Obviously after a play and injury like this, people are going to see it differently depending on which team they support. I am a Leafs fan, so perhaps this summary is skewed too, though not my intention.
(1) No doubt this was knee on knee and even if unintentional these are usually penalized with the penalty almost always going against the defender. This should have been two minutes, even if it was one of those late calls made after it was clear Laine was injured.
(2) It was unintentional and there is certainly blame to go around. Laine with his head down and legs apart trying to split two defenders, one of whom is in a position to stand him up or possibly level him is on Laine. This doesn't change the fact that I believe a penalty on Pare was probably warranted.
(3) Pare is not a goon, he was not brought in to do this. He is a journeyman trying to lock down a Marlies role.
(4) Xhekaj on the other hand pulled a Bertuzzi here. The on ice penalty calls against him support this statement. It might be understandable why he felt like he had to do what he did but that doesn't make it right or admirable. He should get a review for supplementary discipline. Having said this he is only marginally more valuable than Pare and won't be missed if he gets a couple of games. Given the Habs-Leafs open the season against each other, I would not be surprised to see a game or two so the league can avoid opening night bloodletting.
(5) I know this is just hockey and just the Internet, but anyone making those Amirov comments is deranged and should be blocked from posting permanently.
(6) Perhaps the largest indication of how mediocre or worse the Habs are this season is the amount of people commenting that "now with Laine out, the season been is lost" is the only laughable part of this. If Patrick Laine being out means it is going to be a long, tough season then it was probably also the case before the injury. This Habs team is not a "Patrick Laine" away from being a playoff team.
As a side note, the Habs have some nice pieces. They need more top end talent and to convert defensive prospects to help elsewhere in the lineup. They might want to make these moves sooner rather than later as the time to sell is at the height of unreasonable expectations. Not every prospect will turn out and with so many at one position their development opportunities might be limited as well. Trading Harris for Laine is a good example of this type of move.
