Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban doesn’t regret his profanity-laced comments following his team’s 3-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday.
“I never have regrets in life,” Subban said Monday. “The only thing that I do hope is that no little kids saw what I said.”
Subban’s comments went viral after he was asked about scoring his first goal in 34 games in the losing effort.
“I couldn’t give a f****** s*** about my f****** first goal in however long,” Subban said Saturday. “It doesn’t f****** matter.”
Canadiens owner Geoff Molson didn’t take issue to Subban’s emotions running hot after the team’s loss, the club’s 14th in their past 18 games.
“I think I probably would’ve felt the same way,” said Molson. “It’s the passion that’s coming out. We’re not happy, the players especially. They want to win and that’s passion speaking as far as I’m concerned.
“You have to be careful with the language you use. It happens in all leagues. Sometimes you just can’t control yourself, and that happened to be one of those moments.”
Subban followed up the profanity on Saturday with the following: “I’m not a goal scorer. It’s not my job to score goals.”
On Monday, Subban insisted that specific comment wasn’t pointed at any of his teammates. He clarified that his main concern was with winning games rather than padding his personal statistics.
“Obviously people are always going to scrutinize, they’re going to look at numbers and stats and that’s fine,” said Subban. “When you’re the highest paid player on the team, one of the highest paid players in the league, people are going to do that. That’s fine with me.”
Subban, who earns $9 million per season until his contract expires in July of 2022, has collected 59 goals and 197 assists in 409 games with the Canadiens. He is currently tied with Colorado’s Tyson Barrie for the fifth-most points (29) among NHL defencemen this season.
Subban is also third in points on the Canadiens, behind only Max Pacioretty (33) and Tomas Plekanec (32).
“We all share that role,” said Subban. “It’s not based on Max [Pacioretty], it’s not based on [Tomas Plekanec], it’s not based on [Alex Galchenyuk], it’s not based on anyone specific. I think it’s our job to create offence.”
Subban and his teammates weren’t specifically focused on creating offence during Monday’s 40-minute outdoor practice.
The team played a version of baseball on ice to lighten the mood that was evidently heavy following Saturday’s game.
“We do that once a year,” said Canadiens forward David Desharnais. “We usually do that when things are not going our way, so it was just a bit of fun today.”
The Canadiens were doing it on a brand multisport rink the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation erected in Emile Park, Laval as part of its BLEU BLANC BOUGE initiative.
The rink, which has been built to NHL specifications (200 feet by 85 feet) has professional quality ice and features the necessary adaptability for soccer, inline hockey, basketball and other sports.
It is the seventh rink of its kind to go up in Greater Montreal. The previous six were built in the Villeray-St.-Michel-Park-Extension, Montreal-Nord, Verdun, Lasalle, Cote-Des-Neiges-NDG and Longueil boroughs.
Laval’s rink, built with the help of sponsor Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities, cost $1.4 million. The city of Laval will put forth roughly $200,000 over the coming years for some of the upkeep.
Pierre Boivin, President of the Children’s Foundation, said that some reserves from BLEU BLANC BOUGE had been put aside for the maintenance of the rink and the refrigeration system underneath that ensures the quality of the ice.
Boivin has overseen all seven projects since 2009. The eighth project is set for the city of Sherbrooke, roughly 180 kilometers southeast of Montreal.
“These rinks change the life of the neighbourhood,” said Boivin. “They’ve all gone up in underprivileged neighbourhoods, which was the whole idea of the program.
“The kids get out, they’re proud of their neighbourhood, they meet friends, they stay active. It’s all part of giving them a chance.”
Some 40 school children were on hand to skate on the new rink, and they were joined by the Canadiens after making their first turns on the fresh ice.
“This is a winter day, and this is what it’s all about,” said Boivin. “The kids are having a blast.”
