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Leafs' Cedric Pare addresses knee-on-knee collision that injured Patrik Laine
The preseason game between Patrik Laine's Montreal Canadiens and Cedric Pare's Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday saw Laine leave with an apparent leg injury after a knee-on-knee collision with Leafs forward Pare.
The incident occurred at 3:49 of the first period when Pare made contact with Laine's left knee, immediately dropping the Canadiens forward to the ice in pain. Laine had to be helped off by teammates, unable to put any weight on his left leg. The Canadiens later announced that Laine won't return to the game.
In his post-game comments, Cedric Pare addressed the collision:
"It's a fast game, it wasn't my intention. It's just unfortunate. I hope he's fine. It wasn't my intention. I didn't mean to do that."
The hit triggered a response from Laine's teammate Arber Xhekaj who confronted Pare and landed punches while Pare was down the ice. Xhekaj was penalized for 27 minutes and a game misconduct.
On Xhekaj's reaction, Cedric Pare said:
"He's got to defend his teammates. I wasn't. I mean I wasn't ready for that, like kinda caught me by surprise, but, you know, started doing like that, I gotta face it."
Canadiens prospect David Reinbach also had to leave after the game had started due to a hard hit from Toronto's Marshall Rifai along the boards. The Maple Leafs eventually won the preseason game 2-1 against the Canadiens.
Montreal Canadiens HC Martin St. Louis on Patrik Laine's collision with Cedric Pare
After the game, Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis commented on the collision and Laine's status.
“If you know you can get him back to his own standards, it’s pretty exciting. And I feel we’ve done a good job of bringing him in and he’s started to feel more comfortable, so it’s hard to see him go down like that today. And hopefully it’s not too serious.” St. Louis said.
Laine was the key offseason addition for the Canadiens. The 26-year-old suffered a broken clavicle during last season and only played 18 games due to the injury. He received support from the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program from January until receiving clearance in July.
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