Leafs' Cedric Pare Addresses Elephant in the Room Following Knee-on-Knee Collision with Patrik Laine

Usually, depth players destined for the Toronto Marlies don't get much attention in the pre-season, but Cedric Pare is now on the radar of the Canadiens, and Habs fans now consider him public enemy number one.

During Saturday's 2-1 win for the Leafs against the Montreal Canadiens, Pare hit Patrik Laine in a brutal, yet unintentional, knee-on-knee collision that left Laine injured and removing from the game entirely. The severity of the injury is still unknown, but Laine was spotted leaving the arena on crutches with a heavy brace on his left knee.

Pare did not seem to be in any rush to drop the gloves with Habs enforcer Arber Xhekaj, but he didn't duck questions about the hit after the game. Here's what he had to say in his post game interview.

After the hit, which occurred in the first period, Xhekaj was incensed for the Canadiens, and subsequently jumped Pare, throwing in a few punches without even dropping the gloves. Pare offered up his thoughts on Xhekaj extracting his pound of flesh on the next shift.

The irony of this whole situation is that this was the Quebec native's first game playing at the Bell Centre in Montreal -- a dream come true for him. Now, nearly the entire city views him as public enemy number one. C'est la vie.