Hostages and the Blackhawks

Tommie Lee
Aug 15, 2014
3 min read

Like many hockey fans, I was following the negotiation…and eventual arbitration…between Defenseman P.K. Subban and the Montreal Canadiens last week.

My friend Albert Berkshire, a fellow writer and puck nut who lives in British Columbia, sent me an email when the arbitration part began between the Habs and their veteran Norris Trophy winner:

“My guess is $7.9M,” Albert told me. “The Habs are a very rich club.”

Yes they are. Or, were. Subban got paid. Paid well. Paid more than Albert and I guessed he would. He got $72 million for the next eight years. In a world where athletes can ladle up that kind of gravy, he deserves it. Every bit as much as Jonathon Toews and Patrick Kane deserved their own nice fat paydays

In all three cases, the players in question had the leverage.

All of it, really.

Their teams were hostages. We’re talking about the Blackhawks and Canadiens, two teams that were a heartbeat and a few lucky breaks away from facing each other for the Stanley Cup. If Subbs had been shown the gate because he was going to be too pricey, the fans might have burned Montreal to the ground. Which would be a shame, because it’s a beautiful city.

Captain Tazer and Kane had the same situation in Chicago. There wasn’t a single Blackhawks fan anywhere who even doubted for a second that they would both get locked down with fresh ink. Somehow, some way, the deals were going to get done for the nucleus of the Chicago Blackhawks. The team was a hostage. A hostage with fans suffering from a remarkable case of Stockholm Syndrome.

I’m not knocking Subban when I get to this next point…I don’t know the guy that well. I don’t follow the East as much as I really should, admittedly. He seems like a good guy. There was the potential for hurt feelings on both sides, and instead everyone seems happy in the halls of les habitants. The word “arbitration” got thrown around, and everyone kept their wits about them and got up from the table with respect. I like that.

The potential for disaster was there, however. And it should remind all Blackhawks fans just how incredibly fortunate we are to have two superstars in our sweaters. A pair of guys with ridiculous talent, at the height of their ability, with a pair of championship rings and the tools around them to cover additional fingers. Moreover, they are two guys who genuinely care about the fans, team, and city that have been so good to them both since they first skated at The Madhouse.

We’ve seen huge egos in sports destroy a team’s future in order to pad their wallets. It’s ugly. I love that it happens less often in hockey, and that we were able to avoid a disturbing hostage situation unfolding in our news feeds this summer.

I leave you with this thought: Football is afoot. Preseason games are trotting out four good minutes with each team’s starting QBs and before we know it, kids at the High School and College levels will be playing games that count. Even the weather feels like autumn already.

Football is here. So hockey can’t be far behind. Another season of the NHL will be here before we know it, holding us for ransom until spring. Is it October yet?

Go Hawks.