In June 2016, my beloved Montréal Canadiens made a controversial decision to trade its superstar defenceman/humanitarian P.K. Subban, despite his giving back so much to the city of Montréal. It was an unpopular decision among many fans, myself included, inspiring memories of the infamous (and near-fatal) decision to trade Patrick Roy in December 1995. Many fans lost their minds, and there were many articles about it written,
including one on AllHabs.net for which the author reached out to fans via Twitter and I was quoted as saying, "it's easy to think about the players, but these trades speak more about management. We fans will talk about this trade for years and years, it is how most will gauge (Marc Bergevin) as a success or failure."
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| First stop in Montréal |
That next month (about 2-3 weeks later), I visited Montréal for my first time ever. Old news in the hockey world often lingers in Montréal, so it was still very fresh in the minds of fans and residents. It put a black eye on the trip for me since I am a huge fan of Subban, and visiting the P.K. Subban Atrium at Montréal Children's Hospital was on my must-see list for the visit. On the plus side, Tricolore Sports (their team shop in the Bell Centre) still had Subban's merchandise priced at 50% off when I arrived, so I bought a Subban 76 shirt for 7.50$ (CND). More importantly, The Trade itself did nothing to sour my overall enjoyment, and even while I was there, the team announced an affiliation with a new minor league team in Laval (replacing the displaced St. Johns Ice Caps team playing in Newfoundland), so I witnessed the news shift away from The Trade to something more positive. I even got a first-hand dose of the infamous Canadian humour as the going joke was that, after allowing for traffic, the commute to games in Laval would be about the same as that to St. Johns.
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| December 4th in Los Angeles |
Fast forward to Sunday, December 4, 2016, it was the 107th birthday/anniversary of the Montréal Canadiens organization, and they were visiting LA during the 50th anniversary season of the LA Kings. I found the lure of tickets irresistible, so I drove out at 4:30 a.m. to arrive about three hours before game time. The news of "The Trade" was mostly a footnote on a successful season. Montréal Canadiens had another strong start, going 9-0-1, thanks in large part to the strong play of newcomers Alex Radulov, Andrew Shaw and (lo & behold) Shea Weber himself. Shortly after parking at the STAPLES Center, I came across Marc Bergevin (General Manager) with a small entourage. I asked the guys in the back if he would mind my asking for a photo op, and they assured me that he had been stopping for others, so he probably would unless they were too tight on time. Therefore, I got a quick picture taken with the man responsible for "The Trade."
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| December 10th in Arizona |
The next weekend, my mom was visiting from Tulsa. She wanted to go to an outlet mall, so we went to Tanger Outlets at Westgate Entertainment District (which includes Gila River Arena, where the Arizona Coyotes play). While she was shopping, I decided to visit the team shop inside the arena, and I heard the clerks say that they were closing at 3 p.m. I asked whether there was a game that night and immediately remembered that they were against the Nashville Predators, the new team of P.K. Subban. Coincidentally, I had chosen to wear my Subban 76 shirt for this shopping expedition, not remembering that he would in town. After I left the team shop, I saw where a small crowd of autograph hounds were stalking the Predators, laying in wait. I myself waited in the background to see whether my mom would text me that she was done shopping first or if Subban would exit the arena after morning skate. As evident by the second picture, it was the latter!
In the span of one week, I had gotten pictures taken with the key players in "The Trade," which many analysts are calling a win/win as both teams have seemingly improved, and both players are now in organizations that utilize their talents best.
