TSN: Darren Dreger, Frankie Corrado and Jeff O’Neill discuss Montreal Canadiens Patrik Laine injury and what it might mean for the Canadiens this season.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Host: “Alongside Darren Dreger, Jeff O’Neill and Frankie Corrado. It certainly is the last thing that a team wants to see during the preseason, injuries and an injury to a player that they just acquired.
Dregs, for Patrik Laine, a tough injury when you think of what the Habs are hoping to get out of him, and tough for him, given what he’s gone through in his career.”
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Dreger: “Well, for both the organization and the fan base, right? You go from wondering about what kind of chemistry is Patrik Laine going to have with Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach, to now wondering, well, how serious is this knee injury that Patrick Laine suffered very early in a preseason hockey game?
Now, I know Montreal fans are after Cedric Pare for this hit. Laine is cutting across. Pare is just trying to get a piece, stand him up. We can see that there’s a thigh-on-thigh, knee-on-knee collision. There, should have there been a penalty call on the play? I think that that’s fair, but I did not see this as being malicious.
So, yeah, the Montreal Canadians are upset over that play. The Toronto Maple Leafs are just as upset that Arber Xhekaj, you know, basically went after their guy in Cedric Pare.
So it’s unfortunate all around.”
Corrado: “It’s devastating for Patrik Laine, and it’s potentially devastating for the Montreal Canadiens because this was the big swing that your team made. A guy who has a lot of potential offensively that’s different than some of the players that you currently have. And if he’s not available to you, I’m not sure how much of a jump the Montreal Canadiens can make this season.”
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O’Neill: “I’ve never seen a guy go off the ice like that and the next morning, ‘Nah, nothing to see here. It’s all good.’ Like, that didn’t look good for Laine”
Host: “And when you add in the injury to David Reinbacher, a tough night for the Montreal Canadiens.”