Earlier today on BPM Sports, journalist Renaud Lavoie discussed the situation surrounding Patrik Laine. As a reminder, the Montreal Canadiens forward had to leave last night’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets after suffering multiple hard hits from opposing players.
In his morning segment on December 24, Lavoie elaborated on the circumstances that led to Laine’s exit, noting that the Blue Jackets were deliberately targeting his shoulder. This is significant because Laine had a major shoulder injury last year, which Columbus players were clearly aware of.
Lavoie commented, “They were hitting him in specific areas, and the Blue Jackets players knew exactly what they were doing. And it worked; he was forced to leave the game. I think, most likely, someone somewhere decided that he shouldn’t return to the game. The objective was to take him out of this matchup.”
This supports what many have been suggesting: that Laine may have been sidelined as a precaution to prevent further injury. We can only hope that he is ready for the next game.
This situation is definitely one to keep an eye on with the Montreal Canadiens, but it’s disheartening to see that Blue Jackets players were consistently targeting Laine in the same area, seemingly attempting to remove him from the game. Additionally, when Mathieu Olivier was asked if his team was intentionally targeting Laine, he simply responded, “No comment.”
