No, New Jersey Devils’ P.K. Subban Is Not Embarrassing Himself
By Dave Browne
The New York Post’s Brett Cyrgalis’s piece on New Jersey Devils defenseman P.K. Subban would make the likes of TMZ sports salivate. Mr. Cyrgalis’s piece headlined ‘Devils’ P.K. Subban Is Marketing Everything But His Own Game’ is nothing more than a smear campaign on Subban’s name.
The writer seemingly goes out of his way to say that Subban’s on ice struggles are directly correlated to his marketing prowess. There’s no question that Subban and the Devils struggles are real, but citing his struggles because of social media and paid sponsorship endeavors are erroneous claims with no proof to validate his point.
Brett Cyrgalis opened the piece by stating that ‘P.K. Subban should be ’embarrassed.’ He then has the audacity to question Subban’s integrity, and blames his performance on recent marketing engagements with Adidas and Red Bull.
First off, Subban is a paid sponsor for Adidas. Part of being a sponsor is to endorse a product by making public appearances, which he did on Thursday night. Subban also made an appearance for Red Bull (fiance Lindsey Vonn’s endorser) to skate with fans at Bryant Park. By all accounts, the event was a success. If these events had caused Subban to be late for practice, a meeting, or a game; by all means blame that on his performance or being a distraction to the team. Subban is human just like the rest of us, so how he spends his time off of the ice is completely up to him.
Cyrgalis is quick to point out how much Subban utilizes social media. The Devils newest defenseman used Twitter 15 times to tweet, retweet or like other tweets within the last seven days. To put it into context, the writer himself tweeted or retweeted 12 times on Monday alone, and on average tweets more per day than Subban.
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On Friday, Cyrgalis had no problem marketing his own writing on Twitter, the very same problem he has with Subban marketing himself. Maybe if he wasn’t utilizing social media quite as much, Cyrgalis would not have been so lazy to come up with a piece that lacked any substance or factual evidence to back up his preposterous comments. Stating that Subban is ‘bombastic’ and haphazard attempts at humor like the Devils ‘must allow Subban to use his phone on the bench’ during practice and games, or ‘Subban’s over the top arrival in Newark on July 26 would have made you think that he was a returning war hero’ is beyond cringe worthy and unfunny alike. During his ‘over the top’ arrival in Newark, Subban promised to be a difference maker off of the ice. He has lived up to that promise by bringing the ‘Blue Line Buddies’ program to New Jersey.
With all of the negativity surrounding Cyrgalis’ article, he was finally kind enough to point out Subban’s charitable endeavors following the 13th paragraph. That’s if people had the stomach to read that far. He couldn’t help himself by throwing in one last jab, stating that Subban is hardly an NHL defenseman. He fails to mention that Subban is the same defenseman that scored nearly at a .50 clip last season with the Nashville Predators, hardly the numbers of a fringe defenseman.
If Cyrgalis’s article was based solely on Subban’s performance, people would not have much issue with it, as he is one of many on the team that is under-performing. To question a man’s integrity with baseless opinions is not professional and lazy journalism.
Subban, along with the majority of our society enjoys using social media. He has used the social media platform to make a positive impact, endorse his fiance’s achievements and interact with fans. The loud, boisterous ovation that Subban received in Nashville on Saturday night is proof that he made an impact in his three years there. Subban was once voted the best defenseman in the NHL, but more importantly he will be remembered as a good human. Montreal, Nashville and now New Jersey fans could all attest to that. The New Jersey Devils and P.K. Subban could be better on the ice. Keep being you off of it, P.K. Mr. Cyrgalis, now it’s time for you to be better.