Patrick Laine Gets Boos In Return To Columbus After Dumping On Blue Jackets Hours Before Puck Drop

We live in the age of players who have had as little as a cup of coffee with a team getting a video tribute between stoppages and warm welcomes. It takes a lot to get a planned video canceled, but Montreal Canadiens forward Patrik Laine reportedly found a way to do it ahead of his return to Columbus on Monday night.

Laine spent a few seasons with the Blue Jackets but asked for a trade over the offseason. After he dealt with some issues off the ice, I think most people could understand the desire for a change of scenery.

However, after the morning skate ahead of the game, Laine torched the Jackets. 

"I feel like we were just doing the same thing year after year. I was tired of losing and just giving up when it’s December to start focusing on next year," he said, per The Athletic. "I’m not going to do that. That’s frustrating as a player when you’re trying to win and some people are, you know, not like that.

"They’re a little too satisfied and too comfortable where they’re at. It wasn’t really a fit for me anymore."

Oof.

Well, that wasn't going to sit well.

Fans let Laine have it every single time he touched the puck.

Laine was also on the receiving end of some heavy hits courtesy of his old teammates, and he eventually left the game early with an upper-body injury.

Furthermore, according to The Athletic's Aaron Portzline, the Jackets even decided to scrap their plans for the video tribute after Laine's comments.

Worse yet for Laine? The Jackets won this one 5-4.

So, no, it was not a warm welcome, and after the game, Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski talked about Laine's comments.

"It’s unfortunate," Werenski said. "As guys in here, and as a guy who’s been here, we were nothing but good teammates to him, nothing but good friends to him. For him to bash us like that, I think it’s just unacceptable. I hope he’s all right with whatever he’s dealing with tonight, but he didn’t finish the game. A couple hits and… yeah, I don’t know what happened, but it’s unfortunate.

"We were nothing but good teammates to him. For him to come in here and say all that, that’s bulls—. I’m definitely not happy about it and none of us in this room are happy about it. That speaks more about him than it does us."

That's the end of the Jackets-Habs season series, but I get the sense that the next time they visit town, Laine's still going to be hearing boo-birds,