Jan 19 Stop Trying to Change P.K. Subban!

Seriously, why? Why do so many people seem to raise an issue and take offense to P.K. Subban's natural exuberance? Why does going to one knee and making an "archery" motion after scoring a big goal at home to give his team an overtime win after they blew a four goal lead seem to rub so many people the wrong way? Why can't people realize that this is part of professional sports in 2011 and it's something to be celebrated?

If Subban's celebration in any way involved taunting the Calgary Flames, then fine. Criticize Subban all you want. However, not one Flame had a bad thing to say about Subban's celebration and Alex Tanguay even went so far as to say the enthusiasm he showed is good for the game. Some of the most memorable images in recent and past hockey history are from enthusiastic goal celebrations. Bobby Orr flying through the air. Theo Fleury sliding on his knees to the other end of the rink and punching the air in victory. Tiger Williams riding his stick. Teemu Selanne using his stick as a gun to shoot his glove. Patrick Kane swimming with the sharks. Sidney Crosby flinging his equipment everywhere and yelling like a hyena.

These celebrations give us a glimpse into the real emotions these normally introverted hockey players experience. We've cried out endlessly to see more personality from hockey players yet when we see that personality, a segment of people say "Whoa there, sonny. That's not how we do things around here." Well, who's to say how things should be done? Players try so hard and often to hide their true feelings and emotions and it results in boring interviews chock full of cliches. Shows like Oil Change and HBO 24/7 are roundly celebrated for FINALLY letting us see these mysterious hockey players come out of their shells and rightfully so. Reasonable fans are able to distinguish raw emotion and pre-meditated, malicious taunting. There's no question P.K. Subban was showing raw emotion last night.

I almost feel like writing about this topic is a complete waste of time since it changes nothing of the status quo but I'm fed up of so-called hockey "purists" trying to squash what little personality the game of hockey seems to have and is desperate to have more of for the game to grow. The Don Cherrys of the world will say the steak is tasty enough without needing any of the sizzle. I love the tradition of respect the game of hockey has but these goal celebrations do nothing to tarnish that respect. What does tarnish the game, and for some reason it went completely unnoticed, is Alex Goligoski of the Pittsburgh Penguins squaking at Carey Price after scoring on him last week. That's not celebrating, that's taunting.

I'm not saying hockey needs to be littered with pre-meditated celebrations from the catalog of Chad Ochocinco but natural excitement and enthusiasm from professional hockey players who've long held the reputation of being low-key and introverts is something that should be celebrated and embraced, not condemned and nit-picked endlessly on talk shows and in columns.

About Will Martinez

Will Martinez runs the 'Hey, My Name is Will' blog and is a contributor for TheFranchise.ca. You can follow Will on Twitter @heymynameiswill

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