NOT BECAUSE OF SUBBAN
Trade wasn’t bad decision: Todd
P.K. Subban was in front of the Nashville net early in Sunday’s Game 6 against St. Louis, doing not much of anything except screening goaltender Pekka Rinne when the Blues scored to take a 1-0 lead.
That happened maybe 90 seconds after Subban wound up for that big slapshot in the Blues’ end, only to have it swallowed up in a heap of bodies.
Both plays, to objective fans of the Montreal Canadiens, would be depressingly familiar. Subban does have a tendency to wander without any specific purpose in the defensive zone and to become overly infatuated with his own shot when his team is trying to score.
Does that mean the Canadiens made the right decision when they traded Subban to Nashville for Shea Weber?
No, it does not.
Does it mean they made the wrong decision now that Nashville has advanced to the Western Conference final?
No, it doesn’t mean that, either. And it does not mean anything that when the Predators tied it yesterday it was their best defenceman, Roman Josi, who got the goal.
Subban had an ordinary series in the first round against Chicago, a matchup that amounted to an out-and-out collapse on the part of a Blackhawks team that simply fell apart after mounting a series of powerful Stanley Cup bids over the past decade.
He came back with one of those P.K. games to open the series against Nashville when he’s the dominant player on the ice and Montreal fans (who never need all that much encouragement) began wringing their hands and pulling their hair in anguish — as though that one game proved anything at all.
Meanwhile, Weber, who was very good throughout the series against the New York Rangers, is blamed because the Predators advanced while the Canadiens didn’t — even though Weber was not in the least to blame.
The Canadiens need to go hard after a top-line offensive centre over the summer — but had Henrik Lundqvist played against Montreal the way he’s playing against Ottawa, the Habs would have won that opening series and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
So what if Nashville goes on and wins the Stanley Cup? Surely that would prove it was a bad trade, wouldn’t it?
Nope. Again, it wouldn’t prove a thing one way or the other. Different players, different teams, different needs, different circumstances. Dozens of factors go into making a Stanley Cup champion (including luck) and Subban would be only one of many.
Montreal got an outstanding defenceman in this trade, Nashville got an outstanding defenceman. And to the pressing question, Weber versus Subban, the answer is: Erik Karlsson. Karlsson is the best defenceman in the league and everyone else can fight to see who is second best.
Look, Subban sells himself better than any player in the history of the NHL. He’s out there, he’s pleasant and funny and articulate, he does spectacular things on the ice, he knows how to beat the drums for his highly public (and entirely worthy) acts of charity.
That has caused many fans to cleave to him with a desperation that lingers even now, nearly a year after the deal that sent him to Nashville. It’s understandable and a great deal more rational than the last attachment fans developed to a charismatic player, Alexei Kovalev. They loved Kovalev even though the Enigma would take nights off when he sat on the bench looking bored and distracted and performed like a zombie when he got on the ice.
No one will ever accuse Subban of acting like a zombie. He goes all out, even when he’s making mistakes. Like every journalist in town, I miss him because he can fill a notebook all by himself.
But how Subban and Nashville fare in the post-season has nothing to do with the price of tea in China. This was a deal that had to be made and anyone who sees the Man Mountain in front of Carey Price and thinks the Canadiens are worse off having Weber in town is flat out of his mind.
A star in the making: If Subban is a fully formed sports superstar, Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla might be one in the making. Tabla’s winning goal against D.C. United Saturday was a superb solo effort with the youngster beating defenders Jared Jeffrey and Luciano Acosta, taking on centre-back Kofi Opare and unleashing and hard, low shot to give the Impact a desperately needed win on the road.
Inevitably, that goal will add to the drumbeat for the talented and charismatic youngster. But former player and Gazette analyst Lloyd Barker was quick to warn everyone not to put too much on Tabla too quickly.
Barker brought up the example of Freddy Adu, who was hailed as the next Pelé when he made his MLS debut at age 14. Adu, however, became a journeyman player despite that early promise.
Tabla? He turned 18 on March 31. Mauro Biello and the Impact have enough sense to ease the youngster in without putting too much on him too soon.
For now, let’s just say young M. Tabla bears watching and leave it at that.