Editor’s Note: So moved by P.K. Subban’s Blueline Buddies program, Edmonton-based friend o’ Rinkside Allison Currie shares her unique perspective on how this program has affected her. 

By Allison Currie – Special to Rinkside Report 

To say P.K. Subban has been a polarizing figure in professional sports is a bit of an understatement. It seems if you’re part of the old school thinking that hockey players should wear the basic 2-piece suit, celebrate goals with just a fist bump, and “give it 110%, one game at a time,” that Subban can be disrespectful, even selfish. The crowd who loves personality and blame “dust in their eyes” for the slight tears that well up after watching the 28-year-old visit young ones at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, find him to be a refreshing character and one more players need to be like.

My first Subban experience was at the 2009 World Junior Championships in Ottawa, as roughly 17,000 rabid Team Canada fans chanted, “P.K.! P.K.! P.K.!” His most recent venture in helping the community has me wanting to chant the same thing; although, admittedly, it’d be a little weird for me to just start chanting that in my chair reading articles.

This season, with full support of the Nashville Predators, the defenseman created the Blueline Buddies program. To bridge the gap between policing and community, the program brings together a member of the Metro Nashville Police Department and their guest, a mentor from a local organization, and an underprivileged youth. They’re given tickets to a Preds home game and get to have dinner at Bridgestone Arena and meet with P.K. prior to and after the game. It allows youth to see another side of members of the MNPD beyond the uniform and badge.

Subban recognizes that there is a disconnect between civilians and police, especially with current events in the U.S. and viral videos that seem to portray an abuse of power. There is heightened tension between the two groups that creates mistrust. As an already scrutinized figure, it is commendable that Subban has put himself in a position to be further criticized for having a “pro-police” stance. It’s not a popular position to take. It only takes a quick search online to see the vulgar replies to news about Blueline Buddies and the accusations hurled towards the player.

I want to publicly thank P.K.

As the significant other of a police officer, this program means a little more to me. I sat with tears in my eyes as I read about Blueline Buddies, nearly in awe of this player who would put himself in the line of scrutiny to do what he felt was right and to put a real effort into finding a solution.

When I entered a relationship with an officer, I thought I knew what the difficult parts were. I thought the toughest part would be knowing your loved one was risking their safety every time they left for work.

I thought the second toughest part would be the grueling schedule, having to coordinate schedules so maybe you could see each other in a week or so, maybe you’d have just enough time for a quick text conversation as you’re getting up for work and your partner is just getting to bed after an 11-hour night shift.

I was wrong.

Yes, it is tough to get to your partner’s home to see a mark across his face and his response to what happened is, “I had to arrest a guy who didn’t want to be arrested.”

Yes, you hold down the urge to puke as you watch live footage of a terrorist being tracked by local police after he ran down a member of the police force; a member who was outside a football game working a shift your other half quite often works. You have the thought of, “That could have been him.”

What I didn’t expect, however, is that I would log on to Facebook and suddenly notice friends and family sharing one-sided videos and articles, condemning police for their actions. Those pieces were most likely always shared, I just blindly scrolled past them before. Now, they feel like a personal shot at the person I love. You tell yourself, “Don’t read the comments,” but you do. You read the comments and regret it, wishing you could lash out at people when it seems like they are directly referring to your loved one as a power-hungry thug. You struggle to bite your tongue when you see both friends and strangers post news articles that only show one side of the story.

Those social media shares don’t do anything to solve the problem. Those shares do the exact opposite, spreading half-truths that create a greater divide and builds further mistrust.

Programs like P.K.’s Blueline Buddies are what will be productive. Whether you support law enforcement, believe they are every negative stereotype, or are somewhere in between, there is no denying that a real effort to bring the two sides together is what will bring progress. He is exposing both ‘sides’ to one another and building relationships. Working together and changing both sides’ ideas of one another, one home game at a time, are what leads to real change.

Thank you, PK, for putting yourself in an unpopular position. Thank you for helping to create real change. Hopefully other teams will now follow suit, after recognizing the success in Nashville and the importance of this initiative.

By Jim Diamond

Playing his first competitive game since March 10^th, P.K. Subban thought that he was rusty. But it did not take long to shake off that rustiness or any lasting effects of the upper-body injury that has nagged him since the start of training camp.

Subban took to the ice for the first time in a Predators uniform Saturday night in a preseason tilt against the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning, a game the Predators won 4-3. After notching an assist on Nashville’s late first period power-play goal, Subban tallied a power-play marker of his own at 5:56 of the middle frame.

“Just a lot of rust and there’s a couple moments where the game was a little faster for me,” Subban said. “It’s been almost six months since I’ve been in a game. It’s a long time. I set myself back a little bit in training camp missing the first couple of days.”

The only defenseman on the ice for the man advantage, Subban slid to the left point. Subban’s fellow former Canadien Mike Ribeiro sent a cross-ice pass from above the right circle to the right-handed shooting blueliner. Following his windup, Subban connected with the puck, which was perfectly positioned between his skates. As he followed through, Subban fell to one knee and the puck sailed by Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop.

“Coming into this game, I just didn’t want to hurt my team,” Subban said. “Just happy for the big win. Obviously it’s the first game in our building this year, and even though it’s just an exhibition game, it means a lot for us to get this win just for confidence for our guys.”

Subban’s upper-body injury kept him out of training camp’s on-ice activities until Friday’s practice.

Possibly saving his best goal-scoring celebrations for the regular season, Subban simply lifted his right leg and waived his right arm above his head in a circular motion twice before skating toward Ribeiro to acknowledge his pass before the remaining Predators on the ice at the time of the goal joined the hug fest in the high slot.

The Predators used four forwards and one defenseman almost exclusively on the power play Saturday night. Playing without Ryan Ellis, who is out with an upper-body injury of his own, and Roman Josi, who is just getting back into town following the World Cup, the team was without two players who log big minutes with the man advantage.

With so many talented offensive players both at forward and on the blue line available to him, making decisions on who gets power play time this season will be a tough decision for head coach Peter Laviolette.

“I can tell you right now, we’re going to have tough decisions when that comes around,” Laviolette said after the game. “Ellis is going to be back at some point. Roman, I heard is in the building, I haven’t seen him yet tonight. Obviously those guys are good power play players, so that’s going to leave tough decisions in how we utilize it and how we do it. Based on the lineup tonight, that’s the way we went.”

By Jim Diamond

Several different cities can be included in the conversation of where hockey’s biggest stage is, but if that conversation were to be had, Montreal would have to be in running for that fictional award. Nashville will probably never be in that discussion, but it is certainly no stranger to glitz, glam, and the entertainment spotlight.

In Montreal, Canadiens players are under the microscope 24/7, in two different languages to boot. Stanley Cups are expected, and when they don’t come, the natives get restless.

Now P.K. Subban will be calling 501 Broadway home for 41 games per regular season and what Predators management and fans hope to be many more in the postseason. In a town full of them, a new star has metaphorically been born in Nashville.

This isn’t a knock on Shea Weber, but about all he has in common with Subban is that they are both right-handed defensemen. While a star and the face of the Predators, he was happy to fly under the radar, just coming to the rink and doing his job then going home.

On the ice, there is no question that Subban is one of the top defensemen in the National Hockey League. That will not change, and with the supporting cast in Nashville on the whole being better than what he had around him in Montreal, the argument can be made that Subban may shine even brighter in Predators gold.

But he isn’t just a hockey player; he is a showman as well. During his introductory conference call with the Nashville media Wednesday afternoon, Subban wasn’t afraid to let that personality shine. When asked about the existing talent on the Nashville blue line, Subban gave an indication of what a delightful human being Predators general manager David Poile acquired.

“Aside from them being outstanding defensemen and great defensemen, I’d have to say now with an acquisition of myself, and before they were pretty good looking with Shea Weber, but I think they got a whole lot better looking now, so we might have the best looking d-pairing corps in the league,” Subban said. “What do you think of that?”

Subban, who essentially lost an organizational faceoff with Habs head coach Michel Therrien, will be allowed to be himself in Nashville. Therrien once banned Subban from his post victory triple-low-5 celebration with goaltender Carey Price. Seriously, this coach thought that such a celebration was an affront to the game of hockey.

When the fun police run amok, everyone loses. There’s a difference between having fun celebrating with your teammates and showing up your opponents.

During his Wednesday afternoon press conference, Poile sounded as if he will be wearing a Subban jersey to games instead of his standard-issue business suit.

“I’m excited,” the normally stoic Poile said. “I really am excited. I think it is fantastic. Every game I’ve ever watched, P.K. Subban, I mean the guys will probably kid you in hockey operations, they will say, P.K. Subban is my favorite player. I’m sitting there going, ‘Did you see that, did you see that?’ I’m a general manager, but someday, I would like to be a fan. And this is a guy that I would pay money to see. He’s exciting to watch. He does something every game. He competes every game. He shows up every game. I think it is going to be dynamic.”

With an endorsement like that, Subban can triple-low-5 Pekka Rinne, Gnash, Craig “Partner” Baugh, and the beer vendor in Section 101 if he so wishes.

The most famous stage in downtown Nashville is located inside the historic Ryman Auditorium. But when the Predators take to the ice this fall, there’s no question that Subban will bring more eyes and attention to the big building just a couple of blocks to the Ryman’s south.

Heck, he may even come all the way upstairs to triple-low-5 the overly enthusiastic spotlight operator over the pressbox. Without a crabby coach holding him back, there is no telling what Subban may do in Nashville, on, off, or even above the ice.