The Canadian | Highlights of PK Subban in Montreal

PK Subban thrilled Canadiens fans for seven seasons, from 2010 to 2016. While the CH will honor their former defender before Thursday night’s game at the Bell Centre, here are five highlights of Subban’s time when he wore the uniform blue White Red.

A donation of 10 million for sick children

Since its inception with the Habs, PK Subban has been involved with the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation by donating jerseys or items for silent auctions. In September 2015, his contribution reached another level: he announced that he would donate $10 million over seven years to the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation.

The announcement comes less than two months after the then 26-year-old defender signed an eight-year, $72 million deal with the Habs. “Last summer, the CH and the city of Montreal made a long-term commitment to me. So today, it’s my turn to make a long-term commitment to the city of Montreal,” he suggests, in French. “I hope to stay in Montreal for a very, very long time,” he adds.

The hero

On May 2, 2014, the Canadiens played the first game of their second-round series against the Bruins in Boston. The Habs are the first to score; Subban accepts a pass from Andrei Markov before taking a wrist shot that heads behind Tuukka Rask. The CH widened their gap in the second period, but the Bruins came back from behind in the third period.

At the end of regulation time, a 3-3 tie remains. At the start of the second overtime, number 76 unleashes a powerful slap shot on the power play to give the Canadian the victory. When he leaves the ice, the defender is thrown bottles and waste by opposing supporters.

“Having success in the big games, in the craziest arenas, is when you define your career and define yourself as a player,” Subban said after the game.

Boom!

In 2010-2011, PK Subban played its first full season in the National League. And it doesn’t take long to win. On December 16, 2010, during a visit to the TD Garden in Boston for a match against the Bruins, the defender attacked a young Brad Marchand who was also playing his first full campaign in the Bettman circuit.

After recovering the puck in his zone, the Bruins forward crosses the neutral zone at full speed, then the blue line of the Canadiens, before being slowed down by Subban with a – very – hard-hitting check. Marchand, shaken, gets up and rejoins his team’s bench with difficulty.

One two Three

On March 20, 2010, at its 12^e game in the National League, Subban scored his first – and last – hat trick in the Habs uniform, contributing to the thaw of 8-1 that the Canadiens suffered at the Wild, in Minnesota. He scores for the first time by circling the opposing zone before sliding the puck behind José Théodore. His next two goals came on powerful slapshots. That season, his first full season with the Canadiens, he scored 14 goals and collected 24 assists for 38 points in 77 games.

After the dungeon, the goal

Twice rather than once in 2014, PK Subban thrilled the Bell Center crowd by scoring breakaway goals as he exited the penalty box. The first time, in Game 3 of the second-round series against the Boston Bruins. The Canadian leads 1-0 at the end of the first period when Subban comes out of the dungeon, accepts a pass from Lars Eller and speeds towards Tuukka Rask, who he thwarts with a nice feint. At the Bell Centre, acoustician Jean Laporte’s sound level meter, accompanied by The Press during this meeting, tape at 117.5 dB.

A few months later, on October 18, 2014 during a game against the Colorado Avalanche, Lars Eller clears out in numerical inferiority. Subban, who came off the bench, beats the opposing defender, grabs the puck and goes around Calvin Pickard’s goal before coming back to the front to take his pants off.