In case you missed it, the ever-polarizing star defenseman of the Montreal Canadiens P.K. Subban is once again making headlines in this glorious city. This time, he’s not the subject of trade rumours and controversy; quite the opposite!
Back in September of 2015, the 26-year-old blue liner made a $10-million pledge to the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation. This year alone, he raised over $800 000 for the hospital through his P.K. Subban Foundation, and has vowed to donate the $10 million over a seven-year period.
With that in mind, he has been named as a finalist for the NHL Foundation Player Award. It is an award that goes to “an NHL player who applies the core values of hockey- commitment, perseverance and teamwork- to enrich the lives of people in his community…, as per NHL.com
The other finalists are Mark Giordano of the Calgary Flames and Matt Martin of the New York Islanders. Should any of these players take home the award, the NHL Foundation will donate $25 000 to the charitable organization of the winner’s choice.
Perhaps if Subban takes home the honours, he’ll finally silence his critics, if only temporarily. The word “teamwork… is explicitly mentioned in the Award’s description, and that might entice some of his haters to bring it down a peg. Otherwise, I could envision a scenario where debates about whether he should be captain or not would arise once again since we’ve got 5 months of virtually nothing to discuss, seemingly. (Not to worry- I’ll have plenty to keep you guys entertained!)
You’ll remember that when Max Pacioretty was named for the captaincy, many argued that Subban’s commitment to this city alone merited the title. We’ll see what ensues afterwards!
In the meantime, take a look at the stats from the polls I held a few days ago.
Overwhelmingly, 88% of respondents voted “yes… when asked if they would trade a top-four defenseman in exchange for Edmonton’s 4th overall draft pick.
Also, 22% of respondents selected Andrei Markov and a second round pick as the trade they would make. 20 percent chose Marc Barberio and a second pick, which leads me to believe that the majority of the respondents don’t believe that we have enough at the blue line to offer up a single, individual defenseman capable of attracting the 4th pick by himself.
Either way, I don't think any of these offerings will suffice!
Poll results! 1/1 pic.twitter.com/tKY5wXpi0Q
— Andrew Saadalla HB (@andrewsaadalla) May 6, 2016
Poll results! 2/2 pic.twitter.com/iLIO6m1g5A
— Andrew Saadalla HB (@andrewsaadalla) May 6, 2016