Maple Leafs Take Action to Protect Forward Cedric Pare from Threats

Cedric Pare is a 25 year old career minor league forward who was propelled into the spotlight after the preseason collision that injured Canadiens forward Patrik Laine. Pare connected with Laine on a knee-on-knee hit, and Laine will miss the next three or four months.

Pare has reportedly received gross amounts of harassment and threats from fans after the hit. According to Darren Dreger of TSN, the Maple Leafs took over and disabled Pare's social media accounts to protect him.

Laine has even told Montreal reporters that Pare reached out to him to apologize, which Laine appreciated. It's a hard reality that injuries happen in the NHL, and Pare wasn't trying to brutally injure Laine. It's good that Laine and the Canadiens are also able to get this message out to calm fans down and reduce the pressure on Pare.

It's incredibly unfortunate that Laine was injured in a meaningless preseason game while trying to get a fresh start in Montreal. He had requested a trade out of Columbus after struggling the last few years, and spending most of last season in the Player Assistance Program.Plenty of hockey fans are hoping that Laine can rediscover his raw offensive talent again on the Habs. For so many reasons, this injury is a setback to Laine getting his fresh start.

Hopefully it turns out to be just a setback, and Laine can still get himself back on track when he returns to the ice. It'd be great for all of hockey if Laine was nearing 40 goals once again.