turn around a game and win it,” said Jets forward Mathieu Perreault. “We didn’t have that really in the past. We’ve always had some good, core players that can work all together but we’ve never really had that star player and now we have that. It’s nice to know you have that.”

Of all the attention given to Laine and of all the praise spurred from his hot start, he was asked if he himself had predicted the kind of beginning to his NHL career.

“I kind of didn’t think anything when I came here. I just wanted to make myself onto the team and earn the trust from these players and hope that I could play the whole season in the NHL,” he said. “I think the first part is over in making the team and now I just have to focus on helping my team to win. That’s my biggest goal now.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.catwitter: @jeffkhamilton