Five weeks after Patrik Laine guaranteed we’d see the best version of himself on the ice this season, the Montreal Canadiens announced it would be several months before we’d see Laine on the ice again.

The Finnish forward underwent core-muscle surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital, in New York, earlier this week, after initially being ruled “day-to-day with a lower-body injury” by the club on Oct. 17. He’ll be sidelined for 12-16 weeks after appearing in just five games, earning only one point, registering only six shots on net, and accumulating a minus-three rating.

Those numbers weren’t entirely indicative of Laine’s performance, which Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis expressed satisfaction with on a couple of occasions in the early part of this season. But it’s fair to say the player was slo

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