In a press release put out by the Devils today, PK Subban has announced that his “Blueline Buddies” program will be coming with him to Newark.
PK started the program in Nashville while he was with the Predators and will continue it in New Jersey with the Devils. He had previously mentioned this in a preseason fan event.
The program brings four guests hosted by Subban to the Prudential Center to each Devils home game. The four guests consist of “two police officers from the precincts throughout Newark, and two youth from the Newark community.” They will then be treated “to dinner provided on behalf of Prudential Center’s concessionaire partner, Legends.” They will also “enjoy the game in great seats” and meet Subban both before the game and after it. Also, every attendee “of the program will receive a custom, one-of-a-kind Blueline Buddies t-shirt” courtesy of Adidas – with whom Subban works very closely as a spokesperson.
According to the press release, the program begins tonight with the home game against the Arizona Coyotes.
Furthermore, the press release states that later this year, “the Devils Grassroots department will host a charity hockey game with law enforcement, where proceeds will go back to the program.”
The press release says that the idea for the program, which Subban started in Nashville in cooperation with the Metro Nashville Police Department, came to him while watching the news. He felt that he wanted to do his part “to try and make a difference.” He began the program to bring together members of the Nashville police force “with a mentor or representative from a local organization and an underprivileged youth.”
Subban was quoted in the press release as saying: “I think it’s important for athletes to set a tone in a way that we’re looking to build bridges. That doesn’t take away from anybody’s right to do what they want to do or how they want to exercise their rights as an American citizen, but I think it’s really important for us to be role models in terms of building bridges and being a part of the solution to social issues and different things that go on in our community.”
The release mentioned that one of Subban’s best friends is a police officer and that the goal of the program is to build a rapport between youth and law enforcement.
Subban mentioned that “our law enforcement, these are people that leave their houses and may not come back at the end of the night. That’s the job that they have, so to make them feel good, and to also be able to help underprivileged youth that don’t get an opportunity like everyone else, that come from broken homes, it’s win-win.”