Toronto Maple Leafs enforcer Ryan Reaves finally commented on the Cedric Pare/Arber Xhekaj incident after Canadiens' Patrik Laine's injury after a knee on knee hit.
During the Maple Leafs preseason game vs. the Montreal Canadiens on September 28th, Cedric Pare of the Maple Leafs collided knee on knee with Montreal Canadiens forward Patrik Laine, leading to Laine suffering a severe injury and needing assistance off the ice. It was a terrible situation for everyone involved, and it led to Montreal enforcer Arber Xhekaj to take matters into his own hands by assaulting an unsuspecting Pare, leading to his ejection and subsequent fine.
Now, Maple Leafs enforcer Ryan Reaves has commented on the situation. He didn't play in that preseason game and while speaking to the media after practice, finally spoke on the situation and tries to play peacemaker in the whole situation:
'Obviously an unfortunate play. I know Pare wasn't trying to do anything malicious. Feel for Laine, trying to reboot his career in a new city, just obviously an unfortunate play,' Reaves said.
Reaves also understood that Xhekaj has a job, much like him and that he was trying to give his team a spark, even at the cost of them losing a player:
'He's (Xhekaj) there to do his job and the league dealt with it the way they dealt with it... I'm sure everybody wished it was handled differently and obviously that the incident didn't happen... Those things happen in hockey, it's fast game,' Reaves said.
The incident sparked a furious Montreal Canadiens fanbase and made an already heated rivalry even more intense. Many were calling for a suspension or at least some type of punishment, including head coach Martin St. Louis; however with the league not doing anything to bring justice to Laine, many wonder when the NHL is going to step up in situations like this. Reaves wasn't on the ice however another Maple Leafs player took some swings as defenseman Marshall Rifai got into some fisticuffs with Montreal forward Juraj Slavkofsky; something Reaves admired however realizes he could be helpful the next time around:
'I meant to grab Raffy but he got off the ice...I'll grab him next practice,' Reaves said.
The Maple Leafs would be privy to start Reaves on opening night, knowing that Xhekaj might be out there headhunting. Toronto can't risk any setbacks or vigilante justice due to a non-malicious hit. Xhekaj made his point, and going after the Maple Leafs stars is just a heinous receipt that would be uncalled for; that is malicious, different than Pare's no matter how ugly it looked. Reaves on the ice with Xhekaj regardless of situation would offer Toronto enough insurance so they don't need to keep their head on a swivel.
