The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - P.K. Subban's Journey from Homemade Ice Rinks to Becoming an NHL All-Star

Episode Date: April 17, 2019

Pro hockey player P.K. Subban describes how his father sparked his passion for hockey and explains why he donated $10 million to a children's hospital. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast. The Weekly Show is going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday we're going to be talking about. All the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about

ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. Please welcome P.K. Superad! Thank you. Welcome to 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. This is so good man. So good to have you like you know like like sport 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 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm thea. to be able to represent the city of Nashville again and I'm just I'm pumped man. I'm pumped to be an all star again. You're ex. You have such a wild story. I'm to to be to be to be to be to be to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th th. t. t. tree. te tree. te te tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. the the the the the the the of Nashville again and I'm just I'm pumped man I'm pumped to be an all-star again. You 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 when he was 12, the twelve moved to Sudbury Ontario where to to to to to to to to to to to to to that's where he grew up till 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 and that's where he learned about hockey for the first time. And that was the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first t 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, it's not a very creative name, but, I mean, it's very literal. And you didn't just th just thuuuuuuuuu very thi thi thi very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very literal, th. thi. thiolate, thi. thi. It's very very, it's very literal, th. It's very literal, thi. It's very literal, thi. It's very literal, th th their, their, their, their, their. It's, their. It's, their. It's, their. It's very their. It's very, their. It's very, thi. It's very literal, it's very literal. It's very literal. It's very literal. It's very literal. It's very literal. It's very literal, it's very literal, it's very literal, it's very literal, it's very literal, it's very literal, thi. It's very literal, very literal, very literal, very literal, very literal, to, to, very literal, very literal, very literal, very literal, very literal, very literal, very literal, very literal, very literal. And, very literal. And, it's very literal. And, it's very literal. And, 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 loved 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 at hockey. And it wasn't really until later on in my life where I knew it could it could it could it could it could I it could I th and I th and I thinin, I th and I the thin, I th.

life where I knew it could be really a job. I just wanted to be like the guys on TV, you know, 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 and I give him credit for that because my mom used to the crap all the time because the hydro bills would be so the, you know, 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, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I got, I'm, I'm, I'm, I have, I have, I have, I have, I have, I have, I have, I have, I have, I have, I have, I have, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I I I, I I I I I I I I, I I, I I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, I've, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm 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 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 make it a living and we just chased our dreams and now, you know, myself and Malcolm are playing in 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's that in many ways you mimic what your dad did for you and it was selfless. 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 because it's one thing to donate and give back. It's another reason of to think another way to look at it is why 10 million dollars you know and I think it comes down to everybody has their own personal life experiences you know 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 and I'm not from Haiti 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 to a to a to a to a to a to... to. to. to. to. to. the to. the the 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 and his parents and his family and was actually in touch 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 in 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 families and raised millions of dollars. So I'm very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very I I I I I I th. I th. I th. I was I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I'm thoen I'm thoe thoen. I was thi. thoe. thoeouiooing thoing thoing thoe. I was thoe. I was tho. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I'm thi. thi. thi. the. the. the. the. the. toe. toean. toean. toeiiiii. I'm toe. the. thean. I'm the. I'm the. 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 alwaysto 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 the most bittersweet moments you experienced as a human being? The bitter part about it is that we didn't win.

I mean, wow. You know, 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 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 their the locker room. But 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. Right. Was when I got to that conference and we won, 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 cutback, that's going to 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, it's not just, the to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to be, the, to, to, to, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the, the, the, the, not just in the field of sports. 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'Solvon 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 on how can I make this a positive situation. And I looked at it, and I remember us having a meeting as a team, tie, thea, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the to, the to, the the to, to, the the the the the the toe, the the the the the the the the, the, the, the, the the the, thi, thi, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, and, the, the, and, the, the, the, the, the, the, and, the, and, and, the, and, the, the, and, and, the the, and, their, toe, toe, toe.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e. And, toe. And, toe. And, toe. And, toe. And, toe. And 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 my best friend had an influence on me as well and you know I 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, but maybe do something that was just impactful in a different way. And starting this program has been, it's been amazing. It's had the same impact that 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.

their their thii. It's 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 that I have, like 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 seats, that's up to me. And I chose to have to have two two under two under two under their their their 2 2 2 2 2 2 under to have the 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 right.

But now they're at a preds game which they've never been to. They get to eat some great food, right, in the Patron lounge. That's a shout out to Patron. They don't sot all 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 from one of the officers who touch with the child after the game. And said, I'm going to stay in touc 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 it's all about. You're an amazing man, man. Thank you so much for being on the story. Good luck for the next Stanley Cup. NHO All-Star Weekend is in Tampa, and the All-Star Game airs January 28th on NBC. Pique Serbant everybody. Show with Cover Noa, 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. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more.

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