It is almost NHL Awards season and the Devils have made their choice for nominee for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy.
According to Catherine Bogart of the “Inside the Devils Blog” on the Devils’ official app, that nominee is PK Subban.
The trophy goes annually “to the NHL player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice, and who has made a significant humanitarian contribution to his community.”
The Devils defenseman has been very philanthropic throughout his career. From his work with the Montreal Children’s Hospital to founding the PK Subban Foundation in 2014 while with the Canadiens to the Blueline Buddy program started when he was with the Nashville Predators. As Bogart put it: “throughout his 12 seasons in the NHL, he has worked in the greater Newark, Montreal and Nashville communities.”
He brought the Blueline Buddies – a program designed to bring kids from the inner city and pair them with a community police officer to help foster trust and communication between the police and kids who may not be in a position to trust them – to Newark when he became a member of the Devils in 2019.
He worked with the program digitally this year, as in-person hosting was not an option. He virtually held video conference meetings with the Blueline Buddies program members as well as “members of the medical community, front-line workers and those who have served their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
As Bogart mentioned, he “also works to grow the sport of hockey as a role model for others.”
Subban said: “It’s about having an influence on kids who look like me coming up through the sport. Giving them that hope, in seeing where I’ve come from and where I am today. I feel I have the power to change lives through the sport and connect with people through this program and beyond. That’s really important to me especially given the current climate.”
Congratulations to PK Subban on this honor. The NHL Awards show will take place in June.