"Emotionally based video with zero facts": NHL fans react to P.K. Subban's comments about Patrik Laine injury due to Cedric Pare's "cheapshot"

Habs’ Patrik Laine had to be helped off-the-ice on Saturday night after he suffered a lower-body-injury following a knee-on-knee collision with Leafs center Cedric Pare. Former NHLer and now ESPN analyst P.K. Subban posted his reaction to Laine’s injury on a video rant.

In the video, Subban called out the lack of respect shown during the play. He mentioned that players deserve respect, especially in a professional league like the NHL.

Subban also called out the need to protect star players, not only for their contributions on the ice but because fans pay to watch them play. He insisted that while hockey is a tough sport, unnecessary injuries should not be tolerated.

“I'm not talking about babying the superstars and treating, no, no. You saw Pastrnak, you saw Tkachuk going at it in the playoffs. These guys are tough, but we gotta respect them. There can't be any cheapshots on our superstar. I'm sorry, not by a guy that people aren’t… Cedric Pare, I didn't go to the game last night to watch him play. you know. I’m paying admission to watch Patrik Laine play, not him,” Subban said.

Fans were quick to react to Subban’s video and let their opinions be known in the comments. Some fans found his comments biased and not coming off clear facts. Some even took subtle jabs at the analyst.

Following are some fan responses on X/Twitter:

“I like PK, but this video proves legit anyone can be an "analyst" for ESPN. this is such an emotionally based video with zero facts.”

“Pretty wild coming from you honestly,” quipped one user.

“You were a whiner your whole career glad to see you carry it on in retirement,” commented another user.

Meanwhile, some fans agreed with Subban. They empathized with Laine in the comments.

“Doesn’t matter if you’re a superstar or not, leg out for a hit is terrible what no one wants to see if this happen to kids, and then be wrecked for the rest of the their lives. Knee injuries are no joke.”

“Just bad all around. Is that play going to break Pare into the opening night roster? Also, who the hell even is Pare? Just bad all across the board,” wrote one fan.

“Things were looking good for Laine until that dirty play.. 56 could’ve easily went shoulder to shoulder instead of sticking his leg out. Not a fan of either team but I’m glad Wifi did what had to be done since the refs didn’t,” commented another user.

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Cedric Pare comes clean on collision with Patrik Laine

On Saturday night, Cedric Pare, who is originally from Levis, Quebec, was playing his first game at the Bell Center in front of the local fans. But after the incident with Patrik Laine, Pare was heavily booed by his home crowd.

After the game, he acknowledged while it wasn’t fun to be booed, he understood why it happened. He said hurting Laine wasn’t his intention and hoped Laine would be okay.

"It's a fast game you know?" said Pare, as per NHL.com. "It wasn't my intention, it's just unfortunate. I hope he's fine. It wasn't my intention, I didn't mean to do that."

Even though Arber Xhekaj fought and "pummeled" him after the incident to defend his teammate, Pare insisted that he didn’t hold any hard feelings toward Xhekaj. Pare mentioned that Xhekaj was just standing up for his injured teammate. The player admitted that the fight caught him off guard and that he wasn’t prepared for it.