I remember the first time I watched P.K. Subban play.
It was a few years ago, and I was in Belleville scouting a goalie for the Canadian national junior team. Subban was playing for the Bulls at the time and was on our radar as a bubble player.
Subban stood out every time he was on the ice. He would have the puck, lose the puck, get it back, fall down, get up, and then make a great pass to score a goal. He was exciting, mesmerizing, and scary as hell all at the same time. Good or bad, something was always going to happen around P.K. I ended up watching him instead of the goalie.
Sound familiar?
P.K. is the same guy off the ice as he is on it, and the NHL needs more players like him. Subban helps sell the game. The NHL is supposed to be fun, and watching a hockey game is supposed to be the fans' escape from the pressures of real life.
Hockey players are athletes, but what can get lost in all this is the fact they're also entertainers. People pay to watch them play and entertain - and Subban delivers on and off the ice, whereas most of the NHL doesn't.
There have been a few before him; Jeremy Roenick comes to mind. But, as my friend Tyson Nash says, Subban's charity work is what is most mind-blowing. The positive energy and goodwill he provides the community is astounding.
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
Of course, this type of spotlight also attracts haters. P.K. has high energy, is larger than life, and has never met a camera he didn't like. The Subban train never stops, and even his teammates can sometimes tire of the attention he draws. This, in my personal opinion, is one of the reasons P.K. was traded away from the Montreal Canadiens.
Some of the league's old guard isn't pleased with him, because he goes against an idea they worked hard to protect: that no one was bigger than the team. A lot of this conservativeness is carried over from the early years of the NHL.
I was once told by Hall of Fame forward Dave Taylor (of the famed Triple Crown Line) that everyone wanted to be the Montreal Canadiens. They were gentlemen, always dressed well, wouldn't say a word, and would even shake your hand after kicking your ass.
We still need the quiet gentlemen in our game, no question. They're the foundation on which the game was built. However, if you're tired of the same hockey player interviews with cliches delivered in a monotone voice, then put your hand up. I immediately change the channel every time a player is interviewed and I hear the same old rhetoric.
Whether you like it or not, it's time to climb aboard the P.K. Subban train. It's not stopping - and the NHL is better for it.
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