With players like Matt Cooke, Colby Armstrong and Sean Avery, among others, running their mouths and throwing in the occasional dirty play, you would think not.
Yet for whatever reason, Subban has been a lightning rod for criticism from his fellow NHLPA members, on several occasions this season.
So the question is why?
Is his self-assuredness as a rookie bothersome to the opposition who feel that as a first-year player, he should be more humble? Perhaps it is his world-class ability to chirp after whistles or maybe it's his perceived hubris that rubs them the wrong way.
Whatever the problem, there is no question P.K. Subban is, in a lot of ways, the talk of the league this year.
After the Habs shut out the Leafs 3-0 on Saturday night and Subban got into a scrap with Joffrey Lupul, the latter suggested in his postgame comments that it was a dirty play by Subban to attack him while he was trying to take his helmet off.
Looking at the replay, I can see what Lupul is saying, but I can also see how Subban wasn't trying to be "dirty" but rather, amped by adrenaline, he just wanted to get his hands on the Leafs' player.
Should he have waited for Lupul to take his helmet off?
Probably, but I think that is something he will learn in time. Another thing he will learn in time is to be less reactionary. He is, after all, only 21 years old and is getting the lion's share of attention from the opposition as the Habs de facto No.1 defenseman.
And while, in a few years, you won't be seeing as many reactionary plays, slashes, trips, chirps and the like, right now as a young player, I think it's only normal that Subban gets drawn into post-whistle activity.
Some have gone down the road of race, saying that the backlash against Subban is due to the colour of his skin and that the league has never had an African-Canadian star that is the magnitude of Subban, and as such, he is being targeted for racial reasons.
I say that's nonsense.
Subban clearly possesses all-world skills on the ice and a larger-than-life personality off of it. And for anyone whose star burns as bright as his does, I think it's normal that they attract equal amounts of positive and negative attention.
Look at Sidney Crosby or Wayne Gretzky when they broke into the league. These were elite-level players who took a ton of shots and criticism in their first year or so in the league.
I remember when Crosby broke into the NHL, I could not believe the amount of vitriol that was being spewed in his direction. And, while Crosby still has a reputation as being a bit of a whiner, he too has cut back on a lot of the complaining and whining that had a lot of players and fans talking poorly about the young superstar.
Now I am not suggesting that Subban is in the same skill category as either Crosby or Gretzky but simply pointing out that when a player and/or personality is so big, it invariably rubs others the wrong way.
Gretzky, when he was 13 or 14 years old and absolutely obliterating all of the Peewee hockey ranks, was hated by his own teammates and had parents on his team that wanted him kicked off.
How's that for a star burning a little to bright for the comfort of others around it?
For some demented reason, it's just a truism of human nature that as much as we love to canonize people, we also love to tear them down. Almost equally actually.
So as for Subban, I think that what he has to work on is being less reactionary.
If he is going to be a star No. 1 defender in the league, he is going to have to get used to the extra body checks, the extra slashes, the extra cross checks and the extra yapping that is directed his way. He will have to learn, like all top-level defenseman in the league do, that this kind of extra attention comes with the territory and that he can't respond with a slash, cross check or slewfoot of his own.
I have no doubt that in a few years these extracurricular discussions about Subban will be a thing of the past, and all that will be left to talk about will be his tremendous skill.
The Sunday Shinny - Episode 9
We have a new and extremely lively episode of the Sunday Shinny this past weekend in which there was a lot of discussion about Subban, including a bunch of callers. Here are some of the topics we discussed:
-Talking with callers about the challenging issue of racial commentary regarding PK Subban.
-Times up for Andrei Kostitsyn?
-Too little too late for Scott Gomez?
-And more...
Click play below to listen in (listing time 39:49):
(Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images North America)
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Kamal is a freelance Habs writer, Senior Writer/Editor-in-Chief of HabsAddict.com, Montreal Canadiens Blogger on Hockeybuzz.com and Habs writer on TheFranchise.ca. Kamal is also a weekly contributor to the Sunday Shinny on The Team 990 (AM 990) every Sunday from 8 - 9 AM. Listen live at http://www.team990.com/
4 comments:
I have to give you 2nd star of the game for this article on P.K. Subban.
The only thing I can fully disagree with you about is that Subban has to be less reactionary. P.K is a very passionate player and this is what makes him tick. I hate to make comparisons because every player is always different. Subban matches up well to Chris Chelios but nowhere near as nasty. P.K. must pick when and how much to react because he is so skilled the opposition has targeted him. He will have to drop the gloves more often to show he's not going to take any cheap shots against him. Messier and Howe created more space for themselves because everyone knew they would make you pay for it. Subban will learn this and not allow other players like Richards to change his style of play. Give him a few more years of NHL experience and we are looking at the next Norris trophy winning defenseman for the Habs.
Hi there Ref Whistle and thanks for your comment!
I appreciate the accolades too and glad you agree.
Your comparison to Chelios is bang on, minus the nastiness of course...that being said, PK is no shrinking violet and he has shown that he won't be pushed around.
He just have to stop getting sucked into the oppositions game...in a year or two, I think we'll see the same reaction from the opposition but less or a reaction from PK, meaning that he should be drawing a lot of penalties for his team.
That aside, I really have no problem at all with the way Subban plays and agree with you that he could become a Norris Trophy-level d-man in the future.
If you look at it right now, the Habs have an excellent youth movement and it is keeping the team afloat despite all of the injuries.
It's good to see that with players like White, Desharnais, Price, Subban, Weber and Pacioretty all playing key roles on the team, it looks like the Habs' player development might finally have turned a corner.
I have several thoughts that may sound awkward but may hold true: thank the heavens for injuries because most of the young talent would be developing from the press box or still be in Hamilton. Given Jacques Martin's (JM) propensity to stay with veteran's, regardless of their play (e.g., Scott Gomez and Picard, before the Jorges injury), and pull out a rookie from the lineup at their first mistake (e.g., Weber), we would never know that the Habs had any player development.
Now young players are free to play, make mistakes, and be comforted in the knowledge that they will play again.
Watch Edmonton in a few years with a group of talented young players that are allowed to learn on the ice.
On another Subban issue, I do give credit to JM for pairing the young defenseman with the veteran, Hal Gills. I am of the opinion that this will be of the greatest benefit for Subban, on and off the ice, and will lead to making him a future potential Norris trophy candidate. Remember that Chelios was traded out of Montreal for the antics off the ice as well as his comportment on the ice.
However, as far as I can tell, this move was done not by strategy but by necessity given the rash of injuries on defense.
Kairos
Hi there Kairos and thanks for your comment!
Good stuff in there my friend!
You are SO right on the injury front! Right now, this team is being buoyed by the play of rookies (Desharnais, Pacioretty, Subban, Weber, White, etc) and, as you stated, I wonder how many of them would be in the lineup if the Habs didn't have so many injuries this season.
Re: Subban, while I agree that it was a good move to put him with Gill and, like you, I wonder what took them so long to figure out that a rookie stud defenseman would be best served by playing with a veteran.
Subban was always playing with Picard at the beginning of the season rather than, say, Hamrlik or Gill. That, imo, was a huge mistake that they only correct out of necessity once the injury bug bit the team.
Again, your overall point about the team only really seeing the success of the young players because of injury, is a great one!
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