Episode 96: Patrik Laine Injury - Dirty or Clean?

In this episode, we discuss...

Patrik Laine had to be helped off the ice following a knee on knee hit with Maple Leafs player Cedric Paré. The hit did not look good and neither does the injury. Sadly, Laine has not yet played a regular season game with the Montreal Canadiens, and it looks like he could be out for a while. We're hoping for the best, but it did not look good. To make matters worse, former 5th overall pick David Reinbacher also went down with an apparent knee injury. Let's just say that we and our fellow Habs fans are very discouraged right now. We're hoping for the best but it does not look good. Both players were seen leaving the Bell Centre with a knee brace and on crutches. The question everyone is asking is whether the hit was dirty or not.

Should the NHL re-visit the pre-season format/rules? Are there too many pre-season games being played?

Xhekaj took matters into his own hands and decided to stick up for his teammate by going after Paré. Many agree and believe that Paré had to expect someone (Xhekaj) to force him to defend himself after injuring a key player on the Montreal Canadiens roster. However, some do not agree with how Xhekaj went about it and are comparing it to the Moore/Bertuzzi situation. Which was one of the worst gestures and injuries to have ever happened in the NHL. Do we think that Xhekaj did the right thing? Was what he did as bad as some (very few) people say it was?

Question of the week
In your opinion, was Paré's hit on Laine dirty?