Living the Canadian dream
26.12.2007. Wharnsby, Tim. The Globe and Mail
Montreal Canadiens draft pick P.K. Subban steps into the international spotlight
Friends of Karl Subban were surprised when his wife, Maria, gave birth
to the couple's third child and first son back on May 13, 1989, that
the newborn wasn't named Guy or Serge or Larry or Ken after one of the
legendary Montreal Canadiens players Karl cheered for as a youth.
When Karl visited his wife at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital shortly
after the birth of P.K., as the Canadian junior defenceman now is
known, the couple didn't have a name ready.
"My wife was reading one of those movie magazines," said Karl, who
along with Maria will be in attendance at the Pardubice Arena when
Canada begins the world junior hockey tournament against the host Czech
Republic today. "We saw the name Pernell Roberts, you know the guy who
[portrayed Adam Cartwright] on Bonanza ? We immediately liked the name."
It turns out Pernell Karl was the perfect name for the now-teenage
hockey talent. P.K., 18, is not only a chip off the old block, but is a
young man with Hollywood-like charisma and his early life easily could
be turned into a movie.
The only problem for the screenwriter would be which character would play the leading role, P.K. or his father?
When Karl Subban was 11, his parents emigrated from Jamaica to Sudbury.
His uncle was an electrician working for Inco, and there were plenty of
jobs in the mining industry in Northern Ontario back in the early 1970s.
The Subbans settled in the Flour Mill neighbourhood, a francophone
community with lots of kids and a rink at the end of Peter Street.
It didn't take long for Karl Subban to wrap his arms around the
neighbourhood's passion for hockey and the Montreal Canadiens. His
parents bought him a pair of skates from the local Salvation Army store
and he immediately was lured to rink.
"It was a wonderful neighbourhood," he said. "I was lucky that the other kids included me in their games.
"I was young enough to pick [the sport] up. I was Ken Dryden, the
goalie, and thought I was playing in the NHL. That's all that mattered."
He later would sneak into the Sudbury Arena and watch Dale Hunter, Ron
Duguay, Mike Foligno, Hector Marini and Randy Carlyle play junior for
the Sudbury Wolves. Many of these players were his classmates at
Sudbury Secondary, where Karl Subban also was a big man on campus
because he played basketball.
He later went to Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and continued to
play basketball before moving to Toronto to pursue a career as a
teacher. Karl Subban, an imposing 6 foot 3 and 260 pounds, now runs
Brookview Middle School in Toronto's hardscrabble Jane and Finch
neighbourhood.
He and Maria, a bank quality-control analyst, have raised their family founded on education and athletics.
Oldest daughter Nastassia, 26, is a middle-school teacher and former
York University basketball player. Natasha, 21, had her athletic career
cut short because of a back injury and is a budding artist. Sons
Malcolm, 14, and Jordan, 12, play AAA bantam and pee-wee hockey for the
Toronto Marlboros, respectively.
"I believe introducing them to sport and giving them every opportunity
to succeed because I believe it gives young people confidence," Karl
Subban said. "When you accomplish something or do something well you
have people patting yourself on the back and that gives you a lot of
self esteem."
In P.K. Subban's rise to his hockey heights, he credits his parents for
the opportunity. He told his parents at a young age he wanted to be
like one of those hockey guys on television. So Karl had his first-born
son on outdoor rinks, teaching him the fundamentals of the game,
putting his kid through drills he learned from hockey school.
"My dad is a teacher, a principal," P.K. said. "Even though he didn't
have a hockey background, he studied it. A lot of the things he would
work on with me were drills he researched. It's just incredible the
amount of information he picked up on. My dad's a pretty knowledgeable
guy."
But Karl Subban said he was just copying what his hard-working father did for him.
"You are a function of your own environment," he said.
The enthusiastic P.K. was thrust into the spotlight in June, when the
Belleville Bulls blueliner was selected in the second round, 43rd
overall, of the NHL draft by Karl's beloved Canadiens, bringing the big
man to tears. It was a surprise because P.K. had been pegged middle- to
late-round selection.
The reason for P.K.'s sudden rise was because he rose to every challenge.
After his rookie OHL season in Belleville, adjusting to a new level and
league and a new town, there was little doubt that he was a budding
offensive defenceman. The jury of NHL scouts, however, was still
deliberating whether P.K. could become a suitable defender. Then, the
Bulls lost Matt Pelech to injury.
Belleville head coach George Burnett asked his offensive defenceman to
move to the top pairing and play against the other team's top scorers.
Subban silenced his critics. In the playoffs, he successfully marked
Ottawa 67's Jamie McGinn and his linemates. Subban shut down John
Tavares and the Oshawa Generals' top unit, as well as Nick Foligno and
the Wolves' best line in the OHL Eastern Conference final.
Burnett wasn't surprised.
"He's always responded to the opportunity," the coach said. "I know
there are some people who think it was a surprise that P.K. made this
team, but I also know the [Canadian junior] program well and they don't
name you to this team if they don't think you can get the job done.
There are no free rides."
The Subbans know that.
*****
2008 TOURNAMENT PRIMER
Who's up first? Canada will open the world junior hockey championship
today against a jacked-up home team, the Czech Republic. The Czechs
last struck gold in this tournament in 2001, when they successfully
defended their 2000 title.
On the ice Jonathan Bernier, who began the season with the Los Angeles
Kings, will start in goal for Canada. But Steve Mason could play
against Slovakia tomorrow. The forward lines in practice the past few
days were: Kyle Turris between Brad Marchand and Claude Giroux; Brandon
Sutter centred Wayne Simmonds and Stefan Legein; centre Steve Stamkos
with Matthew Halischuk and Shawn Matthias. The fourth line will consist
of Riley Holzapfel, Zach Boychuk and either Colton Gillies or John
Tavares. On the blueline, captain Karl Alzner has been nursing a back
injury. If he can play today, he'll be paired with Drew Doughty. If
not, Josh Godfrey will replace Alzner. The other two pairings are
Thomas Hickey beside Luke Schenn, and P.K. Subban with Logan Pyett.
On a roll Three-time defending champion Canada carries an 18-game win
streak into the 2008 tournament. The Canadian juniors haven't lost
since they were upended 4-3 in the 2004 final by the United States. The
speedy and skilled Canadians, once again, are considered a contender
for gold, along with the United States, Czech Republic and Russia.
* The Canadians are young and inexperienced, but speedy and can score.
As always, a lot will depend on goalies Jonathan Bernier and Steve
Mason. It helps that head coach Craig Hartsburg and his staff was in
place last year, when Canada was victorious in Leksand, Sweden.
* The Czech Republic did plenty for its confidence when it beat the
United States 5-2 in a pretournament game last weekend. Jakub Voracek,
a Columbus Blue Jackets prospect who plays for the Halifax Mooseheads,
is one of the top juniors playing in Canada.
* Canada has six junior-aged players in the NHL and unavailable for
this tournament, but the United States doesn't have the depth as its
neighbours to the north. Therefore, the loss of forwards Patrick Kane
(Chicago Blackhawks) and Peter Mueller (Phoenix Coyotes) hurts the 2007
bronze medalists more.
* Russia has lost to Canada in the past three world junior finals after
beating its rivals for the gold medal in 2002 and 2003. The Russians
were horrible against Canada in the eight-game summer Super Series, but
rebounded for two wins in a six-game series against all-star teams from
the QMJHL, OHL and WHL.
Tourney tidbits Brent Sutter and Clark Gillies played together on the
last two New York Islanders teams that won the Stanley Cup in 1981-82
and 1982-83. Sutter's son, Brandon, and Gilles's nephew, Colton, are
teammates on this year's Canadian junior team. ... Canada has won a
medal (three gold, four silver, two bronze) in each of the past nine
tournaments. ... Canada will play its round-robin games in Pardubice,
an industrial city 100 kilometres east of Prague and the hometown of
Detroit Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek and Edmonton Oilers winger
Ales Hemsky.
Tim Wharnsby
*****
FIVE TO WATCH
With the exception of Wayne Gretzky, Eric Lindros and Sidney Crosby,
not many 16- or 17-year-old Canadians have been go-to players at the
world junior hockey championship. Joe Thornton, Jason Spezza, Scott
Niedermayer and Paul Kariya were all used sparingly in their debuts.
That won't be the case for John Tavares and Steve Stamkos, both 17.
Here are five other teenagers to watch:
1. Kyle Turris, Canada
The Phoenix Coyotes' prospect, a forward with the University of
Wisconsin, was drafted third overall last year and will be Canada's
clutch performer.
2. Kyle Okposo, U.S.
The sophomore forward quit the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers
last week and will sign with the New York Islanders after the world
juniors.
3. Michal Neuvirth,
Czech Republic
The Windsor Spitfires' goalie took the Plymouth Whalers to the Memorial Cup last season and will have the home crowd behind him.
4. Alexei Cherepanov, Russia
The forward dropped all the way to 17th in the 2007 NHL entry draft
because of his inconsistency. Which Cherepanov will show up in the
world juniors?
5. Riku Helenius, Finland
The Seattle Thunderbirds' goalie could be next in the line of strong
Finnish netminding talent that has invaded the NHL in recent seasons.
Tim Wharnsby
*****
GOLD, SILVER, BRONZE
The top three finishers at the world junior hockey championship (since 1993): 2007 Canada, Russia, U.S.
2006 Canada, Russia, Finland.
2005 Canada, Russia, Czech
Republic.
2004 U.S., Canada, Finland.
2003 Russia, Canada, Finland.
2002 Russia, Canada, Finland.
2001 Czech Republic, Finland, Canada.
2000 Czech Republic, Russia, Canada.
1999 Russia, Canada, Slovakia.
1998 Finland, Russia, Switzerland.
1997 Canada, U.S., Russia.
1996 Canada, Sweden, Russia.
1995 Canada, Russia, Sweden.
1994 Canada, Sweden, Russia.
1993 Canada, Sweden,
Czech Republic-Slovakia.
