Patrik Laine is one of the impressive future stars that fans across Europe have had the chance to see in the Champions Hockey League so far this season. If you missed him, however, don't worry. You'll be seeing plenty more of him in the future.

by Vilja Päätalo

TAMPERE - If you haven't heard of Patrik Laine yet, you will soon. The 16-year-old has played for Tappara Tampere in two CHL games and has been impressive in both. In a game that his team needed to win to advance to the playoffs, Laine scored the all-important first goal as his team beat Czech side Ocelari Trinec 5-1 in the last game of the group stage.

A possible first-round pick for the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, Laine is known for his scoring skills as well as his temper. When given the chance to play in the CHL, however, he has showed the best he can offer.

"I think these CHL games are even more fun than the ones in Liiga," he said. "The games against Trinec, for example, were very fast-paced, which creates lots of scoring chances, which I find cool."

Laine himself had a chance to score and he used it well. He made the Trinec defencemen look clumsy by skating past them and, while the shot itself might have been stopped by Trinec goalie Simon Hrubec on another day, that does not take anything away from the goal's significance.

"It felt great to score in the CHL. I love scoring goals like that and I'm happy the puck went past the goalie for once. I didn't even notice I scored at first!"

Laine is a part of the young new generation, and it's no wonder where the youngster, who names Alexander Ovechkin as his idol, learns his tricks.

"I learn from NHL videos on the internet," he explained. "After watching them a lot I started practicing those moves, and I've got lots of tricks I've mastered. It would be fun to get a try in a shootout. I've got at least three different moves for it that should work."

Besides two CHL games with Tappara, Laine has played in Mestis, the second-highest level in Finland, this season. What makes the fact that a 16-year-old plays with men even more impressive is that he had an operation on his knee in March and had to stay out of action for a long period of time.

"For a month I couldn't do anything. After that I had a couple of months when I couldn't do anything with my leg. I had to make up a whole new kind of summer training programme as I could only use my upper body."

Besides success with Tappara, Laine also hopes to get a chance to establish himself on the Finnish national team. He's already made several appearances at various youth levels, and now he's hoping to move up to the U20 level and eventually the men's team.

"It would be fun to represent Finland in the World Junior Championship in Canada. That's one of my goals."

His national team record hasn't been all rosy so far, though. The tempered youngster made headlines in Finland when this past August when playing for the U18 team at the Ivan Hlinka tournament in the Czech Republic when he was sent home early after losing his temper following a loss.

"All I can say about that is that I am ready to move forward. I have discussed it with everyone involved and it won't happen again," Laine promises.

And it seems like Laine is happy with where he is right now at the tender age of 16. Used to doing interviews, he gives a relaxed smile as he finishes up by giving his thoughts on the CHL.

"It's a great league. I enjoy this opportunity to play the best teams from other countries and I think that the skill level here is very high."