NHL department of player safety confirms Cedric Pare's suspension fate after ending Patrik Laine's season

That hit was a knee-on-knee collision with Montreal Canadiens star forward Patrik Laine. While it appeared to be questionable at the very least, there was no call on the play. However, it is clear that the contact was directly knee-on-knee with Pare failing to make contact with Laine's upper-body. During the game, Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj took matters into his own hands, handing Pare his punishment in the form of a few punches to the head.

Unfortunately for the Montreal Canadiens , there is nothing they can do about the fact that Laine is injured, likely for months if not the entire season. Furthermore, Cedric Pare is a career AHL player who will most likely never play a game for the Leafs this season. As such, the Canadiens will not have a chance to play against him again and he will go to the AHL and play out the season as if nothing ever happened. While the Department of Player Safety has not commented on the situation, the deadline for supplementary discipline to be announced has already passed so we know for sure that he will not be suspended, let alone fined. Naturally, Canadiens fans are not happy about this.

The Leafs and Canadiens open their seasons against each other in Montreal on October 9th. Be sure to tune in to that game as there will likely be more repercussions from this play, resulting in fireworks during that game.