Tag Archives: Montreal

Red's Ghost 3:26 pm on June 30, 2016
Tags: , , Montreal, ,   

P.K. Subban’s Departure Is Proof The Montreal Canadiens Are Living In The Past

To say that P.K. Subban was run out of Montreal might be unfair.  That would imply that everyone in bleu, blanc et rouge was placing him on an Air Canada flight to Nashville from Montreal’s Trudeau Airport.  I’m sure, however that Subban wasn’t surprised by the trade on June 29, 2016 that sent him to Nashville for the Predator’s defenseman and captain Shea Weber.  On July 1, 2016 the Montreal Canadien’s Norris Trophy winning defenseman would have had his no trade clause kick in on the remaining  6 years of his contract at $10 million US dollars a season.

Leading up to the National Hockey League entry draft, rumors swirled that Canadien’s General Manager Marc Bergevin was looking to trade Subban because either he “didn’t fit in with the rest of the club” or because of his contract.  Bergevin denied these reports but it seemed clear that something was going on.  Last season there was talk that he wasn’t in tune with some of the other veteran leadership, Subban wore the A on his sweater and Captain Max Pacioretty was thought to be one of main proponents of his dismissal.

Head Coach Michel Therrien was known to rip into Subban during this past season, especially after one loss to the Colorado Avalanche when the creative skater attempted to make a play in the Avalanche zone and lost an edge while possessing the puck.  The Avalanche took the puck the length of the ice and scored the goal that would go on to win the game.  Therrien would go on to throw Subban under the bus the team rode to the Pepsi Center on, “ an individual play that cost us the game tonight.”  Never mind that the Canadiens offense last year ranked 16 in goals for in the entire league even with offensively gifted Subban in the lineup.

I’m sure that Subban could clearly read the writing on the wall when Bergevin did not stand up to Therrien or back the Canadiens star player.  Subban was playing his game, the one that the Canadiens had signed him to play.  He was aggressive on the puck, maybe sometimes to a fault, he was boisterous, but that’s P.K., he was creative, he had flair and most of all, he gave 100 percent on the ice.  At the end of the 82 game season when the Canadiens finished 38-38-6 and missed the playoffs without firing Therrien, Subban had to know that he was going to be on his way out.  The two of them could not exist under the same roof.

It was a reminder of the Patrick Roy situation in 1995 when he fought with head coach Mario Tremblay. Canadiens management decided then as well that Roy was the one who had to leave shipping him off to the Colorado Avalanche, the previous Quebec Nordiques.  How ironic is it that Therrien blew up at P.K.’s play in Colorado?  It all comes full circle I suppose, especially considering that trade brought Montreal one of my favorite hockey players of all-time goalie Jocelyn Thibault.  As the history books have shown us, the long list of goalies that followed in Roy’s crease were never able to replicate Roy’s success as he went on to win a Cup with Colorado.

Subban to his credit, had adopted Montreal as his new hometown.  He donated $10 million dollars to the Montreal Children’s Hospital, a figure that the Children’s Hospital called the “biggest philanthropic commitment by a sports figure in Canadian history.”  The star athlete set up a fund known as P.K.’s Helping Hand that works with the Montreal Children’s Hospital and helps parents pay bills when their child gets sick. Subban was also seen many times in restaurants around town and posed with fans for pictures and stopped for autographs.  The mood after the trade was described by one person on Twitter in three words: “Torches and pitchforks.”

The Montreal Canadiens are an Original Six team with so much history and mystique.  I know when I took a tour of the Centre Bell, or Centre Molson when I went, the team was so proud of where it had come from.  The legends that you see in the locker room up on the walls from Plante to Bouchard to Savard to Roy and in between.  They even ask you if you know what the “H” stands for in the middle of the “C” in their logo.  (Do you know by the way?)

The NHL awards trophies that are named for Hall of Fame players from the Canadiens.  The “Rocket” Richard Trophy, the Vezina Trophy and the Hart Trophy are all named for men who were Canadiens.  The Canadiens fill the Hockey Hall of Fame with plaques, busts and memorabilia.  There’s no doubt that this is one of the greatest clubs in NHL history.  Not to mention the 24 Stanley Cups.

What the Canadiens have to realize however is the last Cup came on June 9, 1993 and the world is a different place – hockey is a different place.  As much as we can celebrate the past and cherish those men that built the franchise, we can’t let them haunt the building.  Subban’s departure is another example of running a star out just because they may not always “fit the mold.”  Subban isn’t like the rest of the players and that’s okay, not every championship team is built like those old Montreal Canadien teams.  You need guys like P.K.  You need guys like Patrick Roy.  Unfortunately the Montreal Canadiens still haven’t learned the lessons, they still hear the whispers of Richard and Bouchard and Plante.  When the time comes and they realize it, it’s going to be too late.  It may already be too late.

Advertisement
Red's Ghost 5:14 pm on May 31, 2016
Tags: , Montreal, , , , ,   

The Stanley Cup Playoffs Make Heroes

The Stanley Cup Playoffs always seem to create a hero out of someone. It becomes that special time of year where someone steps up from the third or fourth line because the first or the second line gets shut down thanks to the opposition’s coaching choices.  Unless you follow everything the team does, you may not even have heard of the guy.
It’s during this “crunch time” if you want to call it that, that diamonds are made. Sometimes these diamonds may never have their number called again. Sometimes these diamonds go on to be legends. Think back to all the Conn Smythe winners in the past, can you name them? Think back to the Stanley Cup Champions in recent years, can you name them?
Even if you can’t, what is amazing about the Conn Smythe award is that unlike most trophies it is based upon the play of an individual throughout the entire playoffs. If you lead your team to the Finals and put up a goose egg there – more than likely you are going to have a hard time winning the trophy. If you play magnificently throughout the playoffs you are probably going to be in line to be the Conn Smythe award winner. It doesn’t always go to the winning team either, five times since the trophy was introduced in 1964 it has gone to the losing team most recently to Jean-Sebastien Giguere of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim who played tremendously in net. He finished with a 15-6 record, a .945 Save % and 1.62 Goals Against Average.
What makes the Conn Smythe award so amazing though is the list of names that have won the trophy. Guys from our decade and guys from decades before us that we can only imagine seeing play in their prime. Hall of Fame players and guys who scored in places like the Maple Leaf Gardens. Guys who made key saves in the Montreal Forum. Guys who were a part of the Oilers Dynasty of the 80’s. Guys who played a part in making the Islanders the talk of the Nassau Coliseum. Guys who were a part of the Broad Street Bullies. Guys would initiate a line brawl and bring the goalies into it. Guys who would see your head down and hit you in the middle of the ice without thinking twice. Drop ’em? Hell yes, this is the rock ’em sock ’em NHL – Don Cherry style. The days of Northern NHL teams winning the Cup with some of the greatest goaltenders you may ever see backstopping them.
Of course as time has past we have seen the new generation, the new buildings with the expansions and the new equipment. The game has been influenced by an international group of players that witnessed the “Miracle on Ice.” No longer is it won by teams in the northern half of North America but Southern states are hoisting the Cup now along with those on the sunny West Coast. Playoff dates in May and June test the ability of maintenance workers to keep the ice frozen in the summer heat. The next generation of player is faster, stronger and better conditioned than those we remember. They wear lighter pads, scientifically engineered skates and use high-tech sticks. There is no more fighting. This is the new NHL. No more Montreal Forum or Maple Leaf Gardens. These are giant arenas built for bringing in the crowd and getting them to spend, spend and spend some more.
I’ve often wondered whether I grew up in the golden age of hockey with Lemieux, Gretzky, Roy, Brodeur and all. I want to say yes, there will never ever be guys like this. I know there will never be guys that stopped shots like that and there will probably never be another guy that scored like Gretz. But at the same time, what about those that grew up during Gordie Howe’s reign? They probably said the same. Can you imagine the talent that has come along since? Patrick Roy won three Conn Smythe awards, does that mean no one else ever will? Wayne Gretzky holds or shares 61 records, does that mean that no one will ever pass any of them? Mario Lemieux won the Conn Smythe award in consecutive years and is the last person to do it, will anybody else do it? Martin Brodeur holds 25 records, will anyone break them?
I can’t help but wonder while watching these Stanley Cup Finals – who will be that Conn Smythe guy? I wonder if there will be a guy that will break a record? Is there someone on the ice that will make it to the Hockey Hall of Fame? Sure there are some names that pop to mind – Thornton, Pavelski and Crosby. But we don’t know where these careers will end. We don’t know how it’s all going to play out. Hockey takes such a wild ride sometimes. It’s such a tough sport to play day in and day out. It takes such a toll on your mind and your body. I can’t imagine what these guys go through just to make it through these playoff marathons. Whoever wins the Cup and wins the Conn Smythe no doubt they’ll deserve but I’ve got my eye on a couple of guys and I’m not going to jinx them by saying their names – just know, they’ll be someone’s hero.

Red's Ghost 4:39 am on March 24, 2016
Tags: , , , , don cherry, , , , hockey night in canada, Montreal, , , , , revolution ice rink, , , winnipeg   

Why Can’t Hockey Be America’s Game?

Every time I go to Toronto I find myself drawn to the Hockey Hall of Fame and its marvelous displays of greatness.  Not that I make it to the Great White North all that much but it seems like since I’ve gotten older I’ve made it more than when I was younger.  I’ve been to the HHoF at least three times and to Toronto at least five but every single visit to the museum I’m always struck by the wonder of it all.

I know that Canada invented the game (although some may argue that it’s roots are in the Middle Ages – the game as we know now is Canadian in origin) and is celebrated as a religion country-wide.  In fact before it was replaced in 2013, the Canadian five dollar note featured children playing winter sports, including hockey, and wearing a number 9 sweater to honor  Montreal Canadiens great Maurice “The Rocket” Richard.  Included with the picture was a quotation from Canadian novelist Roch Carrier’s short story “The Hockey Sweater”:

The winters of my childhood were long, long seasons.  We lived in three places-the school, the church and the skating rink-but our real life was on the skating rink.

Yeah I get you Roch, the rink is where I’d be too if I lived in Canada.  Cold, brutal winters where you are forced inside, you might as well find something to do right?  Time for some hockey and after your legs are burnt out from skating turn on the television and watch some Hockey Night in Canada?  I mean come on, we don’t have anything like that here in America.  Sure we have Monday Night Football, but Hockey Night in Canada, there’s no chance.  The tradition and the history, plus Canadians have Don Cherry and his outfits.  No contest.

But here’s the thing.  Most places in America don’t have access to a rink.  In the South you are lucky to find a rink.  It’s getting better but when I was growing up I could only tell you where one was.  Even living in New York, where you think there’d be a bunch – it’s cold!, I have to drive an hour and a half on a good day to find a rink to play hockey.  True, I’ve read Derek Boogaard’s biography where it talks about his father driving him all over.  If my daughter is going to play she’s going to have to go at least three hours in multiple directions to play.  All over the Eastern Seaboard.  I can’t imagine doing that as a kid to play a sport.

But what’s funny about hockey, is that for as much as it costs-and trust me it costs, at some point you start to find this itch.  You can’t get enough ice time.  You can’t get even time on your skates.  You want to feel that stick in your hands every chance you get.  Even getting back into it at my age, I’m proud to say that I skated for an hour without falling-finally!  I’m getting better but I’m still pretty terrible.  Watch me skate backwards if you need a laugh.

However I’m bothered though, for all that hockey means to Canada there will probably not be one Canadian NHL team in the Stanley Cup playoffs.  Yes the teams are loaded with Canadian players, but I want to see Toronto or Calgary or Ottawa or Edmonton or Winnipeg or Vancouver go deep in the playoffs.  It just doesn’t seem right not to see a Canadian team.  I don’t like it at all.  I realize some of it has to do with the direction of the club, some has to do with the value of the dollar and some has to do with the quality of the team but no matter I don’t like it.  I’ll trade a potential Florida team or two for a Canadian team any day.

I know these teams are all because of the Gretzky effect – the same Gretzky who perfected the so-called Gretzky buttonhook.  A move that Pittsburgh Penguins forward Tom Kuhnhackl perfected in a game on March 20, 2016 when he assisted on Bryan Rust’s goal.  The Pens took out the league leading Washington Capitals 6-2 that night behind Kuhnhackl and his spin moving self.  I’m not sure Gretzky could have made a better pass, this was text book.  Maybe Chris Becker taught him that at the Revolution Ice Rink in Pittston at skills night while he was playing for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Pens?  It’s a possibility.  You never know where he may have picked that one up.  Then he sold him some Ribcore skates?  Just kidding Chris.

Because of Gretzky’s influence on the league we’ve seen more and more Americans jump into hockey.  I was probably exposed to more hockey because of him and I have to thank him for that.  It is one of those sports that gets in your blood.  No matter what other sport you think you love, until you actually get on the ice and strap on the pads, skates and grab a stick, you don’t know what you are missing.  I can understand why it’s Canada’s sport and you know what?  I don’t think we’ll ever be good enough at it to best them.  We’ll never have the access or the commitment to hockey.  Our focus is on baseball, basketball and most importantly football.  There’s no way we’ll take up hockey as our number one sport.  I think Canada should take hockey, mold it and each year make it better and better.  Each visit to Toronto make the HHoF a place that I never want to leave at the end of the day, a place where those that gave everything they had to the game have a chance to pay tribute to their teammates and those they respected.  Hockey deserves a place where it can be worshipped and I think that place will be and should always be Canada…O Canada.

Red's Ghost 4:19 pm on March 4, 2016
Tags: , carey price, felix potvin, , , , , , Montreal, , , , ,   

So You Think You Have The Confidence of Carey Price?

It’s ironic that Montreal Canadiens’ goalie Carey Price made me reflect on hockey.  An injury to the franchise player on November 25, 2016 was initially thought to be just a “week or two” thing.  Price hasn’t seen a game since that day and isn’t sure he will before the end of the season or the playoffs, if the Canadiens make it – things aren’t looking good for him or the team.

Skate backwards twenty-plus-years to when I played roller hockey in the sunny Southern states with a group of loyal compatriots and thought that I was pretty good at what I was doing.  I could go side-to-side, change direction in a flash, skate backwards, I could go pretty fast and I damn sure wasn’t afraid to stop on a dime.  There was also the roller hockey side – I could dish, I could put the puck where I had to (ok, the roller hockey ball). I was also “that kid” out there with the ice hockey gloves, yeah I know, but I went to Pennsylvania for a wedding and made my dad go to a hockey store. Hell I even played goalie pretty damn well – my one memory is stopping a penalty shot by using my forehead to block the ball.

We weren’t organized and didn’t put money into much, just sticks and the ball when we could.  We didn’t care about wearing masks and this was before Bryan Berard  and Marc Staal had eye injuries (sorry guys!).  We didn’t know any better either, we just did it for the typical “love of the game.”

We didn’t have any ice either – the NHL was just realizing that Northern “snowbirds” were screaming for hockey in Florida so they were installing two franchises in Tampa Bay and Miami.  A kid we went to school with, thought he was going pro (we might have been a little jealous), toted around a hockey stick and ice skates because he went to a rink that was an hour and a half away to play ice hockey. None of us could afford to either drive that far away or buy all that ice hockey equipment, nor would our parents take us.  Okay we were a lot jealous.

We did have a local hockey team in the East Coast Hockey League, the Hampton Roads Admirals, that our pro ice hockey kid learned from.  That’s where I learned my love of ice hockey, that and our local cable channel Home Team Sports that showed almost every Washington Capitals game.  Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin taught me a lot about the game because they were the only ones I had to learn from.

Locally the Admirals were coached by John Brophy, the same John Brophy who melted down on the bench of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 80’s.  Good times.  He did his fair share of melting down in the ECHL.  It was quite comical.

But we played probably ten games max of roller hockey at a tennis court on the edge of town.  A nice barely used tennis court, well-lit and out of the way but the Southern sun made it ridiculous to use during the day, so we played at night.

Until one summer night when some guys came out of nowhere with trouble on their mind.  I’ll tell you, there wasn’t much to me – 5-foot-10, 150 pounds max with skates on.  It was probably 9 or 9:30 at night and we had the lights on skating and I notice them, that’s always been something that I was good at was noticing my surroundings, and I noticed these guys coming up that obviously did not have skates.  One goes up to the breaker box for the lights and I’m planning my exit the whole time.  No one else had any clue what was about to go on.  Lights go out and I’m gone like the Russian Rocket.  I don’t know if I’ve ever skated or ran faster in my life.  Ten minutes later it was over and we hauled ass out of there never to return.

We still wanted to play and we tried to play at the tennis courts at the high school in town but the one night we tried someone called the cops on us – citing the trespassing sign.  I got tossed in the back of a cop car with skates still on my feet along with my fellow hockey players.  Imagine that, instead of bringing drugs or weapons to school we were playing hockey on the tennis courts!  Priorities.

After that, the most roller hockey I played was in my driveway with a goal I built from two-by -fours and a net I bought at a sporting goods store.  I skated so many times in the same circle that I wore the wheels down on an angle and I worked on a slap shot that broke the window of my parent’s garage door at least twice.  But I had nowhere else to go “for the love of the game.”

Finnish flash twenty-plus-years to Carey Price, “I want to be out there playing the game I love.”  Price continued, “that’s been the goal this entire time, to be able to come back with 100 per cent confidence, I didn’t want to come back at 90 per cent and still have that mentally kind of shadow overcast. We wanted to come back and make sure that I can compete at 100 per cent and lay it all out there because if you still have that mental block, you can’t play at your best.”

I followed hockey for those 20 plus years, even though I was introduced to hockey by the Admirals and Capitals (and early 80’s with Macgyver’s Calgary Flames hat) I was always a Toronto Maple Leafs fan.  Being a Buffalo Bills fan I guess it’s something about the area – or maybe it’s something about lovable losers, I can say it I’m a fan.  I wrote Doug Gilmour when he was at the Leafs and was sent back an autographed picture.  I still have it to this day.  I always admired the goalies, don’t ask me why but Jocelyn Thibault has always been my favorite player (I’m ducking – I know I know but Felix Potvin was never far behind).  These days Henrik Lundqvist gets the nod, and I support Jayson Megna since I’ve seen him skate at Wilkes-Barre Scranton.  Which brings me full circle.

So after seeing hockey live, I decided maybe it was time to get back on ice skates and roller blades and see what I could do.  Looking up ice rinks it turned out that the one near Wilkes-Barre Scranton was the closest one.  My daughter wanted to skate too, at 10 years old she decided it was time for her to learn to play hockey.  Ice hockey.  So now, we’re both learning.  We both have to learn to skate – I have to “re-learn” and she has to start the process.  For me, it’s getting back and believing in myself, that I can do it.  For her, it’s believing that her skates won’t fail her, that she can stay balanced. Carey Price talked about it, the confidence – you have to have it.

There’s something about that rink, along with the smell of the ice – you know?  You look at it and first maybe you are thinking “ok it’s not so bad, all these guys and girls are doing it.”  But then you step on it and you fall.  Then you fall again.  When you are a kid it’s not a big deal you have all these years ahead to learn.  But as an adult you are thinking “I should know how to do this,” especially if when you are younger you knew how to roller blade like a champ.  But this is so different.  The ice will eat you up.  There’s nothing like getting on that ice.  It’s so intimidating.  Especially if you see other people out there skating with sticks and pucks and they make it look so damn easy.

Guys or girls your age or younger.  I skated from one side to the other and considered it an achievement until I saw a young lady skate backwards faster than I skated forward.  How the hell do you do that?  And don’t get me started on bending my knees.  How do I stay so bent?  And puck handling?  Try to shoot the puck and fall on your face.  It’s ridiculous.  I just feel like a failure.  Then I watch someone else zing them in.  Then I try to pick myself up the ice and slip again.  It’s a natural thing isn’t it?

Or go watch the NHL and they make it look so easy and get paid half as much as baseball players.  Hell, that’s not right.  I’ll never complain about a hockey player being terrible.  I’m terrible.  Don’t pay me.  Pay me to stay off the ice.  I’m awful.  They say you just have to keep going back and training and training.  I get how people with so much talent wash out now.  I understand.  If you lose confidence it’s going to eat you up.  It’s tough.  I gotta get back on the skates – I think?

Red's Ghost 9:35 pm on February 19, 2016
Tags: , , , , ken dryden, Montreal, , , ,   

Skating On Thin Ice

The Montreal Canadiens were 19-4-3 through the first 26 games three days earlier star goaltender Carey Price went down injured with what was supposed to be a “week or two” lower body injury.  Since then the Canadiens have gone 8-23-1, Price hasn’t come back, the team traded for All-Star Game MVP John Scott just days prior to his coming out party only to bury him in minor league affiliate St. John’s and now Coach Michel Therrien is openly flaming star defenseman P.K. Subban in the press.

Is there something going on with the bleu blanc et rouge?

From first glance it looks to me like the Canadiens are reeling with the loss of Price.  If the New York Rangers lost Henrik Lundqvist I believe they’d struggle just like the Canadiens.  You can throw in NHL quality backups and hope for the best, but there’s too much parity in the NHL these days that once you lose an elite goaltender that you rely on to push your team over the edge you might as well pack it in.  Especially if you don’t have goal scorers that teams like the Chicago Blackhawks do.

Let’s also keep in mind the fish bowl that this team plays in.  Ask Jocelyn Thibault.  Don’t know Jocelyn Thibault?  Thibault was part of the Patrick Roy trade between the Colorado Avalanche and the Canadiens that sent Roy and Mike Keane to the Avalance for Thibault, Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko.  Thibault was a young 20 year old when he was thrust into the shadow of Saint Patrick on the Montreal Forum stage. He was put in net to try to replicate what a man 10 years his senior had done for this hockey loving community.

Oh, did I mention Thibault was also French Canadian?  Thibault grew up in Montreal and played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and was called by Canadiens General Manager Rejean Houle “one of the most brilliant young goaltenders in the league?”

Gee.  Pressure?  A 20 year old kid going home to one of the most storied franchises of all time, most Stanley Cups in NHL history (22), one of the oldest North American professional sports franchises in history, over 50 people associated with the club were in the Hockey Hall of Fame, it’s his hometown club, and now the General Manager of this club says that he is the key to this deal and one of the most brilliant young goaltenders in the league.  That’s not much presure

Then there’s the list of goaltenders that’s played at the club, let’s see: Patrick Roy, Tony Esposito, Ken Dryden, Gump Worsley, Jacques Plante, Roy Worters, Bill Durnan, George Hainsworth and Georges Vezina!  That’s just the Hall of Fame goaltenders.

But hell, Thibault came over to the Canadiens and through 40 games after being traded he posted a 23-13-3 record with a 2.83 Goals Allowed Average and a .913 Save Percentage.  For a 20 year old playing in the shadow of ghosts, that’s not too bad.

But it was never enough.  Even playing on crappy teams, Thibault always did his best but he got the blame.  Eventually getting traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in 1998, Thibault would move on.  I can only imagine his growth as a goaltender was scared by his experiences in Montreal.  Unfortunately the ghosts were the same ones that Ken Dryden spoke of in his book “The Game.”  Dryden experienced the pain too.  The must win now mentality.  The mentality that if you don’t win you are going to get shipped out.  There’s no room for any sort of growth.

I hate to see something like that happen.  I think the Canadiens could do well bringing up John Scott and playing him to bring some excitement to the club.  Or even trading him to let him play somewhere in the NHL.  He deserves a shot somewhere.

But the way that they are treating P.K. Subban is the way they treated Thibault.  A solid club servant, who did what was asked of him, gave to the club and hell Subban is there for the community, but now he’s being questioned for his decisions on the ice?  This man gives everything that he has on the ice.

I have to wonder if the long line of Cups are getting in the way of what a franchise should truly be about.  It’s not always about winning.  It should be about people too.  It should be about understanding that you are going to have crap years.  But the players are giving what they have.  I’ve written about coaching changes before, but with Montreal losing an elite goaltender and now you want to criticize your star defenseman?  Someone should fire the coach.  Obviously he has some issues.  Sure he’s feeling the heat too.  But that’s unacceptable.

I feel bad for Subban and Scott and hope that neither of them has their careers ruined like Thibault did.  Here’s hoping.

Red's Ghost 3:09 pm on September 18, 2015
Tags: , children, , JPP, Montreal, PK Subban   

A 26-Year-Old Hero and A 26-Year-Old Zero

It was big news in the New York Metropolitan area this week when pictures of Jason Pierre Paul’s (26 years old) hand surfaced in New York Daily News. In the infamous right hand was injured in a firework accident during the July 4th holiday. Rumors have circulated as to how bad the injury truly is until the pictures seemed to show JPP missing a right index finger and possibly parts of his right thumb and other middle finger. As to the true severity, he’s not saying. But he did tweet, “I can’t think of the last time my index finger got me a sack.”
What I can think of is, as a right-handed person, it’s going to be hard to sign a contract with no index finger. With no index finger as a right-handed person it’s going to be hard to do a tremendous amount of things. But what is really incredible about it is, you start to wonder about the level of maturity for some of these things. When you are holding fireworks in your hands are you thinking about the repercussions? Knowing that there is a massive contract waiting for you, maybe you would stop and think “fireworks can blow off my hand.”
Or maybe you can get AFLAC. It does help when you get hurt and can’t work. But if you don’t enroll you can’t get the insurance. Although I’m not sure it covers fireworks and missing hands. Maybe Chubbs could have gotten it in Happy Gilmore when that damn alligator stole his hand. It was his right hand too. Maybe JPP didn’t get that memo either. Don’t mess with alligators or fireworks.
But I think what we all missed this week was P.K. Subban. While the NY media salivated over the pictures of missing digits, sick kids in Montreal found a hero in Pernell Karl Subban.
The 26-year-old Montreal Canadien hockey player from Toronto graciously donated 10 million Canadian dollars over 7 years to the Montreal Children’s Hospital. They’ve named a portion of the hospital the Atrium P.K. Subban. He’s taking French lessons so that he can speak to the fans and the people in the area. He’s boisterous and brash on the ice, but that’s a persona. Off the ice he seems to care about his community and wants to give back to a place that has given so much to him. Keep in mind 10 million dollars is the most EVER given by a Canadian athlete. This is a 26-year-old. Think about that.
Now think about the other 26-year-old in the picture. Blowing off his hand doing something stupid. One is giving away 10 million to kids the other is just giving away a career. Interesting parallel.
Whether you like either one, it doesn’t really matter. I’m not judging their careers. One has won a Super Bowl, one has won a gold medal, one has a community that loves him, one has a community that makes fun of him. When we talk about heroes, we should be looking at the guy or gal that humbles himself in front of the community for what he/she does off the ice or field not what he/she does on the field. So you have a Super Bowl ring, what message are you showing by playing with fireworks and blowing off a hand?  Great message to kids.

For me, I’ve never been a P.K. Subban fan, but this week, Subban proved to me that he was one of the greatest humans to wear a jersey in the NHL. He’s a hero in the truest sense of the word. To give 10 million dollars over 7 years or roughly 1/7 of your salary to a children’s hospital to help those that can’t help themselves proves that he is a man who has a heart and is willing to step up and should be everyone’s hero. I don’t care what he does on the ice. I just know that those kids and the families of those kids have someone who just saved many lives for years to come. We should all be thankful for that man. I know I am.