When I learned around 3pm yesterday that I had a ticket to see the Flyers final game before the All Star break against the Canadiens, I knew their was only one player that I wanted to watch, P.K. Subban. Even thought this youngster was playing in only his 60th NHL game, 46 regular season and 14 playoff games, he is already a common name to NHL fans. He started to build a buzz last year when he was called up for game six against the Capitals in the first round of the playoffs. He registered a point in his first playoff game, which was only his third NHL game. He went on to tally eight points in the playoffs, including three in Montreal's only win in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Flyers. So far this season he has 19 points in 44 games, but he has earned a reputation for being a little to cocky for a kid that has yet to prove himself in the NHL.
Subban came into last nights game on a decent run, he had scored eight points in his last 11 games rebounding from a 12 games stretch where he only had two points. The first thing that I noticed was the the fans at the Wells Fargo Center thought Subban was worth booing every time he touched the puck. I am sure this stems from the verbal "threats" that Mike Richards lobbed at him through the media earlier in the year, but I didn't think Subban was worth the energy to boo all night long. There was also a brief "Subban Sucks" chant late in the third period that got the crowd excited.
I have tuned into a few Canadiens' games on TV this year specifically to watch Subban, and a lot of nights I have been impressed with his speed and puck handling skills on end-to-end rushes as well as his willingness to throw a big check when the opportunity presented itself. This was the first game that I was able to see Subban in person, and I don't recall a single thing Subban did all night that impressed me. He threw a few small checks throughout the game, but none of them were anything unexpected our game changing. He also showed off his heavy slap shot a couple of times during the game, ringing one off the short side goal post on a rush in the 1st period, but it pales in comparison to players like Chris Pronger. The rest of his game was abysmal. He seemed to lose every puck battle along the boards, every time he choose to pinch in from the point the puck ended up behind him, on multiple occasions he was unable to keep the puck in at the blue line on plays that were not easy but expected of an NHLer, and he took a dumb penalty when his team was already down two men (the Flyers scored twice while Subban sat in the box). For the third Flyers' goal, P.K. found himself one-on-one in front of the net with Daniel Carcillo when Pringer fired a shot from the point. The puck did take a strange bounce and landed perfectly for Carcillo, but Subban failed in all aspects of a defenseman on this play. He failed to take the body successfully, he failed to tie up the player successfully, and he ended up with his back to the puck and the player as the puck went into the net.
There was a point in the 2nd period when the Flyers had an amazing shift that kept the Canadiens hemmed into their zone for what seemed like 3 minutes, I am sure it was only about half that time but it felt like an eternity. Guess which Canadiens' defenseman was on the ice... P.K. Subban. I counted at least three times during that shift where Subban had the puck on his stick and was unable to clear the puck or get it cleanly to a teammate. I was sure that he would be benched for his poor play after this shift, but the Canadiens' coaching staff put him directly back on the ice when the Flyers were whistled for a penalty a short time later.
Finally, Subban proved once again that he has a big mouth but no balls (or teammates) to back it up. On multiple occasions he found himself in a scrum and did nothing to defend himself or act aggressively beyond opening his mouth. Carcillo was given a 10 minute misconduct for punching Subban in the chest after Subban aggressively approached Carcillo in the aftermath of a scrum along the boards that involved Carcillo, Pronger, Benoit Pouliot (who started the scrum by taking runs at Pronger and Carcillo) and others. Maybe he is trying to agitate like Sean Avery and get under the skin of the opposition to get them off their game, maybe he is just a cocky rookie that has bought into the media hype, or maybe this is how he gets his edge and plays his best hockey. At this time I can't say.
Most night P.K. Subban shows me something good and bad, but tonight it was was just a bad night for Subban. Nothing seemed to go his way tonight, but that is part of growing in the NHL. I look forward to watching the VS feed tomorrow to see if my observations from the rink will stand up once I get to see certain plays from new angles. I would love to hear what you guys think of Subban and his game last night.
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