REFLECTIONS OF P.K. SUBBAN
As he prepares to lace up against his former team, the former Canadiens star speaks to Brendan Kelly about life in Nashville, his continued ties to Montreal and the question that haunts him still: Why was he traded?
P.K. Subban is not over the P.K. Subban trade.
It has been 16 months since No. 76 was traded to the Nashville Predators — and yet, it’s clear he still feels a little hurt he is no longer a member of the Montreal Canadiens.
It’s equally clear Montreal has not forgotten Subban.
Fans here continue to have heated debates about the trade that saw the 2013 Norris Trophy winner as the National Hockey League’s top defenceman exchanged for rugged all-star Shea Weber.
Subban remains a popular figure even with Montrealers who don’t follow hockey, no doubt in part because of his pledge to raise $10 million for the Montreal Children’s Hospital, but also because of his larger-than-life personality.
When Subban laces up to face the Habs on Wednesday in Nashville, it will be only the second time he’s played against his former team since the trade on June 29, 2016.
His return to the Bell Centre last March was an emotional affair, with Subban shedding tears during a pregame video tribute and the sellout crowd welcoming him with a standing ovation.
Often when a player — even a star player — leaves town, fans lose interest. But not, it seems, in Subban’s case.
The Mile End bar Chez Serge rebranded itself Chez Subban during the Predators lengthy playoff run last spring, with packed crowds cheering on the team from Tennessee on game nights.
“We don’t get so many of those — people who transcend the game and become assets to the city because of their personality, and I think P.K. was one,” says Mitch Garber, the prominent Montreal businessman.
“And I think P.K. still is one and he doesn’t even play here. He’s from Toronto and he plays in Nashville and he’s still an asset to the city of Montreal. What does that tell you?”
One reason why hockey fans in Montreal are still talking about the Subban-Weber trade is that it’s still far from obvious why Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin made the deal.
It’s one thing to trade a star defenceman for a top forward if management feels the team needs help on offence. More difficult to understand is why a team would swap one all-star defenceman for another. So was it really a hockey trade — or was there something more behind it?
On the phone from Nashville, Subban says he has no idea why he is no longer playing for the team he grew up loving as a kid in Toronto, adding it’s up to Habs management to explain themselves.
“It’s just hilarious when people ask me the question, ‘Why do you think you were traded?’,” Subban says after a recent practice at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
“You know what? Let’s get a panel. We can get (Montreal Canadiens president and co-owner) Geoff Molson, we can get Marc Bergevin, we can get (former Habs coach) Michel Therrien. We can get the whole front office and we can just throw those questions at them.
“The reality is that I didn’t ask to be traded. I don’t know. I never got an explanation for it.
“When you think about it, I think it was two years before, we had a great team, put on a great run (in the 2014 playoffs) and I thought a lot of those pieces were still there for us to do it again.
“But for whatever reason, that was not just part of the plan any more.
“I can’t explain it. I can only make the best of the situation I’m put in.”
Both Molson and Bergevin declined requests to speak to the Montreal Gazette for this article.
At the time of the trade, media commentators suggested Subban was let go because of off-ice issues — that he wasn’t liked by management and some of his teammates, and that he put himself first and the team second.
At a news conference that day, Bergevin insisted Subban’s big personality had nothing to do with the trade, saying, “Yes, P.K.’s different, we’re not going to hide that, but there was never an issue, never a problem.”
For his part, Subban has always been quick to brush aside the notion that he’s overly focused on his own brand at the expense of his play on the ice.
“At the end of the day, people can look at my social media following and the marketing deals and the charity stuff, and say — ‘Hey there’s a lot going on’,” Subban says.
“Obviously I’ve found ways to manage all that stuff and still be a player. I think my career and everything I’ve accomplished so far, both team-wise and individually, says that.
“You ask any one of my teammates here in Nashville if I’m a team-first guy. You don’t get to the Stanley Cup final with guys who think they’re bigger than the team. To be honest, I call those people (who say that) jealous. They don’t know me very well.”
In September 2015, Subban pledged to raise $10 million over seven years for the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation, and since making the move to Nashville in the summer of 2016, he has returned to Montreal on a few occasions to take part in fundraising events for the cause.
We don’t get so many of those — people who transcend the game and become assets to the city because of their personality, and I think P.K. was one.