That’s P.K. Subban for you.

The Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation has been having a tough time raising money ever since Canada Post workers went on strike because many donors still send in cheques by the mail. Mail-in donations account for around $500,000 or roughly 40 per cent of the hospital’s annual P.K. Match Holiday Campaign, part of Subban’s pledge to help raise $10 million for the hospital.

So the foundation called up the former Montreal Canadiens defenceman this week and asked if he would come to Montreal to go personally to pick up some of the donations from local folks. Sure enough, Subban — currently very busy as a hockey analyst on the U.S. TV network ESPN — hopped on a plane to come lend a helping hand and generate a little promo for the campaign.

I asked why he immediately agreed to come.

“I mean, come on a walk in the hospital,” said Subban, during a passionate 15-minute conversation in the offices of the foundation just a short walk from the hospital. “There’s a personal connection with the people who work there, with every patient. You see their face, you don’t forget their faces. You touch a lot of people and that’s a big responsibility. But not everyone is built for that. For me, my responsibility was much bigger than just what happened on the ice.”

He grew up in Toronto as a dyed-in-the-wool Canadiens fan because his dad, a Jamaican immigrant, was a long-time fan of le bleu-blanc-rouge. His dad Karl Subban also instilled in his son a notion that you should try to change the world, not just win hockey games.

“I didn’t know that I’d have the impact and be able to help thousands and thousands of kids and families by being a great hockey player,” said Subban, who also played for the Nashville Predators and New Jersey Devils and won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenceman while with Montreal. “I just wanted to be a great hockey player. When you get that opportunity, some people seize it and embrace that opportunity. People sometimes ask me, why? It’s important to me.

” Subban was traded to Nashville in the summer of 2016, in exchange for Shea Weber, a transaction that created a bitterness among many fans that hasn’t entirely disappeared more than eight years later.

Subban makes it clear in our talk that he is and always will be first and foremost a Montreal Canadien. And the fans most certainly haven’t forgotten him, which was made clear in January of 2023 when he was back standing on the Bell Centre for a special tribute soirée organized by the team.

“When I talk about the Montreal Canadiens, to not get emotional is hard thing for me to do,” said Subban. “So to see the team not do well is difficult. I remember giving that speech (in January 2023) and looking at the players. What else is there to say other than what I said to them? That if you go out every night and compete, the crowd … will cheer for you.” That night, Subban looked right at the players’ bench and with intensity in his eyes delivered a message to them, saying, “These guys (the fans) will love you no matter what if you leave it all on the ice. So leave it on the ice every night.”

I reminded him of that speech Friday, the day after a brutal beatdown of his former team at the Bell Centre, with the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins crushing the Habs 9-2. Many fans believe the Canadiens Thursday were in fact doing the exact opposite of leaving it all on the ice.

Subban has his own interpretation of the Habs’ current woes.

“Let’s call it what it is,” said Subban. “If you don’t have the horses you ain’t gonna win. I know in my time, when I played in Montreal, I could look behind me and I knew there was Carey Price there. And the Montreal Canadiens have some great pieces there…

“Montreal has some great pieces and they have to insulate those young pieces with players that can fill out this roster and make them a competitive team. The bottom six has to get heavier and tougher.” He added that much-lauded rookie defenceman Lane Hutson needs a seasoned quality defenceman to play alongside him.

“So how do you get this train back on the track? I think it starts with culture. (Former Hab and current head of the NHL’s Department of Player Safety) George Parros said something to me that I really respected after my retirement. He said the one thing I know about you is that you wanted to win and you played to win. You need players that want to win.

“People say you want players that don’t want to lose. That’s all crap. You can have players that pretend that they hate to lose. Everybody can pretend. The reality is that when the puck drops you can’t be a pretender any more. You either get the results or you don’t get it done. And you need talent to do that. Yeah I want the team to do well. Yeah I want them to win. But something no one likes to talk about in the NHL with players that are not favourites is the talent level. They want to talk about everything else. But I had talent. I could play. Pricey had talent. He could play. Nick Suzuki has talent. He can play. Cole Caufield’s got talent. He can play. Juraj Slafkovsky’s got talent, he can play. All these people who’re critical of guys who can play don’t know what they’re talking about. It’s the rest of the team …

“Montreal has some great pieces and they have to insulate those young pieces with players that can fill out this roster and make them a competitive team. The bottom six has to get heavier and tougher.” He added that much-lauded rookie defenceman Lane Hutson needs a seasoned quality defenceman to play alongside him.

“When I came into the league I had Hal Gill, I had Andrei Markov, I had guys that were solid and knew how to play so I could play my game,” said Subban. “Lane Hutson needs to play his game.”

Then Subban stops and laughs: “But this isn’t a hockey interview is it?” Turns out there was time for one last question, which was: What do you feel when you come back to Montreal? “It’s the passion, that’s the explosion between me and the city,” said Subban. “I’m just as passionate about the city when it comes to sports and culture. And that’s where it fits. I can walk into any restaurant in Montreal and there’s this feeling that keeps us alive. Tonight we’re going to have dinner and we’re going to have that buzz and we love it. I’ve been doing this since I was 19 or 20 years old. I came to this city and I showed it respect. It’s just great to come back.”