The NHL's 2024 pre-season has been full of injury, drama and heated rivalries, and nothing was a better example of all three of those things than the clash between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. Unfortunately, all of that resulted in a massive injury to Canadiens star Patrik Laine, and while he'll only miss three months after some fantastic injury news, it's still a brutal blow for a player looking to establish himself as a star in the NHL once again.
Because of the injury, the player that was on the other end of that, Cedric Pare of the Toronto Maple Leafs, has received plenty of hate, with many expecting Laine to harbour plenty of that hatred for him too. However, in a recent interview, No. 92 revealed the exact opposite, mentioning that Pare texted him as soon as he could, which gained him plenty of respect from the former Jets and Blue Jackets star.
While the whole situation is less than ideal, Laine revealed that he doesn't blame Pare for the injury, as he believes no one is taking the ice to intentionally injure an opponent, ultimately taking plenty of accountability for the injury upon himself as well. Regardless of what Pare did, which was a massive sign of respect, the 26-year old Laine will still miss up to three months of action with a knee sprain, and with the Canadiens needing a veteran presence like that in the lineup, it's a brutal blow, so the hope is that they can stay in the fight long enough so that when he returns, this team can make a genuine push for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 3 | 240 ANSWERS Patrik Laine reveals what Cedric Pare said to him after causing serious injury Will Patrik Laine and the Montreal Canadiens make the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2024/25? | ||
Yes | 54 | 22.5 % |
No | 186 | 77.5 % |
LIST OF POLLS |
G | A | PTS | ||
Patrick Maroon | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Lukas Reichel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Travis Konecny | - | 2 | 2 | |
Anze Kopitar | - | 2 | 2 | |
Quinton Byfield | 1 | - | 1 | |
Noah Cates | 1 | - | 1 | |
Sean Couturier | 1 | - | 1 | |
Marcus Johansson | 1 | - | 1 | |
Adrian Kempe | 1 | - | 1 | |
Matvei Michkov | 1 | - | 1 | |
Martin Pospisil | 1 | - | 1 | |
Kevin Rooney | 1 | - | 1 | |
Igor Sharangovich | 1 | - | 1 | |
Carter Verhaeghe | 1 | - | 1 | |
Rasmus Andersson | - | 1 | 1 | |
Matthew Boldy | - | 1 | 1 | |
Bobby Brink | - | 1 | 1 | |
Kevin Fiala | - | 1 | 1 | |
Tyson Foerster | - | 1 | 1 | |
Nazem Kadri | - | 1 | 1 | |
Complete stats |
STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
Conference | Cumulative |