Counter Culture

P.K. Subban is a Nashville Predator. It doesn’t matter if you're okay with 'the trade' or not, it's already history. Besides, there is very little anyone can do about it, except perhaps complain which is essentially pointless. Accept it and move on, that’s what grown ups do.

I believed at the time (and still do) that the trade was a mistake. Marc Bergevin went all-in acquiring a known commodity in Shea Weber in exchange for Subban’s obvious potential. If you were to ask general managers around the league, most would say it was a good trade for the Canadiens organization. Though clearly many like myself, plus one GM, don't agree.

Which brings me, oddly enough, to the current trainwreck that is the American election. Many of us have lamented the popularity of the supremely unqualified Donald Trump. It's becoming clear his support has little to do with substantive policy, but rather a thinly-veiled appeal to an underlying culture of intolerance and ignorance among many voters. Trump knows he is the right man for everything that is wrong with an appallingly large segment of American society.

So too in hockey, the problem isn’t Subban, or Bergevin, it’s the culture. As pro sports go, there are few that match hockey in its conservatism. Golf certainly. Tennis perhaps. For example, in an era when pro sports leagues have been forced to address player safety, in particular concussions, the NHL still tacitly approves of bare-fisted fighting by arguing that 'it's just part of the game.' The league generally discourages individuality in its players, both on and off the ice, unless it conforms to a model of humility, old-school toughness, quiet community service and 'the code.'

Subban is anything but that. He is brash, outspoken, funny, loud and incredibly gifted. His public image is as important as was his pride in playing for the Canadiens. Unfortunately that kind of thinking doesn’t mesh with NHL culture. In the minds of many, Subban was getting too big for his britches, an appropriately antiquated expression to illustrate the point.

Like it or not, players like Subban represent the modern generation of professional athletes. Branding is important to them, but can also be extremely lucrative to the franchises for which they play. Pro leagues don't own players like they used to, a concept that seems strangely foreign to NHL GMs.

The irony is that the Canadien’s glory days were rife with players and managers doing a lot of out-of-the-box thinking. They were trend-setters, not trend-followers. The wild-eyed intensity and politically vocal Maurice Richard comes to mind. The problem isn’t that players think they are bigger than the game, it’s management believing they are. Would Roy have been traded if cooler, more mature heads prevailed over ego? Let's be honest, it was a childish spat that set back the franchise at least a decade.

I believe Marc Bergevin sincerely wants to make this team better. I believe Michel Therrien thinks he has the winning formula. They may be right. I hope they’re right, but I can't help but wonder how much hockey culture plays a role in their decisions. That said, though I may disagree with their decisions, we all want the same thing, and I can't fault them for that. Besides, holding grudges is a profound waste of time.

I am very much looking forward to Canadiens hockey this season. I'm excited to see what Shea Weber brings to the team, but I will also be watching and supporting P.K. Subban.

Yes, I can do both. That's what grown ups do.