Justin Barron was 12 in the spring of 2014. It may have been almost 10 years, but he remembers it very well. About what ?
“The highlight I remember is his goal against Boston when he left the penalty box. It was quite spectacular, ”describes the young defender of the Canadian.
Barron is of course talking about the fabulous goal against the Bruins in the 2014 playoffs. If the Bell Center ceiling ever came close to exploding, it was that night.
This goal by PK Subban is certainly the culmination of the defender’s six tumultuous years in Montreal. Six years that will be celebrated this Thursday, on the occasion of the visit of the Nashville Predators.
“He got people interested in hockey. He played with passion. On the energy side, I put him in the same category as Ovechkin. When these guys score, they are so enthusiastic, passionate, ”said another Canadian rookie in defense, Johnathan Kovacevic.
“It was his flamboyance, his confidence. He could try anything and it worked. He was also capable of giving big hits. It was a special talent,” adds Arber Xhekaj.
A threatened species
The goal against Boston certainly made an impression, but it is perhaps not the most representative of what Subban was like as a player. Although he had an explosive skate, it was with his powerful shot that he inflicted the bulk of his damage.
In season, he scored 63 goals with the Canadian; 45 have been made on a slapshot, according to NHL data. During his six full-time seasons in Montreal, he was fourth in the NHL in slapshot goals, second among defensemen, behind Shea Weber, who else?
Leaders in slapshot goals, 2010-11 to 2015-16
- Alexander Ovechkin (68)
- Shea Weber (63)
- Steven Stamkos (48)
- P.K. Subban (45)
- Dustin Byfuglian (40)
Except the numbers indicate that Subban was part of an endangered species. The slap shot – usually one-timer – is still effective with forwards, but less so with backs.
Consider each season’s five leading slapshot goals, a statistic the NHL has collected since 2009-10. From that date until the end of the 2017-2018 campaign, defenders represented 64% of the top scorers in each season.
Since ? This rate has dropped to 20% in the past five years. Defenders who ranked in the top 5 in the NHL since 2018: Weber (twice), Erik Gustafsson, Erik Karlsson, Victor Hedman and Roman Josi.
For Samuel Montembeault, the growing agility of the defenders has something to do with it. “Defenders are so mobile, when they see an opponent coming in to block, they’ll do a little fake to find the line of fire, they’ll put the puck where the goaltender doesn’t see it coming. »
But what goes for offensive players also goes for those who defend! They are also faster on their skates. At least that’s what Barron points out, recalling that “the players have become so fast that they block the lines of fire more quickly. So defenders try more wrist shots to get the puck to the net. »
That doesn’t mean slapshot is on the way out. “Martin [St-Louis] insists that we are always ready to shoot on reception, because the goalkeeper is on the move. A moving goalkeeper leaves openings, which he closes when he has time to recover, ”recalls Kovacevic.
Except that these shots increasingly come from attackers who, like Ovechkin, wait for the one-timer from the flanks.
At the Canadian?
It was in Hamilton, with the Bulldogs, that Subban began his adventure with the Canadiens, spending almost the entire 2009-2010 season there. Xhekaj was then 8 years old and living in the Canadian Mecca of the steel industry.
When I was little, I attended a camp and he had skated with us. I have followed him ever since. I liked his style, and as I was a fan of the Canadiens, I watched him a lot.
Arber Xhekaj
Xhekaj obviously doesn’t have Subban’s outburst on skates, but he would have the power to develop an equally devastating slapshot. Except that number 72 scored four of his five goals on a wrist shot.
“In junior, I scored several goals on slap shots, on reception. But in the NHL, it’s very difficult to do that. So I work on sending pucks towards the net with floating shots, finding the holes. I try to look at the guard’s eyes. As soon as he bends to go around the screen in front of him, I shoot. In general, I especially want to make sure that the puck is not blocked by the first guy in front of me. »
Kovacevic, also a Hamilton native, believes that at the end of a practice, “it’s the most fun skill to work on, maybe too much! You can put so much power on that shot.”
Subban could keep fans on their toes for several reasons. His shots were one of many.