(WPR #3) I Sell Profontaine and Profontaine Accessories (Pat Lafontaine)
Check out Pat Lafontaine below!
https://hutdb.net/17/view/11402
Currently playing on the 2nd Line/2nd PP
Lafontaine/Modano/POTG Marchand (2nd Line)
Lafontaine/Brind’Amour/Modano (2nd PP)
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Skating 6.75/10: Lafontaine is a very weird card skating wise, basically he isn’t slow, but he isn’t really that fast either. As a small player Lafontaine has good Balance (92) and Strength (92) but because of his body size he still gets knocked around a lot. Give Lafontaine a slight bump and he’s a tumblin’ muffin. With Acceleration (92) Lafontaine has the ability to make some explosive strides, but his top Speed (89) is really disappointing. Herein lies the rub with Lafontaine’s skating, he’s nowhere near as fast as say, Gaudreau, Hagelin, or Gaborik, who survive as smaller players because of their ability to outskate potential checkers and defenders. Lafontaine doesn’t have that top speed to allow him to out skate hitters, nor does he have size to push through defenders. It puts Lafontaine in a really awkward spot as a high end card. What saves his rating some is his Agility (96). Lafontaine can move around the ice with ease, and is the real upside of his skating. Using Lafontaine as a slower player really improves his effectiveness. Use his good first strides to create separation and then use his Agility (96) to make cuts, out maneuver defenders as you slow down, and you’ll often find yourself in a good position to shoot or pass. As a side note Lafontaine’s Endurance (95) wasn’t something that ever really came into play for me. That is to say that I never noticed him tiring unnecessarily, but he was never in a spot to have any really grueling shifts for me.
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Shooting 9/10: Lafontaine is a sniper in the purest terms, any shot, any angle, any traffic and he can find the net. His SSP (95), SSA (95) actually feel a lot like their ratings, get Lafontaine into a shooting position and let them rip. His SSP (95) feels slightly weaker, but his SSA (95) is on point, almost all of his slappers were on goal, and if they didn’t go in they created great rebound chances. His wrister is also top notch, with WSA (95) and WSP (92) feel free to snap off shots at your leisure. Lafontaine’s quick wrister is pretty quick and pretty accurate, but give him a second to set up, and while it’s not the fastest wrister I’ve used, it most certainly puts the biscuit in the basket.
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Hands 9/10: As well as he can shoot, Lafontaine can Pass (96). He really is a perfect two option forward that can help generate some serious offense. His passes are the greasy, slimy, impossible to catch kind, and his Offensive Awareness (95) makes using him in a cycle where he is an option to both shoot and pass is a huge advantage. He also has superb Hand-Eye (95) and Deking (94), so you can feel safe making those fancy dispy doodle dangles that make your opponent rage and their mom’s swoon. Puck Control (95) allows him to recover from poke checks very nicely, and when he manages to skate through a check, he usually comes out with the puck on the other side.
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Checking 5.5/10: This just isn’t what Patrick was made for. With his smaller size checking bigger players is next to impossible. Don’t let his Body Checking (88) fool you he’ll simply get run over by players like Linden, Lindros, and even the occasional Marchand. When he does manage to take someone down, he tends to get tangled up in a loving embrace that never ends with him and the puck together. If you need checking, pass.
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Defense 7/10: Playing him at center gives you Face Offs (90) which is insanely valuable if you need a reliable centermen. His Stick Checking (95) is the highlight here, squeeze someone into the boards and have Lafontaine come and negotiate for the puck’s release, you’ll find most players are more than happy to agree to terms. His Defensive Awareness (91) and Blocking (90) are both nice numbers but besides poke checking I just didn’t really notice Lafontaine defensively. He made no stand up and cheer plays, but he also never Collin Miller’d the puck into his own net either (cheer up kid, Columbus needed the boost anyway, and besides, you have more goals than Jimmy Hayes now.) With Discipline (90) and Poise (95) Lafontaine isn’t the kind of guy who’ll take penalties either.
- Synergies: Tape to Tape X2 / Net Front Presence X2
Tape to Tape X2: I personally love this synergy as it gives a +3 boost to Passing, Offensive Awareness, and Poise. Alone this is great for people who like to cycle or spread defenses out through passing, but add it together with Cycle Game and you’ve got yourself a very dangerous team of passing playmakers. It requires 6pts to light up TT, which means that Lafontaine covers 1/3 of the requirements.
Net Front Presence: NFP gives a +3 boost to Hand-Eye, Aggressiveness, Balance, and Strength. I have this synergy active just for the sake of having it active and I honestly don’t notice a difference with or without it in the players that have it, but on the upside Lafontaine is a +2 which activates 2/3 of the required 3pts.
- Overview: In my opinion Lafontaine is a great offensive force with defensive responsibility, but he seems more like a complimentary player to me than someone to build a team around. His offensive abilities are phenomenal but he needs to be paired with someone who can play off of him, he just doesn’t seem to be able to do it all by himself. His combination of small stature and mediocre speed make it really hard to use Lafontaine as a work horse. He’s a great card if you’re looking to give a line a little extra juice or you need a center with great offensive skills and face off ability. With a 136K LPS, Lafontaine is definitely worth a look.
10 GP
6 Goals
4 Assists
10 Points
(All games were played against a similarly skilled friend who is helping me test out cards.)
- Comparable Players
On the Cheap
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Jordan Eberle (LPS 700): Slow, but decent hands and shot
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Patric Hornqvist (LPS 650): Slightly faster than Eberle, comparable shot, but worse hands
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Jeff Skinner (LPS 3.5K): Much faster than both, good shot, good hands, easier to knock off the puck.
Mid Range
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Phil Kessel (LPS 16K): Fast, great shot, decent hands
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Connor McDavid (LPS 45K): Slower than Kessel, slightly worse shot, and much better hands
High Tier
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Tyler Seguin (LPS 128K): Great combination of speed, shot, and hands
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Steven Stamkos (LPS 178K): Elite skating, shot, and hands, depending on your opinion and play type, could be better off with Stamkos than Lafontaine.
https://hutdb.net/17/builder/23699
POTG Brad Marchand
Keith Tkachuk
Trevor Linden
Pat Lafontaine
All players are now open for review so just tell me who you want to see and I’ll get a review out next Friday by 10PM EST.
Side Note: I apologize for the lack of humor and creativity in this review, I had an exhausting week and am pretty worn out, but I still wanted to get this out for everyone. So, as my apology, I leave you in the loving embrace of the one and only Kazoo Kid.
Posted Nov 12, 2016, 2:06 AM UTC