How He Did It: Karl Subban on being a proud NHL patriarch

It was picture-perfect.

The Nashville Predators were hosting the Vegas Golden Knights in a Dec. 8 showdown at Bridgestone Arena, and Karl Subban was beaming, his two eldest sons flanking him on the ice. Prior to puck drop, his eldest boy, P.K., held a cell phone high and snapped photos to save the memory of facing his brother Malcolm for the first time in an NHL regular season game.

Karl admitted that, at the time, he experienced an even greater surge of emotion which may have gone unnoticed.

"You probably can't tell, but I was shedding some tears - not of sorrow, but of joy," he told theScore. "When I was out on the ice I realized that we've been granted a wonderful opportunity and I am not taking it for granted."

It had already been a whirlwind day.

Hours earlier, he learned that Malcolm would start in net. Prior to that, he woke up to find out on the Subban family group chat that his youngest, Jordan - a Vancouver Canucks draft pick playing with their AHL affiliate in Utica, N.Y. - was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. All this while Karl was on his second big-league father-son trip in a fortnight.

Karl tweeted another picture from that evening - which culminated in Malcolm backstopping the Golden Knights to a 4-3 shootout win - with a hashtag that holds special significance to him and his three pro hockey-playing sons:

#Howwedidit ...Thank You NHL, Vegas Golden Knights and Nashville Predators! It all started with a dream. pic.twitter.com/cWicq9ybpA

- Karl Subban (@SubbanKarl) December 9, 2017

"How We Did It" is the Subban patriarch's first book. Written with journalist Scott Colby, it was released in time for the start of the NHL season.

In its pages lies the groundwork for how his three sons were drafted into the NHL, through a combination of their drive, his vision, and the dedication of his wife, Maria, and daughters, Nastassia (Taz) and Natasha.

Hockey fans have heard of the Shanaplan. Consider this the Subbanaplan.

With P.K.'s rise to stardom and the emergence of his younger siblings, Malcolm and Jordan, their father found he was increasingly being approached with the same inquiry.

"It didn't matter where I would be, that was the question: 'How did we do it?' he said. "Everybody wants to know the secret formula."

You can't blame people for wondering.

The chances of being drafted to the NHL, let alone playing a single game, are minuscule. According to Hockey Canada, 401,023 males were registered to play across the country in 2016-17 from midget down to the initiation level. Another 1,443 played major junior in the Canadian Hockey League.

Balance that with the fact only 217 players from around the world were selected in the 2017 NHL Draft to vie for one of 31 NHL teams' 23-man roster spots, and the odds are staggering.

With the Subbans already a notable anomaly, entering the sphere of prominent NHL families like the Staals and, before them, the Sutters, the architect explains from the outset of the book that there's no magical formula.

As the anecdote goes, in the spring of 2011, while attending Jordan's game at Herbert H. Carnegie Centennial Centre in suburban Toronto, a mutual acquaintance introduced him to a man who had a simple but astounding proposition: "I would like you to make a baby with my wife."

"The reason I used that story is not only to make people laugh, but to know that genes are only part of who we are, our genes are not our destiny," Karl said. "I hope he bought the book, reads it, and discovers every child is born with potential, which is one of the main messages of the book."

Karl's philosophy evolved over time and has been influenced by his life as an educator in the Toronto District School Board, where he rose through the ranks before retiring as an administrator in 2013, capping close to three decades on the job.

The core tenets are having a dream, believing in yourself, and acting on it.

It was clear when it came to the boys that Karl's dream was for them to make the NHL - and, along with Maria, he held steadfast in enabling them.

"Sometimes, we have to dream for our kids. Why not have a vision for them and get them on that path to achieve?" he said, "It's in the back of your mind, but I wasn't thinking about that every day, what drove me was the fact that they were getting better and they saw they were getting better and they liked the work they were putting in to get better."

The Subbans had an unwavering commitment to their children, devoting all their time and extra money to ensuring they could play hockey - or do supporting activities such as training, skating, and shooting - as much as possible.

Karl was so determined to have his first-born son skate every day that during the winter of 1994-95, when P.K. was in senior kindergarten, he would come home from his job as an adult night school vice principal, wake his sleeping son (who would be clad in a snowsuit) and drive him downtown to Nathan Phillips Square to take the ice for several hours after public skating ended at 10 p.m.

"I didn't tell P.K. at two-and-a-half, 'Maybe one day I am going to see you in the NHL,'" said Karl, 59. "But we started skating and that interest developed into a passion, and from passion you start developing skills and from skills you start to achieve and you get enjoyment. It's a virtuous cycle, and it works."

The work ethic and desire filtered down to Malcolm and Jordan.

All of them played defense growing up (Karl heard it was an advantageous path to the pros). While P.K. and Jordan stayed the course, Malcolm blazed his own trail, displaying an almost karmic pull toward the pipes, switching to goalie as a 13-year old prior to entering peewee - a pivotal time in his development.

"My brothers and I were all very driven," Jordan, 22, told theScore prior to being traded. "Both my parents gave us all the opportunities to be successful, my dad saw that in us at a young age and he pushed us to just become the best that we could be."

Karl emigrated from Jamaica to Sudbury, Ontario, as a 12-year-old in 1970. An emerging athlete, he first gravitated toward cricket, but later hockey and the Montreal Canadiens when he moved to Canada. He eventually played basketball at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Circumstance may in part have scuttled his aspirations to be a professional cricketer or hockey player. After failing to make the junior national basketball team, he realized his goal of making the NBA was out of reach too.

While Karl channeled his passion into education, he would ensure his children would be able to choose their own fate in sport.

"For him, growing up watching hockey, he didn't really have the ability to play because of coming over so late from Jamaica and watching all his friends play. I think he definitely saw the vision in terms of he wanted us to kind of live out his dream. Playing in the NHL is something he missed out on," Malcolm told theScore.

"Going to outdoor rinks, skating at nighttime, during the season, in the winters, watching hockey, playing in the hallways. There was no time off hockey, all we were doing was skating and working on our game, and we loved it."

While the book could be a simple blueprint offered by a zealous father and mother, it isn't.

Karl writes a compelling family history in rich detail of life growing up in Portland Cottage, Jamaica, and is able to draw inspiration from all aspects of his journey, from working in a grocery store to his time in the halls of learning.

The perspectives of Maria and all five children appear as asides from the narrative, popping out with black-and-white sketches of their faces beside the text that enhance their own distinct voice.

Karl isn't afraid to acknowledge his mistakes, choosing to approach them honestly - like recalling the instance in which he pulled 10-year-old P.K. from his elite minor atom-level AAA GTHL team mid-game. Karl goes as far to include the firsthand perspective of the offending former coach, Harry Evans.

He also details his initial dread of Malcolm's desire to be a goaltender.

"I think he dealt with a lot of things and learned a lot of things on the fly but was able to make adjustments in terms of managing us both on and off the ice," P.K. told theScore. "I think the one thing that our parents were always consistent about was seeing us be good people before anything else, and that was the most important thing."

There's little time to rest for Karl, who has filled in as a principal of Brookview Middle School since September. He balances those duties with a book tour and speaking engagements that take him across the country.

However, his mind never strays too far from the ice.

While he plans on writing more books, he makes time to skate with grandsons Legacy, Epic, and Honor. By June, when she becomes a full-fledged toddler, the rite of passage will extend to the newest addition, granddaughter Angelina.

As for now, Karl is still processing the raw emotion from this weekend, and yet, his pride may still swell even further, given the prospect of one day scoring a parental natural hat trick if Jordan can crack an NHL lineup.

Perhaps it's not out of the realm of possibility that the future may hold three father-son trips in one season - making an already hectic schedule even busier. But you won't hear Karl complain.

"I know it will happen at the right time," he said. "That's why I didn't use up all my tears Friday night, I saved some."

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(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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