Ismo Lehkonen says that Cédric Paré, who collided with Patrik Laine, showed inexperience. Already the previous match between Toronto and Montreal “got quite violent”.
Montreal Canadiens Patrick Laine was badly injured in a practice match against the Toronto Maple Leafs early on Sunday Finnish time.
Laine played his second practice game in Montreal. That match ended for Laine in his second change. Laine transport in your pocket Toronto player Cédric Parén to the knee, and the Finnish star’s leg was twisted.
The situation can be seen in the X embed below or from this link.
Sports expert Ismo Lehkonen followed the match, but had already paid attention to the previous meeting between Montreal and Toronto. The training match in question was played on Thursday, when Laine was not yet in the lineup.
– There were already a lot of collisions of all kinds, and it’s a pretty local classic as a match anyway. It got pretty violent, and Toronto John Tavares was injured. With a little fear, I thought about what would happen in the second game.
– I also watched the second game, and immediately to my horror I saw Laine’s situation. He immediately saw that the knee was badly damaged.
In the first meeting, Montreal was the talk of the town Michael Pezzetta Tackle on Toronto star Tavares. The second match saw several fights after Laine’s injury.
For example, Sportsnet’s Montreal reporter Eric Engelswho was present at the match, wrotethat Laine must first go through more detailed investigations.
– But you know it’s never a good thing when a player is literally carried from the dressing room to the examination room of the arena and then seen leaving the place on crutches and with a knee brace, Engels reported.
According to Lehkonen, Paré Taklaus was a completely pointless situation, which showed the inexperience of the 25-year-old forward from Toronto. Paré has previously played games in the AHL, and was now showing signs for the NHL.
– If it had been a more experienced player, I would certainly have pulled the trigger. When a player is in his spots and wants to show off, it probably didn’t even cross his mind. He wanted to run into it, so to speak.
– The situation was an accident, but a more experienced player would have dodged in that situation, Lehkonen points out.
Paré did not receive a penalty from the judges for the situation.
A rough crash
According to Canadian journalist Engels, Laine’s knock is best described by the word devastating.
– A word that came to mind when Patrik Laine was lying on the ice, holding his knee in place, when it had hit in a direction it shouldn’t go, Engles lamented.
According to Lehkonen, if Lainea faces a longer period of illness, it will be a hard blow for the Finnish attacker.
Suffering from injuries, Laine interrupted his previous season in January and applied for the treatment program of the NHL and the players’ association. He debuted in a Montreal jersey earlier this week in a practice game. The last time Laine played a regular season match was in mid-December 2023.
– A hard knock for “Pate”. From the beginning, it has seemed that he has enjoyed himself in Montreal and liked being the center of attention there, Lehkonen stated.
– His personality is a bit like that which requires such a motivator that people notice him. I think he had come to the right place now.
Lehkonen emphasizes that Laine’s injury is a big loss for Montreal as well.
– Montreal loses 30-40 goals, and that’s quite a lot.
There is no similar artist
Lehkonen, who has closely followed Laine’s career since the junior national team years, is devastated for the Finnish player.
– It hurts, it hurts deeply. Especially when you think about what kind of player persona “Pate” is. We don’t have artists like him.
By artist, Lehkonen says he means a goal-scoring and big-sized attacker.
– We don’t grow like that, and it doesn’t really grow anywhere else either. Losing that type of player is always tough.
The expert also highlights Laine’s importance to the men’s national team. Important stages loom in the future of the lions.
– There is a tournament of four countries in February and the Olympics are also coming up in a little over a year. Even when viewed with lion glasses, this hurts really deep.