If your Finnish is rustier than Clark Griswold’s son, the only play-by-play phrase you’ll comprehend here is “Alexander Ovechkin.”
Who cares? You don’t need a translator to wrap your head around a pair of beautiful shots snapped Thursday by elite draft-eligible prospect Patrik Laine in the Finnish league’s post-season.
Snipe No. 1 arrives on a 5-on-3 power play, but it still counts. Watch that water bottle jump:
Snipe No. 2 comes off a quick-release, deke-and-fire face-off play and pings off a defender:
At the age of 17, playing among professionals, Laine now has five goals and six points in his last five playoff games.
Sportsnet’s Damien Cox has Laine ahead of fellow Finnish winger Jesse Puljujarvi in the No. 2 spot in his most recent mock draft.
A beast at six-foot-four and 206 pounds, Laine racked up 33 points in 46 regular-season games with Tappara Tampere while taking just six minutes in penalties.
So… who will be lucky enough to land the kid?