This is not an article about the PK Subban trade. At this point that topic has been talked about at length. There are people on the Shea Weber side and people on the PK side and, really, only time will tell.

Instead, this is an homage. This is a thank you. This is a farewell. This is a goodbye.

So what is it about Pernell Karl Subban? There have been favourite players before. I remember Patrick Roy being traded and vowed I was done with the Habs. There was Saku, Alex, Kirk, Pierre and even Jaro. Favourite players have come and gone. After a day, a week, a month, I was always able to move on. To get excited. To revive my love for the CH. But this time it is different. There was something about PK. Maybe in an age of over-priced, over-hyped often, over-everything professional athletes, I began to realize that pro sports is a business. Charles Barkley famously said “I am not a role model”. It is true, sports athletes have become these larger than life figures. They make more money in one season than most of us will make in a lifetime. So what is it about PK? What made him different?

PK Subban is a great hockey player. There have been great hockey players before. For me, however, PK was a breath of fresh air. Yes, he falls under the same stereotypes as many athletes. He will get paid more money this season than I will in my lifetime. I will not see him hanging out at my local restaurant. But there is something about PK. He played the game we all grew up loving. A game most of us would give up a million things to play. He plays this game with joy. He plays this game with passion. It’s as if they allowed a seven-year-old child to put on a NHL jersey and play for the Canadiens. In a sport full of clichés and rehearsed answers, PK Subban is a breath of fresh air. He is us. After all, how dare PK enjoy the game that he gets paid a ridiculous amount of money to play?

There are so many great memories of PK. His mutual love with Elise Beliveau. His “Bonjour Montréal” during a post game interview. The time he sported the Jagr wig and jersey during the all-star game and his triple low five with Carey after the game. PK understood that getting paid to do something you love is a blessing many are not afforded. PK was just being PK. Yes he was outlandish in Montreal, but it wasn’t to make others look bad or to show up his opponent. It was because that is who PK Subban is. If he was working at a store or delivering pizza, you can imagine that he would do it in the same way. The same love of life.

His contributions off the ice are probably more important than on the ice. The videos of him showing up at kids’ hockey games, his work with Hyundai and Scotia to help less fortunate kids play hockey, and of course, the 10-million dollar commitment to the Children’s Hospital. PK showed that there was more to life than just hockey. More to an athlete than just what happens on the ice. He embraced the city that many, many free agents ran away from every July 1st.

When he was traded it would have been an easy out to walk away from the hospital, the city, the kids. He didn’t owe Montreal anything, he no longer plays here. But immediately after the trade he let the kids know that PK was leaving the Canadiens, but they would still see his face at the Children’s Hospital. He made a commitment and it was one he would live up to.

PK went through a lot during his stay in Montreal. He had a tumultuous relationship with the coach and general manager. There were the racist comments after a game in Boston, the constant boos from opposing rinks, the Olympic snub and a losing season that ended up with him being traded. PK never complained. He never whined. He never asked for a trade, nor did he ever throw anyone under the bus. PK Subban went about his job. He said and did the right things.

You can dislike PK Subban the hockey player. He, like any all-star player, is open to boos from visiting fans. But if you are not a fan of PK the person than you should probably re-evaluate. PK Subban brings a joy to the rink. He’s a hockey player that understands that little kids look up to him. He understands and donates his time to people who did not have the great luck in life that he does. PK Subban is a role model in a sports world that does not have many left.

So long PK. I will miss the 76 jersey bringing the fans to their feet with a blast from the point. I will miss your bromance with Andrei Markov. I will miss your giant smile after each Habs win. I realized this week that I will get over the PK trade, just as I have done the others. The difference this time is I will get over the PK trade because I have to, not because I want to.