CHICAGO—When Karl Subban’s three sons — P.K., Malcolm and Jordan — were young, he could see the writing on the wall: They might become NHL players one day.
Or, to be more accurate, he could see the scuff marks on the wall.
“They’d have a ball or Jordan would roll up some socks,” Karl Subban told the Chicago Tribune after Malcolm was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in February. “The walls in our hallways were like you would see in the hockey rink and you have the boards. You could see all the puck marks.”
Fast-forward to recent years, and all three are pursuing professional hockey dreams at varying levels.
The oldest, P.K., a New Jersey Devils defenceman, is a three-time NHL all-star and 2012-13 Norris Trophy winner. The youngest, Jordan, also a defenceman, was a Vancouver Canucks fourth-round pick in 2013 and played in the AHL before signing with Dornbirner EC in Austria last season.
Malcolm made 58 starts over nearly three seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights, but saw only one minute of ice time after the Feb. 28 trade to the Hawks.
Now the 26-year-old goaltender is on the cusp of the greatest opportunity of his career.
The Hawks parted ways last month with veteran Corey Crawford after 13 seasons. General manager Stan Bowman declined to qualify Subban as a restricted free agent, but the goalie agreed to a two-year contract through 2021-22 with an annual $850,000 (U.S.) salary-cap hit.
Bowman said Crawford’s replacement will be a competition among Subban, Collin Delia and Kevin Lankinen and will play out throughout next season. Each contender likely will get several starts regardless of how well his rivals play.
“When we made the decision we’re not going to bring Corey back, we (knew we) have these young goalies,” Bowman said. “They’re never going to get a better chance than this to prove they’re the No. 1 guy … Whether it’s Delia or Lankinen or Subban, they all have a lot of potential, and we want to translate that potential into actuality.”
Coach Jeremy Colliton added it’s difficult to develop young goalies when they’re mostly relegated to spelling the starter in the second game of a back-to-back.
“You don’t get many consecutive starts,” Colliton said. “Over the course of the year, you may get 10, 15, 20 games. It’s always when your team is travelling, the No. 1 guy will get the first game and the backup — in this case Malcolm — they just don’t get much of a chance to get into a rhythm.
“If you talk to any goalie, that’s tough.”
Added Subban: “In the past, I definitely got in a groove when I played some more games, strung together some games. But that’s got to be earned. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to earn those starts.”
He appreciates getting a real shot.
“I’ve been preparing for it for a long time now,” Subban said. “You’ve just got to keep working hard. You put the work in to get the opportunity. It’s three great goaltenders with Deels and Lanks. It’s good competition. We got to know each other in the (Edmonton) bubble. They’re great guys.
“Our one goal is whatever opportunity we get, it’s to help the team win, and that’s the most important thing.”
A Jamaica native who immigrated to Ontario in 1970, Karl Subban was optimistic about Malcolm’s aspirations ever since his boys played hockey with balls and rolled-up socks as pucks and used a laundry basket as the net.
He laughed when asked about the four times over the last three seasons that P.K. faced Malcolm with the Golden Knights. P.K. failed to score on any of his seven shots in Malcolm’s starts against the Nashville Predators and Devils.
“He only scored in the hallway or in the backyard rink in Toronto — that’s the only time he scored on Malcolm,” Karl said. “But most of the time he scored, if there was a referee, they would’ve charged him with goalie interference. That was P.K. He had to score.”
At the very least Malcolm and Jordan learned “they had to work for it,” P.K. said.
“I didn’t hold back with my brothers, whether we played video games, ball hockey in the hallway or the backyard rink,” P.K. said. “I always wanted to win. Even though they were younger than me and I probably should’ve let them win, I never tried to. … If I had to cheat to try to win, I would.”
Added Karl: “Playing together like that really brought them together. I made sure I was never the referee. I’d just go in my room and lock the door. Just make sure the walls are still standing when you’re done … It’s like they were playing for the Stanley Cup.”
Annually for 17 years, usually in time for Christmas, Karl would construct a 40×40 backyard rink out of boards and rink liner, and it would last until mid-March. The boys also played in youth house leagues in Toronto.
Even then it was clear to Karl that Malcolm was different from other kids who took to hockey. Most of them wanted to be skaters — and Malcolm started off as one, too — but during warm-ups he stood in goal and took shots.
“He never said ‘Dad, I want to be a goalie’ until he was 12, or else he was going to quit playing,” Karl said.
Malcolm laughed at the memory: “He was talking me out of it for about seven years. Then finally he caved and let me be a goaltender.”
Malcolm’s choice didn’t come as a surprise to P.K. either.
“He always was the one that opted to play goaltender and he put his shin pads on,” P.K. said. “Jordan and I would call a passing play where we had to make enough passes to get him out of position (and) expose him, whether it was going through the five-hole or beating him on a deke or something like that.
“But that was Malcolm’s script. He was a phenomenal hockey player” for his age.
Malcolm’s NHL path wouldn’t be as smooth.
The Boston Bruins drafted him with the 24th pick in 2012. After four seasons with the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League, he made his NHL debut on Feb. 20, 2015, against the St. Louis Blues. He stopped all three shots in the first period, but things unravelled quickly in the second. Subban gave up three goals on three shots in just more than five minutes, and he was pulled for Tuukka Rask.
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Almost a year later, while with the AHL’s Providence Bruins, Subban took a puck to the throat during warm-ups. He suffered a fractured larynx and was hospitalized in Portland, Maine. It was part of harrowing season for the Subban family in which Jordan, then in the AHL, and P.K., then with the Montreal Canadiens, also were injured — with P.K. hurting his neck during a collision and leaving the ice on a stretcher a month after Malcolm’s injury.
“We were in a panic,” Karl said regarding Malcolm’s injury on Feb. 6, 2016. “We were in Grenada at the time … I think all three of my boys were playing. I knew Malcolm was starting and tuned in to his game and he wasn’t in net. We didn’t hear anything from the announcers. I called the agents and they called the Bruins, the farm team, Providence, and then we got the news.”
Karl and Maria Subban caught an early flight to be by Malcolm’s bedside.
Malcolm changed his protective equipment after that injury.
“My neck guard was not as big and thick as it is now,” he told the Tribune in early March.
Subban made one more start for the Bruins on Oct. 25, 2016, another three-goal night, this time on 16 shots.
The Bruins placed him on waivers in October 2017, hoping to reassign him to Providence, but the expansion Golden Knights claimed Subban to back up Marc-André Fleury.
Subban played in 63 games over nearly three seasons for the Knights, posting a .901 save percentage and 2.92 goals-against average, but “Fleury got the run of it for a couple of years,” Bowman said.
The inauspicious start to his career — the neck injury, getting sent up and down and being traded — has tested Subban’s resolve.
“It’s got to be something inside you that you’re never going to give up, never going to quit,” he said.
Added P.K.: “It all just builds character. When I look at the start of my career, you need some luck too. I remember when I got my first real chance in the NHL, half of the Canadiens defence was sick or injured and I could just go in and do my thing.
“Kids nowadays, you have to prove that you’re reliable first. Not just about goaltenders but hockey players in general. Unless you’re one of those top draft picks, very rarely do you come in and immediately get power play, penalty kill, top minutes.
“Everybody’s way of coming into the league is different. The best thing about Malcolm, I think it’s known in the league that he deserved and earned the opportunity to play and be a regular goaltender in the NHL.”
Malcolm said he has felt the support of his family throughout it all and talks with his brothers after big career moments, such as deciding to return to the Hawks.
“(P.K. has) always been preaching to me the same stuff: Just keep working hard, be a professional and block out the outside noise,” Malcolm said. “Just go out there and play your game and do what you do.”
Karl applies the same philosophy to his three sons and two daughters whenever they face a challenging moment in their lives or careers.
“The quote I use is, ‘You pave the way, clear the way, and then you get out of the way.’”
Now it’s time to sink or swim for the son he remembers would jump at the chance to play goalie when none of the other children wanted to.
“You don’t want to be a backup forever, but there’s a ladder,” Karl said. “He’s been climbing that ladder. He’s not at the top rung yet.
“What I mean by the top rung is if he becomes the No. 1 goalie — not everyone does. Is he good enough? In my mind — I’m his dad — of course.
“Do people believe in you? The important thing for Malcolm is that he continues to believe in himself.”