Angry Subban fan donates $250K to Montreal Children's Hospital
Charles Kowalski will make cheque presentation Wednesday at the hospital's P.K. Subban Atrium
A man who took out a full-page ad in the Montreal Gazette to express anger over the P.K. Subban trade is making a $250,000 donation to support Subban's efforts to raise money for the Montreal Children's Hospital.
Dr. Charles Kowalski and his wife are donating to P.K.'s Helping Hand fund. Subban was known in Montreal for his charitable endeavours that included a pledge to raise $10 million for the Montreal Children's Hospital via his foundation.
In a full-page ad in Thursday's Montreal Gazette, Kowalski thanked Subban for his time in Montreal and said the trade has shaken his belief in the Canadiens.
"Now, I feel anger, disappointment and embarrassment over the treatment of P.K. Subban by team management: the same sentiments that many felt after the Patrick Roy trade," Kowalski said in the ad.
Calls from Subban, Molson
When he announced the donation, Kowalski said he received a call from both Subban and CEO of the Montreal Canadiens, Geoff Molson.
"[Subban] expressed how he's really going to need to work hard in the summer to maintain his pledge of $10 million towards the hospital," Kowalski told CBC Montreal's Homerun.
"But he's going to do it. He's going to be back in the summer. And I said, 'This is why I'm doing this. It's to help you out.'"
Kowalski has also started a website, afranchiseheldintrust.com, where he asks Habs fans to donate $15 — the price of a beer at the Bell Centre — to raise money for the the Children's Hospital.
The website says the loss of Subban is felt the most by the children at the Children's Hospital who lost a role model in the Subban trade.
Kowalski, an emergency room physician living in Ottawa, and until recently a die-hard Montreal Canadiens fan, will make the cheque presentation Wednesday at the hospital's P.K. Subban Atrium.
The ad Kowalski took out in the Montreal Gazette said he doesn't support The Canadiens general manager or coach.
Kowalski said Molson called him after seeing the letter and told him, "We have passionate fans, I understand."
"I was very appreciative for him to step up and do that," Kowalski said.
The Canadiens dealt the flashy Subban to Nashville this off-season for star defenceman Shea Weber.
with files from CBC Montreal's Homerun and The Canadian Press