April 2010. It’s Halak spring. The Canadian faces the Washington Capitals and Alex Ovechkin in the first round of the playoffs. Prior to Game 6 at the Bell Centre, reliable defenseman Jaroslav Spacek was injured. To replace him, a player from the Hamilton Bulldogs, P. K. Subban, was called upon. This is the start of a love story. Energetic, tough, quick, P.K. Subban doesn’t work miracles, Halak does them, but P.K. does enough to earn his place in the club and in the fan club.
We instantly get attached to this confident, smiling rookie, who hangs around all over the rink.
The CH eliminated Washington, then the defending champions, Pittsburgh, before laying down their arms in front of Philadelphia. The spring Halak fades before the lilacs, and the miraculous guardian is exchanged during the summer. The Subban seasons are just beginning.
From 2010 to 2016, he will be, with his friend Price, the main attraction of the Habs. Flamboyant both in uniform and in mauve clothes. Capable of anything. To score, to tackle, to fight, to be the best defender on the circuit, on good nights. And to blunder, by wanting to do too much, on bad evenings. With panache in any case. Whether Subban does the best or the worst, it shows. It looks ! During these six years, the CH is an ordinary team. But at least we have a player who is not. But then, not at all.
And for the first time in a long time, we have a player playing for us. Before playing for his coachfor his bosses, for his teammates, even, Subban plays for his fans. He understood what basketball, football and baseball players understood long before hockey players: the great boss, is the audience. All the power of athletes, all their balance of power comes from the fervor maintained by the fans.
Subban’s bond with the fans goes beyond the bond created by all of his teammates and executives. Because Subban is coming our way. He is present. It’s not just a helmet with a number on the back that hides between games.
He charms the media, participates in popular shows, mixes with supporters, lives in the city, gets involved in society, helps children and even goes so far as to say a few words in French. Oh dear ! Basic politeness of any public figure, knowing that he owes his salary to the buyers of tickets, derivative products and services of sponsors. In short, the 76 is interested in the world in the stands, something extremely rare for a Canadian player. Especially at this time. With him, the world feels important. So it is important for the world. Maybe too much for some.
Must say that Subban takes up space. Not just in our hearts. All over. In the locker room. In the light. On the team. A team that dramatically lacks unifying leaders who could have calmed the ardor of P. K., as a Sidney Crosby or a Patrice Bergeron would have done. It was to find a captain for his ship that Bergevin exchanged Subban for Weber.
Huge heartache. It will take time for us to forgive this gesture. Five years, time to make it to the Stanley Cup final.
At least P.K. won’t have turned the stick too much in the wound. His best years were with us. We ended up thinking about him. Especially since little Caufield finally makes us dream.
The retirement consumed, now the organization of the Canadian has the idea to pay tribute to him. To recognize, finally, this aura for which he has been so reproached.
Thursday night, before the game against the city where he was exiled, we first showed a video of his exploits on the ice and on the ground, then, to pay tribute to P. K., we found no one from better than P.K. La star arrives in her checkered overcoat, accompanied by a young patient from the Montreal Children’s Hospital.
Rather than someone coming to tell the unique bond that unites Subban and Quebecers, as I have just done, P. K. carries it, at arm’s length, this bond, as one carries the Stanley Cup. Good game. His Cup is the microphone he has in his hands. This microphone he handles at least as well as the stick. This microphone that allows him to bring people together, to make them feel important. Once again.
To see P.K. again is to see a lover we thought we had forgotten and who, by his mere presence, revives the feelings we had for him. We fall back in love, as strong as in time. We no longer remember his faults, his reversals, his ego. Suddenly, there is no one more beautiful.
P.K.’s message was noble. He told the Canadiens players that if they give everything they have on the ice, the public will give them everything they need to be happy playing hockey: love.
What a speaker! Obama couldn’t have said it better.
And he finished, throwing to the crowd, in French: Thank you for the beautiful life!
Yes, CH players have a good life, and it’s thanks to the world applauding them. I hope they understood it.
Thanks, P.K.
What you did on a piece of mat on the ice on Thursday was as big as that goal against Boston in the second overtime on 1er May 2014.
You scored. You made us winners.
It was worth a triple low five with Carey.