PK Subban on La Poche Bleu Podcast

[Leto]

There was an article years ago on RDS where Desharnais (I think it may have been an interview with CBC?) talked about how if he had a poor game, Therrien wouldn't talk to him. Then like two hours before the next game he'd call him into his office and just obliterate him and talk shit about him. Said it was an awful way to start games, etc.

I know that this board had a pretty gross tendency of trying to tie in his ethnicity to his ice-time but no, Desharnais went through hell with him.

Here's the article :

« C'était la façon de fonctionner de Michel. Si tu connaissais un match ordinaire, il ne te rencontrait pas lors de l'entraînement suivant pour clarifier les choses ou pour te donner des outils afin d'améliorer ton jeu [...] Pierre Gervais venait te chercher deux heures avant le match [pour t'amener voir Therrien]. Puis là, il te rentrait dedans! Tu te faisais remettre tes erreurs dans la gorge et tu te faisais ramasser juste avant le match. Ensuite, tu commençais ton match en étant frustré, fâché, sans être concentré sur la tâche à accomplir. » - David Desharnais

 

[MasterD]

I mean, MT trashed PK on Anti-Chambre every night.

DAYS, not months or years, literally days after his hiring, Therrien said "I'll make him a better human". Of course MB knew that when he hired him. MT should have never been hired in the first place.

MB just sucked. Can't believe we let him run this franchise for 10 years.

He's still f***ing the team up, for another 3 years

 

[OldCraig71]

I will never forgive Bergevin for trading PK. He was an entertaining guy who happened to be a great hockey player, someone with personality in a sea of bland give it 100 percent robotic players. He was born to play in Montreal and the fans loved him.

It's too bad our GM didn't focus more on surrounding him and Carey and the rest of the group with the support needed to make a real push for a cup because I believe that group had what it took with some help at center ice. MB wanted to be the star, and with his sidekick, they managed to run the franchise into the ground.

 

[Gravity]

False narrative. How much spin does one need to avoid admitting something?

Forget Top 30, as I was using that solely to represent the position. Subban was well into the top 15-20 for most of his career and would've been number one on many teams. The fact a handful of dmen were better does not make him anything less than a #1D.

He was top 5 in his prime.

 

[Habs Icing]

I was going to comment I don't know how anyone can hate PK but f*** PK is hated.

Give your head a shake people.


In his absolute peak he was one of the best defender the NHL has seen. What a ridiculous comment to call him a 1B.

I liked PK. He was an excellent d-man and a great entertainer but that highlighted part is to quote you a ridiculous statement.
I'll name just a few of the best defenders the NHL has ever seen:
Harvey
Orr
Park
Savard
Robinson
Lapointe
Bourque
Lidstrom
Keith
Horton
Housley
Zubov
MacInnis
Salming
Blake
Chara
Leetch
Murphy
Pilote
Langway
Niedermayer
Stevens
Chelios
KArlsson
Pronger
Coffey
Potvin
No one would put P.K. in with that group of defencemen and claim to be unbiased. He was an excellent D-man but let's not get carried away with the hyperbole.

 

[Adriatic]

You guys missed out on a great interview.

I'm sure I've heard everything he has to say already. I just can't deal with people shouting at me for an hour.

 

[Knuckles30]

I'm sure I've heard everything he has to say already. I just can't deal with people shouting at me for an hour.

That says a lot more about you than it does about PK - and there is no shouting anywhere in the interview so not sure what you're on about.

 

[Adriatic]

He was top 5 in his prime.

More like top 10-15

 

[Gravity]

More like top 10-15

Bruh. He won a Norris and was a finalist two more times. Give him credit.

 

[Adriatic]

Bruh. He won a Norris and was a finalist two more times. Give him credit.

Ya those were good seasons. But I still put him top 10-15 all-around defensemen while he played which is really good.

 

[JianYang]

More like top 10-15

Depends how you define "prime". He should be in single digits at his absolute peak.

 

[ReHabs]

Some insights into what makes PK tick so far in this interview.

What a strong character. He was perfect for Montreal. Bergevin, Therrien, and that crew of flunkies were... not perfect for Montreal.

(PK digresses a lot...)

 

[Mrb1p]

I liked PK. He was an excellent d-man and a great entertainer but that highlighted part is to quote you a ridiculous statement.
I'll name just a few of the best defenders the NHL has ever seen:
Harvey
Orr
Park
Savard
Robinson
Lapointe
Bourque
Lidstrom
Keith
Horton
Housley
Zubov
MacInnis
Salming
Blake
Chara
Leetch
Murphy
Pilote
Langway
Niedermayer
Stevens
Chelios
KArlsson
Pronger
Coffey
Potvin
No one would put P.K. in with that group of defencemen and claim to be unbiased. He was an excellent D-man but let's not get carried away with the hyperbole.

From 13-18 ? He was absolutely in that group. He was better than Langway, Stevens, Murphy, Blake, Salming, Zubov, Horton, Housley, Lapointe, Savard, Park and at least equal to Niedermeyer, Karlsson, Macinnis, and a few others.

Regular season:

Playoffs:

His prime was relatively short at around 450 games and his career even shorter, and this hurts him legacy-wise. His peak is right there with any other top D's outside of the Orr, Pronger, Harvey, Potvins. His playoff prowess are amazing, he did all that and actually backed it up defensively, unlike Burns and Karlsson, both of which should also be considered all-time greats.

Really, it's so weird to see such a great player be ostracized like this by the fan base he gave it all to.

 

[ReHabs]

Some interesting subtext.

Well, PK comes across as a lot more grounded than the media smears even if he talks a lot and excessively. Being a yapper is not the same as being arrogant. Subban seems even more generous and normal than we were led to believe.

The pain from losing a fan favourite is gone but the what if… always comes back.

He is still hurt to have been traded and it seems like that year he was at loggerheads with Bergevin about how Bergevin built the team… Bergevin, instead of respecting him as a caring player who wants to win, decided to throw him away for insubordination.

 

[Shred]

I will say it before and say it again but I knew when he came back from his holdout and had to play behind Raphael FREAKING Diaz for like 10 games (and still won the Norris in the end), I knew there was more going on than just typical ice time management bs.

Like they say, Only in Russia.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Here's the article :

The Grindosaurus Rex

 

[the valiant effort]

The Norris from 2013 doesn’t count, but he certainly should have won in 2015.

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

That story about the Cunneyworth era perfectly sums up why we were so boring to watch for so long (and why we blew so many 3rd period leads)

 

[yianik]

I don't know if it's that blatant for a lot of people...I would never accuse someone of being that without any hard evidence.

But there was definitely some level of double standard at play

Before all this fist pumping the bench stuff , guys scoring nice goals and looking like their dog died. Announcers would burst out about how that is a true goal scorer, because he had no reaction, meaning no big deal. That was the NHL and to a degree still is.

I forget who, Tiger Williams riding his stick after a goal ? That bothered people. Many thought it was fun.

Zegras being jumped on for the Michigan goal. Torts was shaking his head right ?

A part of the league is still in the days of white people Square dancing and seasoning food with only salt , pepper and gravy. Boring and bland. Kids showing excitement and flash gets some people worked up because it's not the right way to play or celebrate. OMG PK rolls in and sprinkles Cholula on the mashed potatoes ha ha ha. Good thing is the vast majority loved it and him. Montreal heart was broken when PK was traded, except for the few mostly gravy slurpers

I mean all leagues have curbed some of the player antics but the NHL seems to really have a thin skin on it. And yes, I think there is this standard set up about what is appropriate from the eyes of one perspective, race , stuck in a certain period in time. But that group isn't that big thankfully.

 

[JianYang]

The most interesting thing to me was pk talking about how his neck still bothers him, and he was linking it to that last game he played in montreal.

I've always speculated about the effects that injury had on him moving forward but this is the first time I've really heard him talk about it.

 

[MasterD]

Good thing is the vast majority loved it and him. Montreal heart was broken when PK was traded, except for the few mostly gravy slurpers

For the 10 years of MB's era, and even going all the way back to 2008-2009, the Canadiens' organization forgot that hockey, their business, is entertainment. What a f***ing boring team we've had for what seems like ever.

Subban came in, put on a show, people loved it! He got kicked out.

Thankfully things might turn around with Hutson, Demidov, etc. but that remains to be seen

 

[boompuffboom]

he was perfect for Montreal.

i think hes a terrific ambassador for the game.

 

[Halakitlikethat]

I posted about this in the former Habs Thread but I found it interesting that PeeKay wanted Cam Ward the year Price got injured to try and push for the playoffs.

He also mentioned how him, Pacioretty and Price used to get all the pressure from management but they wouldn't add any pieces to the team when they needed help.

What do you mean? They traded for Torrey Mitchell and Brian Flynn at the deadline, best moves ever!!!!

Two Words:
Michelle Therrien

MT hated PK style of play, you know, exciting and fun to watch since it involved playing a riskier game ( all top producing players tend to be at the top of the giveaway list ) and he wanted as risk free ( north-south, chip out, dump in ) play as possible. I mean the man couldnt stomach Eller because Eller was such a wild and crazy guy he sometimes tried to stick handle in the neutral zone.

And Price was The Guy.

MSL would have been perfect for PK because MSL wants players to use their heads. Its not do whatever you want but a player needs to know if he is a 4th line guy who should dump and chase and say Sydney Crosby who should have the green light to choose if he should dump it in or try to carry it up ice. And Im sure the triple low 5 would have been fine with Marty.

EDIT: Just saw the posts on race being the factor. Too bad if that was the case and it certainly could have been. I do think what I say above is correct though.

It’s not a coincidence that as soon as they had a down year in 2015-16, Eller and PK were both dealt in the offseason. MT hated those guys from day one.

 

[Halakitlikethat]

There was an article years ago on RDS where Desharnais (I think it may have been an interview with CBC?) talked about how if he had a poor game, Therrien wouldn't talk to him. Then like two hours before the next game he'd call him into his office and just obliterate him and talk shit about him. Said it was an awful way to start games, etc.

I know that this board had a pretty gross tendency of trying to tie in his ethnicity to his ice-time but no, Desharnais went through hell with him.

Man I wish we knew this at the time. We were ruthless on DD back then.

 

[Skip Bayless]

sorry guys, didn't know where to post this.. really fun, insightful interview

It's still unacceptable to me how they just let Markov walk like that, as if he was just another player.