The Daily Show: Ears Edition - From the Archives: P.K. Subban - January 24, 2018

Episode Date: May 23, 2018

Pro hockey star P.K. Subban discusses his path from immigrant's son to captain of an NHL All-Star team and how a close friendship inspired a $10 million charitable gift. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. John Stewart here. Unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show. We're going to be talking about the election, economics, ingredient to bread ratio, on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. My guest tonight is a defensive man for the Nashville Predators

and the 2018 NHL All-Star Captain. Please welcome P.K. Subah! Welcome to the show. Oh, man, New York. Back in New York. This is so good, man. So good to have you.

Like, you know, like, like, sports stars always have like, like, thanks, the show. Oh man, New York. This is so good, man, so good to have you. Like, you know, like sports stars always have like such a crazy schedule. It's so hard to get you on the show. Thank you for being here. You're a superstar and congratulations. Selected for the All-Star game again. Thank you. thanks, to be an all-star again. You have such a wild story I mean I know I didn't know much about your story before you

know you were coming on the show I knew about you as a player but your story is one that really excites me you got into hockey in Canada in Montreal but someone likes hockey or Canada or both. But what was really amazing to me is that your dad gets you into the game and you come from a Jamaican family. And for me, like Jamaica and ice hockey, no, they don't mix. No. Like why would your dad go like hockey? You know what? It's a good question because, you know, my dad moved from Jamaica when he was 12 years old.

And that's where he grew up to, he's 12 moved to Sudbury, Ontario, where he learned about the Sudbury Wolves, and he grew up in a French neighborhood. That's why me going to the Montreal Canadians was such a big thing in my family because my dad grew up in a French neighborhood and that's where he learned about hockey for the first time he snow, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. So, th. So, th. So, th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. And, th, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, the, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, the, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the, theeeee. And, theeeean, theeeeeeeeee. And, theeeee. And, the. And, the. And, that was the first time he saw snow, you know, 12 years old. So growing up in Sudbury, you know, watching the Montreal Canadians, everybody was French, so he saw the kids playing in the neighborhood and that's when he started to watch hockey and used to watch the Sudbury Wolves play. Right, and you went on to play for the Montreal Canadians, which is not a very creative name, but, I mean it's very literal. And you didn't just go on to play for them, man.

They love you out there so much. I mean, you played for the team, you love the team. Was that probably your biggest life ambition? Oh, man, just, you know, it was a dream as a kid, you know, you wanted to play and hockey and it wasn't really until later on in my life where I knew it could be really a job. I just wanted to be like the guys on TV. Right. And whether it was playing in the backyard and every, I got to give my, I have the best parents in the world.

You know, my dad putting in backyard rinks, you know, every year. And I give them credit for that because my mom used to give the, theyrills, the, I, I, to, to, the, the, to, the, to, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, they. And, they. And whether, whether, whether, whether, whether, whether, whether, whether, whether, whether, whether, whether, whether, whether, whether, whether, whether, whether, whether, whether, they. And, and they. And, whether, the, and the, and the, and the, and, and the, and, and the, and, and, and, and the, and the, and the, and they... And, and they. And, and they. And, I. And, I. And, I's, I's, I's, I'm, I'm they. And, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, they. And, I'm they. And, whether, whether, they. And, they. crap all the time because the hydro bills would be so high for all the water that he'd be using to make the backyard rinks, but he stuck to the plan and both of my parents together did, made so many sacrifices just to give me the opportunity to play hockey and never once did they ever mention the NHL, you know, for any of us, all three of us. It just so happened that they gave us the opportunity to play, the opportunity, the opportunity, the opportunity, the opportunity, the opportunity, the opportunity, their, their, their, their, their, th, thap, th. And, th. And, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, and both, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, and, their, and, and, their, tho, their, their, throwne, their, throwne, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, and some.a, and some. And, and some better and then it became an opportunity to make it a living and we just chased our dreams and now you know myself and Malcolm are playing the NHL and we're working on getting Jordan there hopefully soon. That's amazing yourself and your brothers all playing the same sport all at a high level. I think what touches me about your story is not just that you're successful it in many ways you mimic what your dad did for you and it was selfless. You donated $10 million to a children's hospital. Did you like add a zero by mistake?

I've done that. Because I've done, you can tell me. You know, I get that question a lot. You know, I get that question a lot because it's one thing to donate and give back. It's another reason of to think another way way to look at it is why $10 million? And I think it comes down to everybody has their own personal life experiences. You know, I went to Haiti with World Vision a year after

when I was, I would have been 19 years old, 20 years old at the time. But I had an opportunity to go with World Vision at the ti., and I.. tip. tip. tip. tode, tode, tode, tode, and I, toe, and I, and I, and I, and I, th. the, the, the, and I, I, and I was, I was, and I was, I was, I was, I was, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, to, to, to, to, to, to, I was, th, I was, I was, I was, th, th. And, th. And, to, to, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, thi, thi, thi, thi, I'm not Haitian, but I had an opportunity to go with World Vision at the time and I went for three days and it was a life-changing experience for me, but that wasn't it. I came back and I got to know a little boy named Alex Shapiro through my old minor hockey coach and still close friend and family friend Martin Ross and he coached him and got to know Alex very, very closely in his parents and his family and was actually in toucest with him until literally his last moments before he passed away. And you know, for me, that made me want to give back in a different way and really have a significant impact and not just give back, you know, where everyone could say, wow, that's great, but give back where I could actually make a difference.

And when I was presented the opportunity to do something like this with the $10 million donation and to the hospital Montreal I didn't even think twice about it. They came down the 401 to my house in Nobleton, Ontario and they presented it to me and I signed the papers right there and it was the perfect situation for me and to this point we've helped over probably 10,000 th.... th. th. th. th. th. th. I. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thoe. thoe. thoe. the. the. tho. tho. thoe. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, the, th. And, the the the the th. And, the th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, to, to, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the. to the. And, the. And, the for me and to this point we've helped over probably 10,000 families and raised millions of dollars so I'm very very happy about that. That's a phenomenal story. You not only have love for Montreal but you went through a trying time where you were unexpectedly traded from Montreal through to Nashville, to the Nashville Predators.

And Montreal was your love. Montreal still is your heart. And you moved on to Nashville, and you always promised the people of Montreal that you would take the team to the Stanley Cup. And then after you were traded, you then took the Nashville Predators, and you're part of the team that went to being? The bitter part about it is that we we didn't win.

You know it was it was a tremendous experience and I have to speak about my teammates because you know I wouldn't have an opportunity to be in this position and to be an all-star without them and they've worked, I've never played with a greater group of guys and we have right now in that locker room and I've never wanted to win so badly in my career because I think that everybody in that locker room deserves it but they've given me every opportunity to to to to be that that that the opportunity that opportunity that opportunity that opportunity that opportunity that opportunity the opportunity to be the opportunity that opportunity to be the opportunity. the opportunity. to be the opportunity. their to be their their their their their their their their their their their. to be to be to be to be to be to be th. their. their. their. I'm, their. their. their. their. their. their. that everybody in that locker room deserves it but they've they've given me every opportunity to be successful but we've given each other that opportunity and I think that's why we ended up in the cup final last year but what sucked about it was yeah we didn't win and I didn't get an opportunity that's all I could think about right was when we

got to that conference and we won the Western Conference finals I'm like man I'm like man that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi thi thi thin thin thi thi thi thi thi thi thi that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's th. that's th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi have a chance to bring a cutback to that hospital right right and those kids and you know because I remember their faces and how upset they were when I was traded and I'm like man I got an opportunity to bring that cut back that's gonna be awesome and then we lost and you know it sucked but we have an opportunity to do it this year so you yeah you have you have many opportunities and it's not just in the field of sport. I think what's really, I think, inspiring about your story is how you find opportunities to help others because it's not just the kids in Montreal. Tell us a little bit about the program that you started in Nashville where you get

policemen to hang out and spend time with young previously disadvantaged or disadvantaged youths? You know what, and it's so important. One of my best friends is a cop and was actually just recently retired. Chris O'Sullivan was a cop in Boston. And, you know, Chris has come from a family of 12 brothers and sisters, used to play professional hockey, but has become one of my closest friends over the years. And we know how much there's been talk about in sports, especially with police officers and players have chosen

to deal with it differently. I think that I was faced with a lot of questions coming out of training camp. And, you know, for me, I always look at everything, can I make this a positive situation? And I looked at it and I remember us having a meeting as a team before the season started talking about you know how we were going to handle it and I you know I remember being up front I said listen guys I want to attack this in a way that is positive for the team and for the community and listen also my best friend had an influence on me as

well and you know what he's done for so many people and his friends have done. And I know that in the community of Nashville, I wasn't going to have the opportunity maybe to donate $10 million to him again. Maybe do something that was just impactful in a different way in a different way. And starting this program has been amazing. It's had the same impact that my foundation know, what my foundation has had in Montreal in a little

bit of a different way and the kids, I mean, I wish you could be there to see the look on the kids' faces when it's their first time going to a hockey game. Their first time pretty much doing anything that really they can think of in a positive way. And to have police officers there, to do it with them, to have, the police, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, and their, and their, I, and their, and I's, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I's, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I. And, I's, I's, I's, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, toe. And, I'm toe. And, I'm toe. And, I'm toe. And, I'm toe. And, I'm who meet up with the police officer, they come to the game, you get them tickets, you buy them dinner, they hang out together. I would like to understand why you thought that that would be something you'd want to do. Everyone tackles it in a different way, but why that? Why the kids with the police officers? Well, first of all? I think, I think, I think, I th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, thi, thi, I thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, you thi, you thi, you thi, you thi, you thi, you thi, you thi, you thi, you thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thi. thin, thi. thi. thi, thi, thi, thi, friends that work in law enforcement. And I think that we need to celebrate the good that they do as well. And I think that the children for these kids that are underprivileged that don't get an opportunity to go to a game, you know, why not? I know that I have the opportunity to purchase four tickets to a home game,

41 times. Who sits in those those thoes, thoes, thi and who sits, thi, thi, thi, thi, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, is. their, is. their, is. their, is. their, their, today, the thea, thea, thea, their, their, their, the children, their, their, their, is. those seats, that's up to me. And I chose to have two underprivileged children that don't have the opportunity and two police officers that have the opportunity now to mingle with underprivileged kids who maybe have only ever seen cops in a bad light. But now, they're at a pretiege game, which they've never been to. They get to eatron. They don't sponsor me but I know that's where they get the food. They get some great dinner and they get to meet the players after the game and they get to meet me. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but they get to meet me and it's celebratory. And I think the biggest thing that I've taken from this program so far was an email that I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got I got from I got from I got from I got from I got from I got from I got from I got from I got from I got from from I got from I got from one the to the the the the the the the the the the the the that I got from the the the the the the the the the the the that I got that I got that I got that I got that I got that I got that I got from I got from I got from I got from I got from I got from from from I got from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from I got I got I got from the the the the the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to the the to the the the the the the the the the it upon himself to stay in touc with the child after the game.

He said, I'm going to stay in toucest with this kid, we're going to go to many more games, because I got season tickets and so on and so forth. We have the email and it was one of the best things. It was the best feeling that I've ever had since the program started, because that's what this program is done. You're an amazing man, man. Thank you so much for being on the show. Good luck in the All-Star Game. Good luck for the next Stanley Cup. NHO All-Star Weekend is in Tampa, and the All-Star Game airs,

the All-Star Game is January, P. K. K. Serven, everybody. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show. Dotcom and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content and more. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. Hey everybody, John Stewart here.

I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast.