Laine, Korpisalo show off their talents with painting project

In the end it really wasn't a fair fight.
When NHL International invited Blue Jackets players Patrik Laine and Joonas Korpisalo to take part in a painting project last week when the team was in New York City, it matched two Finns with somewhat similar personalities but very different skill sets.

On one hand was Korpisalo, the reserved goalie who has a skill with a paintbrush in his hand, which he proved two years ago when

as part of the team's annual card painting project impressed observers.
Then there's Laine, a man of many talents (when he's not on injured reserve, as he is at the moment), but his generally come with a hockey stick in his hand and not a paintbrush. While his flashiness on the ice fills up highlight reels, his artistic ability appears to be a notch below that of Korpisalo.
And that was proven when the two put paint to brush to canvas for the piece, which was used to promote the two in their native Finland. Challenged to paint portraits of one another while speaking -- and goofing on one another and themselves -- in their native language, Laine and Korpisalo put together works of diverging quality.

While Korpisalo spent much of his time mixing colors to come up with the ones he specifically was looking for, Laine joked when he started, "I know I'm gonna need a lot of orange for this one."
The two were told they could paint the other in any way they chose -- what they were wearing at the time, what they look like on the ice or any other situation. Korpisalo immediately had an idea and his completed work would need no introduction, as he painted Laine's now-famous opening night outfit that included a purple suit jacket and matching purple sunglasses.
"It was good," Laine said. "It was way nicer than mine. I've seen him draw before. He's kind of an artist, so he did a pretty good job capturing my personality."
Laine, meanwhile, painted Korpisalo as he saw him in the moment, complete with the No. 70 apron Korpisalo was given for the project to avoid getting paint on his clothes. It was a little less polished than the goalie's work of art, but pretty good for someone who professed to have no idea where to start.
And despite his lack of experience and skill, Laine said he enjoyed being part of the competition.
"It was fun, even though I sucked at it," Laine said. "I'm not good at drawing, so that's not really in my wheelhouse. But it's always fun to do that kind of stuff, especially with Korpi."