Samuel Montembeault says Cedric Paré apologized to him, regrets what happened on Saturday

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Cooper Godin
October 1, 2024 (10:49)

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Montreal Canadiens goaltender Samuel Montembeault says Cedric Paré apologized to him and regretted what happened on Saturday night after hitting Patrik Laine.

The Montreal Canadiens are awaiting word on the extent of Patrik Laine's injury following a knee-on-knee collision with Toronto Maple Leafs forward Cedric Paré. One report from Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette says that Laine may be out 4-to-6 months, which if that becomes official from the team, would mean the earliest the Finnish forward could return to the lineup is late January.

On Sunday, Montreal Canadiens goaltender Samuel Montembeault and defenceman David Savard were guests on JiC on TVA Sports where the topic of the Laine/Paré incident came up.

Montembeault told Jean-Charles Lajoie that as the teams came out for the final frame on Saturday night, Cedric Paré came up to him and apologized for the knee-on-knee on Patrik Laine, adding that he regretted what happened.

Note: the quotes in this story are translated from French.

"He spoke to me when we came back for the third period," said the 27-year-old goaltender. [...] He apologized, and said that, obviously, it's something that happens quickly and that it wasn't something he wanted to do and that he regretted what had happened."

David Savard also spoke on Cedric Paré, saying that he doesn't believe it was his intention to hurt Patrik Laine and mentioned that he's skated with the 25-year-old before, adding that he's a good kid.

"It's still a hockey game, a game that happens extremely quickly," Savard added. "I don't think it's his intention to try to hurt a player. That doesn't excuse all the things people are going to say; he's a good person, I've skated with him before, he's a good kid."

The Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs are set to meet for their opening game of the 2024-25 season on Wednesday, October 9th and while Cedric Paré won't be in the lineup as he'll be AHL-bound this week, it'll be a physical affair between the two Original Six rivals.

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Do you think Cedric Paré should have received a penalty on the play?
Yes. His actions were intentional	14	43.8 %
No. It was an accident	18	56.3 %
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