Known for his eccentric personality on and off the ice, former NHL All-Star PK Subban has never been shy about standing out and defying the limitations of a hockey player.
And back in 2014, in the prime of his professional career, Subban got the call every Canadian player dreams of: the opportunity to represent Canada at the Olympics.
But the chance to win gold while donning the maple leaf came with an unexpected set of rules.
“When I made the Olympic team, I was told that I couldn’t celebrate if I scored a goal,” Subban explains in a CBC Gem documentary series called Black Life: Untold Stories. “That wasn’t the way that Canadians were supposed to conduct themselves.”
CBCGEM- In the NHL, P.K. Subban was blasted for his showy style on the ice, and told that he couldn't celebrate scoring goals if he was going to play for Team Canada.
A lifelong Canadian, P.K. was told "it wasn't how Canadians were supposed to conduct themselves."
Black Life:… pic.twitter.com/zeVnaNSqMS
— P.K. Subban (@PKSubban1) December 8, 2023
“Can someone show me the image of how a Canadian is supposed to act?” he asks rhetorically in a clip from the CBC doc shared to his personal X account.
Subban said experiences like that, along with countless others, helped him better understand the many ways in which Black athletes have been treated differently in Canada.
“When I think of all the other athletes throughout Canadian history, Black athletes that have excelled at a high level, I understand exactly what they’re going through,” the 34-year-old hockey analyst and philanthropist said.
He also detailed how the moment coincided with the peak of his playing career.
“You could argue that playing for Canada at the Olympics, in hockey, is the highest level of athletics you can reach as a Canadian,” Subban explained. “And that’s how I’m getting treated the year I’m winning a Norris Trophy as the best defenceman in the NHL.”
Throughout the sixth episode of the eight-part series, Subban shared multiple anecdotes about racism in hockey, including an ECHL incident from 2022 that saw his youngest brother Jordan fall victim to racist gestures from an opponent.
They don’t call the east coast league the jungle because my brother and the other black players are the monkeys! Hey @jacobpanetta you shouldn’t be so quick delete your Twitter or your Instagram account you will probably be able to play again… that’s what history says but things pic.twitter.com/8zOJ9q47pk
— P.K. Subban (@PKSubban1) January 23, 2022
“No one really wants to deal with racism,” he says during the episode’s opening. “Let’s be honest, it’s an uncomfortable thing to talk about.”
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