Canadiens honour P.K. Subban: ‘Je t’aime Montreal’

P.K. Subban played seven seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, and despite the franchise’s rich history, few players left such a lasting imprint in such a short period of time.

The fans at the Bell Centre demonstrated as much when Subban was honoured ahead of a game against the Nashville Predators Thursday, four months since the 33-year-old announced his retirement.

As Subban stepped onto the ice, Canadiens fans serenaded their former star with loud chants of “P-K, P-K, P-K!” before he made a speech thanking Montreal for all its support.

It’s a reception that, after his thrilling years in Montreal, Subban likely anticipated.

“To the fans … I’ve always felt we had an understanding, when you wear the Montreal Canadiens jersey, when you wear the CH, that you play with the same passion that you fans bring every single night to this building,” Subban said.

“All I wanted to do every time I put that jersey on was play with that passion”

For his speech, Subban was accompanied by a friend from the Montreal Children’s Hospital named Mila. Subban pledged $10 million to the hospital in 2015, one year after he started the P.K. Subban foundation.

“All the support from you fans and everybody in Montreal, it means the world to me, the support that you guys have continued to give us, to give kids like Mila an opportunity to live the life that we have, so privileged to live every day with our health.”

And to end his speech, Subban brought out Canadiens goaltender Carey Price for one last triple-low five handshake.

For the fans outside the Bell Centre P.K was more than just a hockey player for the city.

“He was just a huge personality. He’s done so much, even off the ice. He was part of the community,” said one fan. Another saying there may never been a player like Subban again, “out of everybody I’ve ever seen in my time being a Canadian’s fan, there’s nobody who’s been as dedicated to the city of Montreal as P.K.”

For Montrealer Marc-Olivier, he says P.K was a phenomenon, “He was an important personality as much on the ice for the show he would give to the supporters too off the ice with his style, in his game and also the person he was.”

Drafted 43rd overall by the Canadiens in 2007, Subban captured the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenceman in 2013, earning his first NHL First All-Star Team selection that year, an honour he also received in 2015.

Subban signed an eight-year, $72-million contract extension with the Canadiens in 2015, however, Subban was traded to the Predators for fellow star defenceman Shea Weber before his no-trade clause kicked in.

Subban spent three seasons with the Predators and reached the Stanley Cup Final during his first year with the club.

Nashville traded Subban to the New Jersey Devils on June 22, 2019, for Steven Santini, Jeremy Davies, and two second-round draft picks.

The 33-year-old from Toronto also represented Canada on several occasions winning back-to-back world junior championships in 2008 and 2009 and an Olympic gold medal at the Sochi Winter Games in 2014.