Patrik Laine: Canucks' Fortnite Ban Scapegoat for Team's Poor Play Last Season

While many professional athletes are among those consumed with the popular video game Fortnite, Vancouver Canucks players may miss out on a lot that Season 6 (and beyond) has to offer after the team has placed a ban into effect.

Vancouver center Bo Horvat told TSN 1040 on Tuesday (h/t Patrick Johnston of The Province) that the Canucks will not be allowed to play Fortnite on the road. Instead, the players will be spending time with their teammates in other ways, such as team dinners.

"In my opinion, there's better ways to spend time on the road, whether it's hanging with the guys in the room or going to a movie with the guys," Horvat said. "There's a lot of cool cities we visit, and to be cooped up in your room all night, playing Fortnite, is a waste of your time."

Not everyone around the league agrees with the philosophy, though.

Vancouver is in the midst of a three-year playoff drought, going just 31-40-11 with 73 points last season. Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine believes the Canucks' ban is just a byproduct of the team's on-ice struggles.

"I think they just needed something to blame after last year," Laine said, according to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com). "And we kind of made a deal if we're playing like that, we can give up our PlayStations so we're not going to take them on the road. But I don't think that's going to happen."

Winnipeg finished last season with 114 points, the second-most in the NHL. One of Laine's teammates, Nikolaj Ehlers, points out that he and his peers need to have their priorities in check.

"It's a PlayStation game," Ehlers said. "Our jobs are to play hockey, and we need to be prepared to do that every single day. We know what we need to do to get ready for a hockey game, and it's not playing Fortnite till 2 a.m."

Fortnite has taken the gaming world by storm over the past year, which has led to plenty of distractions from normal-day life. With Season 6 recently dropping, gamers have been caught up in checking out all of the new features.

With the 2018-19 NHL season starting Wednesday, though, the Canucks want to limit the distractions and keep the focus on hockey.