Patrik Laine will be sidelined for a couple of months due to a knee injury suffered in a pre-season game against the Toronto Maple Leafs last week.
Laine was acquired by the Montreal Canadiens from the Columbus Blue Jackets this summer after a few years of struggles for the Finnish forward. He was hoping to get things going right away with a new team in a new city but will now miss the first two to three months because of the injury he suffered in a controversial incident with Leafs’ Cedric Pare.
Laine spoke to media for the first time since the injury Thursday and said that he’s just grateful that the injury isn’t worse than it is, and what he initially thought.
”It’s fun to be around, obviously much rather be on the ice,” Laine said. ”Kind of dodged a bullet with the knee; it could’ve been much worse. I mean, I’m not still happy with the injury, but it is what is and just trying to stay positive. We’ll be back.”
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Laine doesn’t need surgery for the knee injury, which was ultimately his own decision.
”Got some good opinions, but at the end of the day, it was my call to make, whatever we wanted to do,” he said. ”The team and everyone else gave me all the help with that, and at the end of the day, just decided not to do surgery and just do rehab and let it heal.”
After the incident, Cedric Pare has been the target of a lot of anger. Many have claimed that he had an intent to hurt, but Laine said he doesn’t blame anyone for what happened.
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If anything, Laine claims he put himself in a bad spot. Laine also revealed that Pare reached out to him to apologize afterward, something he appreciated.
”I don’t think anybody’s trying to hurt anybody,” he said. ”Hockey’s a fast game and kind of put myself in that situation a little bit trying to make a stop. It’s just an unfortunate collision and he texted me afterwards, which I give him respect for that.”
