Wednesday, 26.01.2011 / 12:00 PM / News
By Shauna Denis, canadiens.com
MONTREAL – The NHL confirmed this morning that P.K. Subban was invited to participate in All-Star Weekend.
While most of the Canadiens are busy packing their bags this afternoon, prepping for some well-earned down time with their friends and family, the Habs’ blue-liner will be loading up his gear and heading to the NHL All-Star festivities.
“I was up around six this morning because I had an 8:00 a.m. flight back home to Toronto. I landed in Toronto and my sister picked me up at the airport and not even two minutes after I walked in the door, my phone rang,” recounted Subban, who will be taking part in the Honda NHL SuperSkills competition on Saturday night. “I hadn’t even had a chance to take my coat off yet and I didn’t recognize the number so I let it go to voicemail and when I checked it after, it was Brendan Shanahan.
“I called him back right away and he just told me he wanted me to be there for the skills competition with some of the rookies. I was really excited,” said the 21-year-old defenseman. “It was awesome – I actually had a conversation with him for a few minutes which was pretty cool. He even started talking a bit about his days in New Jersey and he laughed about how quickly I made it back home and stuff like that.”
After finishing seventh amongst all NHL defensemen in fan balloting with 208,219 votes as a write-in candidate, the first-year Hab will now be joining teammate Carey Price in Raleigh this weekend. With 19 points in 45 games, Subban is currently fourth in rookie scoring among defensemen, averaging over 21 minutes of ice time per game so far in his inaugural campaign.
“I had only packed for a few days at home so I don’t have any dress clothes with me. All I have are my jeans and some casual clothes for hanging around Toronto and I don’t think I’m going to walk into the All-Star Game with a pair of jeans and an Affliction T-shirt on,” laughed Subban. “I’ll have to go buy a suit which is funny because I actually just had a new suit made for me and I left it in Montreal.”
Although the young blue-liner isn’t sure exactly which of his skills he’ll get to put on display on Saturday, he can always rely on some helpful hints from his two-time All-Star netminder.
“I tried calling Carey but I don’t know if he was screening me or if he was still sleeping, but I’m going to call him at least 100 times by the time the day is over,” joked Subban. “I’m really looking forward to meeting all those guys. There will be so many great players there and I’m just happy I get to be a part of the event.”
(Graphic: Shaun Best/Reuters)