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P.K. Subban: “I’ve never seen myself bigger than the Canadiens”

 Emily Smith
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P.K. Subban: “I’ve never seen myself bigger than the Canadiens”
Credit: Capture d'écran / Screenshot
Tonight, the guys at La Poche Bleue had a well-known Montreal name on the podcast: P.K. Subban.

Clearly a big catch.

And unsurprisingly, the former defenseman was quite generous in terms of stories and anecdotes. Here are the highlights of the interview:

1. At the start of the interview, Subban explains that he spent a lot of time in Montreal this summer. He says he’s spending more and more time in the city, as he loves Montreal.

Still, it’s cool to see that he still loves the city.

2. Of course, Subban talked a bit about his playing days. He says that even though he retired earlier than he thought he would, he has no regrets about his career.

He has always remained true to himself.

That said, the conversation eventually veered towards his personality as a player… and he made a point of clarifying something:

I’ve never seen myself bigger than the Canadiens. – P.K. Subban

He’s aware that this is a criticism that’s been levelled at him in the past, but he insists that it’s never been the case. He’s always put the team’s interests ahead of his own.

He was a showman… but he doesn’t want to be labelled as a guy who only thought of himself.

3. Subban also talked about two of his close friends in Montreal, Andrei Markov and Carey Price. He says he’s become close to both of them because, like him, they’ve stayed true to who they are.

They weren’t exactly as extroverted as he was, but that was never a problem for Subban.

And the defender had good words for Markov and Price: in his eyes, both #31 and #79 should be retired in Montreal.

4. The former Norris Trophy winner acknowledged that he wasn’t always part of teams that were very complete:

Price, Pacioretty and I accounted for a lot of the shortcomings. – P.K. Subban

He says he would have liked to be consulted a little more when making hockey decisions in Montreal. In 2015-16, for example, he would have really liked to see the Habs get Cam Ward while Carey Price was on the sidelines.

Of course, that didn’t happen, and Mike Condon ended up in the starter’s chair by default. But Subban believes that the Habs had what it takes to make the playoffs with a guy like Ward in net.

5. The defenseman also spoke briefly about the transaction that sent him to Nashville. He says that when the deal was announced, he was in Paris eating foie gras.

That said, he wasn’t necessarily surprised by the outcome. When he saw Marc Bergevin not completely closing the door on a deal, he thought it was a possibility.

As it turned out, he ended up heading for Nashville.

6. Subban says he’s still dealing with chronic neck pain from his collision with Alexei Emelin.

He needs daily massages.

Obviously, this is one of the factors that forced him to hang up his skates a little earlier than expected… but there’s also the fact that in the summer of 2022, when he became a free agent, no team made him an offer.

In fact, one team did offer him a professional tryout… but he preferred to turn to a media career.

7. Finally, Subban also talked about the current edition of the Habs…

And he had some good words to say about it:

The Habs have never been as well organized as they are right now. – P.K. Subban

He likes the management’s vision, but more importantly, he thinks the organization protects the players well when it comes to the media.

That wasn’t always the case during his time in town.

A very interesting interview, therefore, which I’m reposting HERE if you’d like to listen.

He had a lot to say… and it turned out well. Hats off to the guys at La Poche Bleue.


Overtime

– Wow.

– Kirby Dach has matured.

– News from the Jeremy Swayman saga.

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