Predators welcome Subban back to Nashville with open arms

NASHVILLE -- Stylishly attired in a Stetson hat, tassled leather coat, and black pants and shirt, P.K. Subban waved to the standing ovation during a pregame ceremony at Bridgestone Arena.

The Nashville Predators honored the former NHL defenseman on Monday, celebrating his accomplishments on and off the ice during the three seasons (2016-19) he spent in Nashville.
Subban retired last September after 13 seasons in the NHL.

The 33 year-old is most often associated with the Montreal Canadiens, where he spent the first seven years of his career and won the Norris Trophy in 2013. But Subban said many of his favorite moments occurred during his tenure with the Predators.
He was an integral part of the Predators' 2016-17 Stanley Cup Final run, Nashville's 2017-18 Presidents' Trophy and back-to-back Central Division titles. He had 130 points (35 goals, 95 assists) in 211 regular-season games played with Nashville and 24 points (seven goals, 17 assists) in 41 Stanley Cup Playoff games before he was traded to the New Jersey Devils in 2019.
"I believe that some of the best years and most enjoyed years were here in Nashville for me, no doubt," Subban said. "When you look at my playing career, I had some really good years here, some playoff runs. And a lot of how I evaluate my career is in the postseason.

"So what I take from my time in Nashville above everything else, whether it be everyone in the front office, how they've treated me, treated my family... is my teammates. I'm still very close with a lot of these guys and in a lot of ways, these are my favorite group of guys that I played with. So it's a special night to come back."
Part of Subban's day was spent visiting the United by Hockey Mobile Museum, which celebrates hockey's trailblazers, changemakers and business leaders spanning multiple underrepresented and multicultural demographics.

Part of the NHL's Hockey Is For Everyone initiative, the mobile exhibit made its debut last week at the NHL All-Star Beach Festival.
"Well, history is knowledge, right?" Subban said. "So just the more you know about the game... I just think it also shows you how far the game has come, too.
"We have to know the strides we've made, the opportunities that have been created and the people that have benefited. So I think it's great. We just have to continue to open those doors. And continue to have people educate themselves, and I think this is another tool to do that."
Subban has stayed busy since his retirement. In November, ESPN hired him as an analyst.
"I wasn't really sure what I was going to do," Subban said. "I didn't have a plan or anything like that. I was preparing to play another year. When that didn't materialize, the opportunity with ESPN was something that garnered more interest as time went on. It's been great for me so far, being able to still be a part of the game and have an impact on the game."

Subban said he was pleased that one of his most important Nashville off-ice initiatives, Blueline Buddies, remains active and impactful long after he departed, carried on by team members and the organization.
The program unites local youth and law enforcement at Predators games, bringing together a member of the Metro Nashville Police Department with a big and little from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee.
"I didn't really have a chance to talk about that fully when I got traded and I left," Subban said. "But it meant so much to me to see the players embrace that program. Not because it was my program. I never looked at it as my program because it takes everyone to make that program work. It just seemed like the players just said, 'We're in. We love the program.'"