P.K. Subban, The New Pinch Hitter?

“The Canadiens are a despicable and dirty little hockey team that loves to dish out nasty cheap shots, often from behind, often after the whistle — and shows not the slightest willingness to back up the stick-work by dropping the gloves.”
– Stephen Harris / Boston Herald

By Stevo, AllHabs.net

MONTREAL, QC.– Everyone knows P.K. Subban has tremendous talent, and the potential to become a great NHL player. On Thursday night, when the Boston Bruins were visiting the Montreal Canadiens, Subban opened a lot of people’s eyes as to what other kind of player he can be in this league, a vicious hitter.

There was about 2:40 left in the first period with the Canadiens up 2-1 on the Bruins, when Brad Marchand picked up the puck behind the Bruins’ net. He gathered a lot of speed heading into the neutral zone dodging a first Canadiens’s player to the left. He then crossed the red line while dodging a second Canadiens’ player to the left again, and here is where he made a huge mistake.

Marchand had dodged the preceding player to the left and what he should have done, was keep to the boards, where he could have either dumped the puck towards the back of Carey Price, or keep the puck along side the boards. What he did was cut towards the center of the ice, all while putting his head down to ensure he was maintaining control of the puck.

There was no turning back, and although his head was only down a fraction of a second, that’s all it took to leave himself completely vulnerable.

Subban had read the play perfectly, he knew exactly what was coming. As Marchand rounded the corner, Subban made his pivot, and turned into Marchand like nobody I’ve ever seen do. He turned into Marchand as if he were going to deliver a hip check, but continued to turn hitting him, basically with his rear, while his entire back smashed into the mid-section of Marchand.

“You’re going to get hit the odd times, but I’ve never been hit like that, ever” said Marchand. “I had a lot of speed. That only made it worse. He just knocked the wind out of me. He kind of got me in the midsection with his back or rear end. I’m okay.”

“Brad Marchand could play a long time in the NHL and never take another hit as thunderous as the one laid on him, perfectly clean, by Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban” said Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald in his latest article.

“Habs defenseman P.K. Subban dropped a hard-charging Brad Marchand with one of the hardest, and perfectly clean, open-ice hits you’ll ever see.”, Harris was also quoted as saying in a previous article.

I emphasize the fact he used “perfectly clean” twice, and in separate articles to describe Subban’s hit, only because in his previous article, first of three he wrote following the Bruins/Canadiens matchup, he wrote, “The Canadiens are a despicable and dirty little hockey team that loves to dish out nasty cheap shots, often from behind, often after the whistle — and shows not the slightest willingness to back up the stick-work by dropping the gloves.”

I can only imagine he realized his had went overboard on his first article, and is trying to bury it under multiple other articles while throwing flowers at Subban for his hit on Marchand.

Back to Subban, I was reminded of another NHL player following this hit, a player who’s now retired, who goes by the name of Scott Stevens. Before you jump at me and tell me I can’t compare a rookie to a retired veteran, and before you tell me they are completely different types of defenceman (which I agree with), let me tell you why i said that. It’s all about that killer instinct.

It’s not the first time Subban went after a player the way he did against Marchand. He likes to go after the big hit, he likes to deliver a thundering blow, and if a player cross the blue line on the side he is defending, you can bet your bottom dollar he’ll be aiming to deliver the highlight hit.

I do not believe Subban is a dirty player, not one bit, but just like Scott Stevens, I do believe he has a killer instinct in him, one that could potentially prove to have players a little scared to cross the blue line with too much speed when he happens to be on the ice.

Here’s a few quotes about the hit from twitter:

• PK Subban could make me like the Habs (and watch hockey) – JimGiffordEd
• Holy crap, I just saw that hit that Subban delivered on Marchand two days ago. One of the greatest hits I have ever seen in all honesty. – KJOttawa
• Confession time: I kind of like the Habs sometimes. – That being said, PK Subban can die in a fire anytime… – UnoriginalDream
• WOW, PK Subban with the hit of the year – allanGuan
• Operabuzi megmagyarázza a subbán pam pam – jobbagy (This one i’m not to sure) >:)
• @beezee05 PS. Subban hit.  Awesome! – Whiff83
• Just watched that PK Subban hit from last night again. Shuddered a bit. – JayC4Life
• Subban hit was huge! It was awesome, starting to like that guy. – KelzZero

A few other must views:

• If you missed Subban’s hit on Marchand, click here. (Video)
• For a perspective on another young Canadiens’s player [Max Pacioretty], click here (Article by Priyanta Emrith)
• To enter the Photoshop Faceoff Contest, click here. (Article and contest by Rookie)

(Graphic: Richard Wolowicz / Getty Images)