P.K. Subban surprises sick Nashville kids, with a little help from Montreal
NHL defenceman treats kids to carriage ride, free swag and new friends
P.K. Subban just can't help himself when it comes to spreading Christmas cheer.
The 27-year-old star NHL defenceman has posted a video of a holiday surprise he orchestrated for a group of kids with sickle cell anemia in his new hometown of Nashville, Tenn.
And while he isn't in Montreal over the holidays this year, he made sure to include patients at the Montreal Children's Hospital in the surprise.
In the video, Subban and six children cruise around Nashville in a horse-drawn carriage, breaking into a round of Jingle Bells at one point.
Subban, dressed as if he just stepped out of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, takes the kids to Bridgestone Arena, where the Nashville Predators play.
In a scene that may serve as an indicator of how popular hockey is in the Music City, one child notices a blown-up photo of Subban on the side of the building and exclaims, "You're famous!"
Subban ushers the kids to the shop inside the arena, where he and teammate Roman Josi help them pick out anything they want to take home.
Country music singer Dierks Bentley also makes a cameo in the video.
From Montreal, with love
Last Christmas, Subban pitched in to transform the P.K. Subban Atrium at the Montreal Children's into a "Winter Wonderland" playground, complete with presents for patients and their parents.
The former Montreal Canadiens player committed to helping raise $10 million for the hospital in September 2015.
This year, patients at the Montreal hospital wrote letters to the Nashville children. In one letter, a child explains that she understands how hard it is to be sick.
"You can do it. Merry Christmas," the letter reads.
Here we go again with The Subban Sleigh! Happy Holidays! <a href="https://twitter.com/rjosi90">@rjosi90</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DierksBentley">@DierksBentley</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/PredsNHL">@PredsNHL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/HopitalChildren">@HopitalChildren</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/VUMCchildren">@VUMCchildren</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PinItForward?src=hash">#PinItForward</a> <a href="https://t.co/P1bklTTBkl">pic.twitter.com/P1bklTTBkl</a>
—@PKSubban1The kids in Nashville also received pins, which appear to be part of a forthcoming fundraising effort for both Subban's and the Predators' charitable foundations.
Subban was sent to Nashville over the summer in exchange for Shea Weber in a blockbuster trade that angered many Habs fans, to put it mildly.
The furor over the trade has since subsided. Subban has 17 points on the year; Weber has 19.
With files from Silvet Ali