Earlier on Tuesday, team announced that defence prospect David Reinbacher had surgery and his expected recovery time is five to six months.
The Canadiens have announced forward Patrik Laine suffered a sprain to his left knee that will not require surgery. His recovery is expected to take two to three months.
Earlier in the day, team announced defenceman David Reinbacher had surgery on his left knee Tuesday morning and that his rehabilitation period is expected to be 5-6 months.
Reinbacher was injured in the first minute of Saturday night’s 2-1 pre-season loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre when he was checked into the boards in front of the Montreal bench and twisted his left knee while falling awkwardly. Reinbacher, the No. 5 overall pick at last year’s NHL Draft, was expected to start this season with the AHL’s Laval Rocket.
Laine was injured less than five minutes into Saturday night’s game when the Canadiens were on a power play and he made a move at the blue line while entering the offensive zone. The Leafs’ Cédric Paré stuck out his left knee while trying to stop Laine, resulting in a knee-on-knee collision. Laine fell to the ice clutching his left knee and had to be helped off the ice, unable to put any weight on his left leg.
Laine watched the Canadiens practise Monday at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard while on crutches with a brace on his left knee.
“These kind of things, we have more than one opinion,” Gorton said.
The day before the Canadiens hit the ice for the first time at training camp this month, defenceman Kaiden Guhle had surgery to have his appendix removed.
“It’s frustrating for the players, too,” Gorton said on the podcast about the injuries to Laine and Reinbacher. “You’re out there and you’re watching what’s going on Saturday night and it’s only natural — I was going through it, too — it’s only natural for players to be like, ‘Here we go again.’ So you’re just trying to stay as positive as you can and understand that most teams are going through something and injuries are going to be part of the game and we’re all crossing our fingers that at the end of the day when we get the final results on these injuries it’s not as bad as we think it could be.”
When asked on the podcast if there were any other disappointments so far at training camp, Gorton said: “Just this weekend the injuries that we had … but no, other than that it’s been good. The guys, the returning players, are all dialled in to having a good year and they know it’s a big year for them and ourselves. Everybody’s on the same page and Marty’s run a really good camp. Things are moving in the right direction.
“We got to get over this injury bug that seems to be following us around,” Gorton added. “But other than that it’s all good.”
On Tuesday morning, the Canadiens announced they have recalled forwards Lucas Condotta and Luke Tuch from the Rocket ahead of a pre-season game against the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., TSN2, TSN5, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).
The Canadiens have a practise scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard before heading to Mont-Tremblant, where they will practise Thursday and Friday ahead of their final pre-season game Saturday against the Senators in Ottawa (7 p.m., TSN5, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).
The Canadiens will open the regular season next Wednesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., SN, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).