SCOTT RADLEY
The Hamilton Spectator
(Oct 15, 2009)
More than two hours after the players had first hit the ice for an uptempo practice — and long after many had already bolted for the restful sanctity of the dressing room — he’s still out there. Not just standing around idly shooting.
Catching the eye of a couple teammates on the bench, he grabs a puck and with an inexplicable burst of energy starts dipsy doodling through his legs and around an imaginary opponent for 15 or 20 seconds before finally depositing a shot just under the crossbar. Then, as if he’d just scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal in overtime of Game 7, he starts an over-the-top celebration punctuated by a smile so big you wonder if his entire head might disappear into his mouth.
Welcome to the life of P.K. Subban. Hockey player. Character. Happiest man on the planet.
“Even if you beat him into the ground and he’s dying, he’d always have a smile,” says Hamilton Bulldogs head coach Guy Boucher about his rookie defenceman.
It’s probably not much of an exaggeration. Skate him hard, he smiles. Correct a mistake, he smiles. Leave him to chat with his teammates, he smiles.
“I’m just trying to have as much fun as I possibly can,” the 20-year-old says.
Why not? The Toronto native is quick to point out he’s young, he’s being paid to play a game and he really has no responsibilities to look after except himself. He’s not married, he has no kids and no mortgage. Sure, this is his job and his career, but the joy of the game hasn’t been beaten out of him yet. Every day at the rink is a good one.
For most folks, hockey’s most upbeat practitioner came to their attention last year as Ryan Ellis’s defence partner during the World Junior Hockey Championship. Which was the first time he ever played at Copps for one of the World Junior exhibition games.
Sure, winning helped keep him happy. But it quickly became clear that’s just who he is. A great quote. A willing talker. A guy who just doesn’t get down very easily. And, at least as important as any of that for his hockey career, a guy who thrives under pressure.
Boucher, who was part of Pat Quinn’s coaching staff in that tournament, said in the dressing room before those games in Ottawa — as the deafening roar of the crowd permeated the walls — he saw players literally shaking from nerves. Yet the more stressful the situation got, the better Subban played.
“I think he loves what he does so much,” the coach says. “Some guys like hockey. He loves it.”
All that said, Subban admits his rosy attitude sometimes sends the wrong message. Like the occasional times over the years he’s had a rough game only to still have a stupid smile — his words — locked on his face after it’s all done.
Boucher acknowledges that all this enthusiasm has to be channelled in the proper direction. Which is something the coaches are keeping an eye on all the time.
But it’s clear his teammates enjoy the guy and what he brings to the dressing room. And find his playfulness contagious. By the time he finally stops skating long enough to stand still for a TV interview, Alex Henry playfully starts firing pucks at him from behind to distract him. Chuckling the whole time.
A few have even decided they have the right to call him by his full name — Pernell Karl — which the 5-foot-11, 200-pound rearguard laughs is a privilege generally reserved for his mother. “Some guys here think they’re allowed,” he says.
As for Boucher, he says he doesn’t call him anything other than Mr. Subban. Out of respect partly. But more because the couple times he’s yelled P.K. to get the kid’s attention, his penalty killing unit has jumped up ready to go.
You just know Subban was smiling about that.