Maple Leafs 2 – Canadian 1 | The worst evening

There would be a lot to say about the Canadian who, with an almost full squad, lost 2-1 against the B club of the Toronto Maple Leafs. A performance so ordinary that it would probably have fueled discussions for three days. For obvious reasons, however, it will not be discussed here, if not very little.

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Less than four minutes had passed and it was already clear that the evening would be catastrophic. Following a collision with Cédric Paré of the Leafs, Patrik Laine collapsed and remained on the ground for a long time, his face contorted in pain. On the restart, we saw his left knee bend at an angle where a knee should not bend. Unable to put any weight on his injured leg, he nevertheless eventually got up.

Helped by teammates and then by medical staff to get off the ice, the Finn furiously threw his gloves and helmet in the corridor leading to the locker room. He hasn’t played again and, quite honestly, no one will be surprised if he doesn’t play again for several weeks, at least. It is of course risky to venture any prediction – the team gave no details at the end of the evening – but it is difficult to be optimistic. Especially if Laine’s reaction is a harbinger of the diagnosis that awaits him.

“It happened so quickly,” Paré testified after the meeting. I watched the video again. He’s big, he comes wide… He comes in with the puck and I can’t let him pass. I had to try to play the body. Both of us were trying to do our jobs. These are not bad intentions; If I let him in, I get yelled at by my coaches. »

Mixed reactions

In the Montreal camp, reactions were mixed. “I don’t think we should play boot hockey in preseason […] but I don’t think there’s room for a knee strike either. It doesn’t matter who it is, it’s not a good game,” Mike Matheson said.

“He stretched his leg quite a bit,” added Nick Suzuki. “I’m sure he didn’t do it on purpose,” said David Savard.

“I think it was a punishment,” said Martin St-Louis.

The leaders of the CH discussed the situation with the officials, underlined Savard. “They have not necessarily seen and they do not have the right to recovery,” he added.

The referees could nevertheless have imposed a major penalty and then revised the sequence. Savard, however, did not want to make a big deal out of it. “It’s not the five minutes [d’avantage numérique] what it would have given. It’s more about losing the player…”

Since the Habs players are off this Sunday, we should only know more about Patrik Laine’s state of health on Monday, or even later if the swelling complicates the taking of medical imaging.

We can immediately expect a hard blow for anyone who has a long medical history. With the Columbus Blue Jackets, over the last four seasons, he played only 58% of his team’s games (175 out of 302), while he was hampered by a multitude of injuries. Mental health issues also forced him to join the NHL player assistance program last winter.

When he joined the Canadiens via trade last month, he emphasized how excited he was about the fresh start that awaited him in Montreal.

“He brought nothing but positives,” Kirby Dach said. He was visibly excited to join our team. He saw what we were building here, and he wanted to be part of it. It’s a shame when that happens. We just hope to have good news and see him again quickly. »

The rest

There was the injury to Laine on Saturday evening. And there was the rest. Which meant that the Flannel probably had the worst night it could have had, especially in a preseason game.

During the very first seconds of the first period, David Reinbacher appeared to injure his left leg and did not return to the game. Then, moments after Laine fell in combat, Arber Xhekaj rushed at Cédric Paré, grabbing him from behind and beating him. The latter never had time to defend himself, and Xhekaj received extreme game misconduct. The CH thus had to defend short of a man for seven minutes, but above all short of two defenders for the vast majority of the match.

Asked to comment on Xhekaj’s reaction, but also the consequences of his action, Martin St-Louis took his time before responding that it was “hard to lose him for the match”. “I understand his reaction, but it’s sad to lose him for the game “, he repeated, without however welcoming or condemning the gesture of his defender. “Tomorrow is off, I’m going to think a little,” he simply said.

In any case, these events were certainly not the last of the game. Two more fights later broke out – Juraj Slafkovsky and Josh Anderson successively throwing down the gloves – and the two clubs received a total of 12 minor penalties. The tension was palpable. We particularly felt it when Alex Newhook attacked Nikita Grebenkin after the latter had insisted too much for his liking on a throw return.

In addition to the fact that nothing worked offensively for the locals, we can wonder what will remain of this match other than a bad memory.

“It wasn’t a real hockey game,” summarized Mike Matheson. It’s frustrating not to have had a match where we could improve or work on the way we want to play. It was a stupid match, with all the events that happened…”

It may not have been a real match, but its consequences were very real. Wishing the Canadian, but especially Patrik Laine and David Reinbacher, that they are less serious than they seem.

With the collaboration of Éric Martel, The Press