It has been almost a year—specifically 355 days—since Patrik Laine last participated in an NHL regular-season game. Tonight, the forward for the Montreal Canadiens is set to make his much-anticipated season debut against the New York Islanders at the Bell Centre.
The Canadiens announced in a tweet on Tuesday that “Forward Patrik Laine has been activated off IR and will make his Habs regular season debut tonight.”
Laine sustained an injury during preseason after joining the Canadiens through a trade this summer. He skated during Tuesday’s morning session, which strongly suggests he is prepared to return. While the Canadiens haven’t officially confirmed his participation, indications strongly suggest that the Finnish player will join the lineup this evening. Darren Dreger noted, “It looks like Laine will return to the Habs lineup tonight.”
During this morning’s practice, Patrik Laine trained alongside Juraj Slafkovsky and Kirby Dach.
This training session strongly indicated that Laine was cleared to play tonight, and the Habs have now confirmed it.
There are no longer any conditions to consider.
After practice, Kirby Dach was asked about the announcement, and he, who would benefit greatly from Laine’s presence, expressed his excitement about his return, likening it to an early Christmas gift.
This holiday analogy is intriguing, as I didn’t expect Laine to be back by December during his injury. Even when the Habs provided an estimated timeline, I thought he wouldn’t return before Christmas.
Yet, he will, and notably, the main party involved mentioned he could have played as early as last week in November. It makes sense for the Habs to proceed without further delay, which is entirely appropriate.
