NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Although Montreal residents were myopically focused on the Montreal Canadiens' first-round series against the New York Rangers, the city's collective gaze shifted the moment the hometown team was eliminated in six games. With Les Habitants officially off for the summer, many fans in one of hockey's foremost hotbeds turned their attention to the Nashville Predators.
Nashville doesn't have a historic connection to the city of Montreal. What it does have is Predators defenseman P.K. Subban, who in seven seasons with the Canadiens became an adopted native son before the club traded him for longtime Predators captain Shea Weber on June 29, 2016.
With Subban contributing to a Predators team facing elimination against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Sunday (8 p.m. ET) at Bridgestone Arena, much of the province of Quebec will be rooting for the player still considered a fan favorite almost a year after his blockbuster trade.
"There's a large part of the fan base here that are just huge P.K. fans because of what he did here," said former Canadiens enforcer Chris Nilan, who hosts a local radio show in Montreal. "He was a guy who did a lot of work in the community."
A Norris Trophy winner with the Canadiens in 2013, Subban's influence over Montreal went well beyond the ice. That legacy was enshrined forever in 2015 when he pledged $10 million to the Montreal Children's Hospital, which announced the gesture by unveiling the P.K. Subban Atrium. Subban returned to the hospital to visit patients when the Predators rolled through Montreal in March.
"He did that for Montreal. He did that for all of us. It's a very nice thing to see. His heart is bigger than anything," said Antonio Park, the owner of Park Restaurant, a popular Montreal eatery frequented by Subban during his time in Montreal.
Subban spent so much time with Park that he eventually made him his de facto nutritionist. "He's a guy you sit down with for five, 10 minutes and you're in love with him," Park said.
Even with Subban enjoying an eventful first season with Nashville, that love in Montreal has remained intact. The moment the Canadiens were eliminated in April, that love bloomed into a citywide appreciation for all things Preds.
One downtown nightspot, Chez Serge, expressed its appreciation for Subban in the most fundamental way possible. With the Canadiens eliminated, the owner of the bar officially changed the establishment's name to Chez Subban, vowing to keep the name change until the Predators were either eliminated from the postseason or won the franchise's first Stanley Cup title.
"The Montreal Canadiens organization -- we all have a love for them because they're the team of the city. But P.K. was someone who gave so much to the city," Park said. "He was like a part of this city, a big part of this city. He probably won't say that on camera, but we all knew when he got traded, he was hurt."
Though they trail in the Stanley Cup Final against Pittsburgh and face elimination for the first time in these playoffs, a title is still within grasp for Subban and the Predators. Were Nashville to find a way to come back in this series and hoist the most cherished trophy in hockey, it would present the very real possibility of Subban bringing the Cup back to Montreal.
Former Canadiens have previously brought the trophy to Montreal after winning it with another team. Sylvain Lefebvre memorably baptized his daughter in the Cup after bringing it to Montreal after his 1996 championship with the Colorado Avalanche. But no player with Subban's enduring legacy has brought the Cup to the city after previously playing with the Canadiens.
"I think a lot of people would relish in it, and some people wouldn't like it," Nilan said of the prospect of Subban bringing the Cup to Montreal. "There's a lot of reasons he got traded, and some people don't want to see that, but I never questioned his willingness and his drive and his determination to show up and play every game."
Regardless of who wins the Cup this season, Nashville's run to the finals has certainly added a greater degree of complexity to the Subban-Weber debate that began the moment the trade was consummated. And even if Subban fails to win his first Cup, the adulation Montrealers have for the All-Star defenseman won't be diminished anytime soon.
"I think everybody should embrace that and not compare what he did in Nashville to what he did in Montreal. Who's better? Who's not better? It's beyond that," Park said. "It's about winning the Stanley Cup, which he's been hungry for all his life."