‘Je t’aime Montréal!’ P.K. Subban tells cheering Bell Centre fans at ceremony honouring him
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“Thank you so for much for honouring me tonight and my family. It means so much to me.”
Former Montreal Canadien P.K. Subban waves to fans during a tribute to his career prior to National Hockey League game against the Nashville Predators in Montreal Thursday Jan. 12, 2023. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette Article content
P.K. Subban spoke from his heart Thursday night at the Bell Centre and the fans loved it.
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Subban was able to hold back the tears — barely — as fans gave him a long ovation, followed by chants of “P.K.! P.K.!” during a pregame ceremony before the Canadiens beat the Nashville Predators 4-3.
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P.A. announcer Michel Lacroix started the ceremony by saying: “Fans, tonight we’re proud to welcome home one of the most electrifying players to ever don the Canadiens jersey at the Bell Centre.”
A video was then shown with some of the highlights of Subban’s career with the Canadiens, his work at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, where an atrium is named after him, and a clip of Élise Béliveau — the widow of former Canadiens captain Jean Béliveau — blowing him a kiss from the stands during a game at the Bell Centre.
Subban then came on the ice as dapper as ever, wearing a black turtleneck with brown slacks, an orange belt and a long, matching checkered jacket. He was joined by a young girl in a wheelchair named Mila, who is a patient at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. She was holding a Subban doll and a Youppi! doll in her lap.
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Former Montreal Canadien P.K. Subban brought his friend Mila out onto the ice for a tribute to his career prior to National Hockey League game against the Nashville Predators in Montreal Thursday Jan. 12, 2023. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette
“Bonsoir, Montréal!” Subban said as the Bell Centre fans cheered.
The fans were given large cardboard cutouts of Subban’s face when they arrived at the Bell Centre.
“First of all, I would like to thank the Montreal Canadiens organization, Geoff Molson, the whole Molson family,” Subban said. “Thank you so much for honouring me tonight and my whole family. It means so much to me.”
It was Molson who first reached out to Subban after he announced his retirement as a player last September about holding a night at the Bell Centre to honour the player who won the Norris Trophy as the best defenceman in the NHL with the Canadiens during the 2012-13 season. Subban played the first seven seasons of his 13-year NHL career with the Canadiens before being traded to the Predators on June 29, 2016 in exchange for Shea Weber. Subban spent the last three seasons with the New Jersey Devils.
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Subban also had a message from Élise Béliveau, who has spoken in the past about her fondness for Subban and how much she and her late husband loved watching him play for the Canadiens.
“A special message from Élise Béliveau, who I spoke to earlier today, who couldn’t make it tonight and she sends warm regards,” Subban said. “You guys know how much I love Élise Béliveau and she tells me that Jean is smiling somewhere tonight. So I wanted to let you guys know that — and to Élise: (Subban blew a kiss).”
“When you wear the CH … you play with the same passion that you fans bring every single night to this building,” P.K. Subban says. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette
Subban also had a message for fans who continued to support him, even after he left Montreal.
“I’ve always felt that we had an understanding that when you wear the Montreal Canadiens jersey, that when you wear the CH, that you play with the same passion that you fans bring every single night to this building, that we see around the city and globally,” he said. “I hope that’s a message to the current players and players that are going to put on the jersey in the future that these guys (the fans) will love you no matter what if you leave it all on the ice. So leave it on the ice every night.”
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Subban did that during his time with the Canadiens.
None of the players in the Canadiens lineup Thursday night were with the team during Subban’s final season with Montreal in 2015-16. The only three players from that year’s roster still with the Canadiens are Brendan Gallagher, Carey Price and Paul Byron, who are all on the injured list.
Subban’s speech was interrupted a few times by the fans chanting “P.K.! P.K.!” He spoke with no notes or written speech. It was from the heart.
“I want to introduce you guys to one of my close friends, Mila, here,” Subban said. “Mila is one of my friends from the hospital. I’d like to get a Mila chant going.”
The fans responded by chanting: “Mila! Mila!”
“I love Montreal, I love coming back here and this is truly an honour to be able to do this,” Subban said. “I never imagined in my whole life that I would have this opportunity to be honoured by the most storied franchise in professional sports.”
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Subban finished his speech in French, saying: “Merci pour la belle vie, Montréal. Je t’aime, Montréal!”
Carey Price escorts former teammate P.K. Subban off the ice after the ceremony on Thursday. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette
At the end of the pregame ceremony, Price came on the ice to join Subban and they did the triple-low five that former Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin and former head coach Michel Therrien had told them they could no longer do when they were teammates. Bergevin and Therrien were not fans of Subban and his big personality, which also rubbed some teammates the wrong way. Those factors led to him being traded to Nashville.
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Fans at the Bell Centre Thursday night loved seeing the triple low-five again and cheered with approval.
Subban met with the media during the first intermission and was asked about the triple low-five with Price.
“You know what, the first time it wasn’t planned and the last time I’ll let you guys figure out whether it was planned or not,” Subban said with a smile.
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