By Rick Stephens, Editor-in-Chief, All Habs Hockey Magazine

MONTREAL, QC. — The sun still rose in Montreal on Thursday morning. It would be irrational to think otherwise. But it’s fair to say that very little of the emotion that flooded social media following the Shea Weber – P.K. Subban trade the day before was rational.

But that’s Montreal.

In fact the attachment to the Canadiens is engineered that way, on purpose.

Kevin Gilmore, the recently-departed Canadiens’ Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer described the organization’s corporate philosophy this way:

“We deal with very emotional human beings. Rational people don’t spend the money they spend on season tickets. They are fans, not spectators, who are detached. We are in the business of selling emotions, of selling passion. It’s about creating a strong emotional bond.”

And it is undeniable that a ‘strong emotional bond’ was created between P.K. Subban and Canadiens fans. Credit much of that to P.K.’s affable personality. But the relationship between the fans and the Habs defenseman was cemented in a very concerted way by Subban’s management team during the 2014 salary negotiations sending him on a ‘celebrity tour.’

Don’t discount the contribution of Montreal’s mainstream media to Subban’s popularity. Almost without exception, they were only too willing to ditch journalistic objectivity becoming unabashed, full-fledged cheerleaders. Many argued right from the start that Subban should be granted a fast lane to the big club bypassing the normal development route for a player selected in the second round.

Fans, too, were smitten right away. In his first shift in a Canadiens jersey, the Bell Centre faithful stood and chanted “P.K., P.K.”  Subban was awful, roaming all over the ice and playing very little defense for Jacques Martin. It was a style better suited for junior hockey. But fans were enchanted.

For some fans, Thursday was a day to gather the broken pieces of their shattered hearts. So much of the hand-wringing expressed after the trade had little to do with play on the ice. If one looks there, and only there, the Canadiens clearly came out on the right side of this deal.

Worst trade in professional sports history. https://t.co/26OBXp2BaU

— Peter Yannopoulos (@PeteYannopoulos) June 29, 2016

Thinking more with their hearts than their heads, some fans were quick to label this the worst trade in Canadiens history. Some compared it to the Patrick Roy trade. Hyperbole to the extreme. The Canadiens didn’t receive back any elite player in the caliber of Shea Weber when Réjean Houle sent Roy to Colorado.

When was the last time that getting the better player in a trade resulted in such suicidal expressions by a fanbase or pronouncements of abandoning their favorite team?

But such was the irrational love for P.K.

TSN’s Gord Miller explained that for Canadiens fans it was “hard to separate their love for the player as a person versus his actual talent.” Miller added that the “attention [given to Subban] is not commensurate with his ability.”

It wouldn’t be the first time that Habs fans (dramatically) overvalued one of their players. In the hothouse that is Montreal, fans and media alike live in a fantasy world that is not shared by the rest of the hockey community.

Miller said that around the league, hockey people assess Subban’s value as being one of the top 15-20 defensemen in the NHL. No doubt that would surprise (and perhaps anger) many Habs fans living in the insular world of Quebec.

But it would also rationally explain decisions that left Subban off the Team Canada squad that is preparing for the World Cup of Hockey this September and why he played such a minimal role in Sochi. “Outside Montreal, no one disputes Subban being left off Team Canada,” said Miller.

It was the right call when the Winter Olympic team placed other defensive talent ahead of Subban (including Weber.) Canadiens fans lost their minds. It was the right call again when the World Cup rosters were announced.

With a Canadiens bias perhaps affecting my judgement, I would place Subban a little higher, let’s say, a top-12 defenseman in the league. But in support of Miller’s comments, I have heard the same assessment of Subban from scouts and hockey executives around the league.

Whatever the ranking is for P.K., there is no debate that Shea Weber is one of the top-3 defenseman playing in the league right now. There is no evidence to suggest that Weber is in rapid decline and in the midst of the downside of his career.

But throughout my career I've told myself hockey people are hockey people for a reason, and I'm not. Hockey people love Shea Weber.

— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) June 30, 2016

There are a few Subban fanboys out there who are doing a bit of numerical gymnastics to try to prove otherwise. Just keep in mind that just because you can count it, doesn’t make it meaningful (and that’s coming from a guy with a Math degree.) It’s also important to note that the very same folks trotted out similar charts and graphs to make the case that Louis Leblanc was a generational prospect for the Habs.

After being a first-round bust for the Canadiens, Leblanc has bounced around from the KHL to the Slovakian league to most recently playing for Lausanne in the Swiss league. Leblanc is considering leaving hockey at the ripe age of 25 to return to Harvard University.
Most hockey people concur that the Canadiens won the trade. When asked to pick a winner, former NHL coach and Hall-of-Famer Adam Oates said, “Montreal” and agreed that the Habs are a better team today.

Oates offered his assessment of Subban saying, “I don’t like where P.K.’s [game] has gone in the last year and a half.”

Oates added, “I don’t think that his game has evolved. I think it’s plateaued. [Subban] could be a way, way better player than he is right now.”

Speaking to the issue of dissent in the Canadiens dressing room, Oates said, “P.K. is a superstar. He’s loud and obviously can be a little bit of a sideshow at times. And not everybody likes that, right?”

Oates concluded, “His play wasn’t that great this year. It wasn’t.”

https://twitter.com/Laurmayne/status/748267122892087296

It’s clear that Marc Bergevin’s goals for this offseason not only include remaking the on-ice product but addressing divisions in the dressing room. For all of Subban’s long list of positive qualities, leadership is not one of them. He has contributed to divisiveness at every level of hockey that he’s played.

P.K. is a soloist who happens to play a team sport. He sincerely believes that he is the best player every time he steps on the ice. Had he received a regular role at the Olympics, he stated that he would have been “the best player in the tournament.” After he signed his 8-year, $72 million contract with the Canadiens, Subban claimed that he had the opportunity “to be one of the best players to ever come into the organization.”

Subban may never rise to the level of Richard, Beliveau, Harvey and Plante. He may never be named the MVP of the Winter Olympics or the NHL. However, there’s no doubt that with the backdrop of Nashville, his celebrity will only rise.

And it is fair to say that one of the reasons that Predators GM David Poile was willing to take the second best defenseman in this deal is Subban’s star power. For a franchise lagging at 20th in NHL attendance, it could be the boost that hockey needs to garner attention in Music City.

Poile spoke about the excitement he expects that Subban will bring to the Bridgestone Arena. “I’m a general manager but someday I’d like to be a fan. [P.K. Subban] is a guy that I would pay money to see. He’s exciting to watch,” said Poile. “He does something every game. I think it’s going to be dynamic.”

Nashville may not have the status of Montreal in the hockey community but in the world of entertainment, the city is a powerhouse. Subban claims that hockey is a very, very small part of his brand. In other words, he is more committed to his celebrity than hockey. Expect Subban to embrace the opportunity to be at the center of the music industry while playing the game that gave him access to the door of stardom.

Homegrown Captain. Community leader. #Smashville original. #Preds pic.twitter.com/inXkeKtI3u

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) June 29, 2016

Given that he was traded for a beloved personality, Shea Weber may initially receive a lukewarm reception. Expect media and fans to be hypercritical. But the objective few are likely to notice a stability and reliability on the back end that his been missing from the lineup.

Weber is all business, being squarely focused on hockey. Weber described his approach coming to Montreal this way, “I’m going to bring my hard work and attitude and try to bring this team into some wins. The biggest thing I want to do is win and I know they have a good base, obviously one of the best goaltenders and some top end forwards and I’m just excited to be joining that group.”

Weber will also add significant leadership to the dressing room. He will support Max Pacioretty and the rest of the leadership group while serving as a positive role model for the entire team.

It was interesting to note that Weber said his first text after the trade came from Carey Price. Angela Price welcomed Shea and his family in her own way on Twitter.

In this whole affair, Marc Bergevin and Michel Therrien will be cast in the role of villains, deservedly so. Bergevin botched the process with his inexperience on full display.

Bergevin went out of his way throughout the process to stress that he had never shopped Subban. It was reported that Bergevin received just one serious offer. If we take the general manager at his word, was the Subban trade akin to impulse shopping? How did Bergevin know the potential return for his star defenseman if he didn’t choose to shop him?

Predators made the only "serious" offer for PK Subban. No surprise, Canucks made one, but it was rejected. Not enough on the table.

— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) June 30, 2016

There is no debate that Therrien plays his favorites and his favorites have little or no relation to performance. Subban was not a favorite of the coach. Therrien’s public criticism of his defenseman was uncalled for and unprofessional. Subban disagreeing publicly was not welcome and in retrospect, was probably the beginning of the end.

For Bergevin, the trade is solidly engraved as a legacy transaction, one he will be judged on for many years. Shea Weber will immediately make the Canadiens a better team. P.K. Subban will entertain a whole new fanbase along with spreading his celebrity wings in a major entertainment market.

And Canadiens fans will take the summer to heal their hearts, entering the 2016-’17 season open to the fantasy of falling in love again.