MONTREAL - It’s high time someone called out P.K. Subban. Someone, that is, who hasn’t been a charter member of the anti-Subban club from the beginning, simply because of the colour of his skin.

After defending Subban since he first put on the uniform, I’ve had enough. The last straw came Friday night in Pittsburgh, when Subban produced the following:

1) A terrible giveaway that led to a Pittsburgh goal;

2) A disgraceful shouting match on the bench with assistant coach Randy Ladouceur and;

3) A dirty slew-foot on Chris Kunitz which would cost Subban $2,500 – and should have resulted in a three-game suspension, given the number of guys who have already gone down from the Subban Slew-foot this season.

Enough, already. Subban may be young but as we pointed out last week, Ottawa’s Eric Karlsson is more than a year younger. Karlsson not only has more than twice as many points, he’s also better defensively. Next argument?

Subban is better than this. He’d better be, because he and Carey Price represent this organization’s best hope of recovering from this lost season and building something for the future. It’s not going to happen if Subban won’t listen to his coaches. Yes, there should have been a forward there to take that errant pass in Pittsburgh. Yes, it was probably Scott Gomez who should have been there.

But Subban has eyes in his head. He has to see when the guy on the receiving end of a pass is wearing the wrong jersey. If the play, as Randy Cunneyworth said after, was to skate the puck out of the zone, Subban has the wheels to do so. But how is he going to learn if he refuses to listen to his coaches?

Finding the right Price: Meanwhile, there’s Subban’s high-fiving, low-fiving buddy, Carey Price. Saturday night in Toronto, we finally saw what Price is supposed to be: a big-time shutdown goaltender. That was Price’s win all the way – but it came after a string of four straight losses for Price.

As Mike Milbury tried to suggest 10 days ago before he was sneered down by Ron MacLean, the jury is still out on whether Pierre Gauthier dealt the right goaltender to St. Louis when he shipped out Jaroslav Halak after his miracle playoff run in 2010. Milbury was right, whether MacLean in his boundless arrogance cared to listen or not. Given the way their careers have gone up and down, we’d best wait another 10 years to see how came out better in that trade.

Even after his big win in Toronto, Price is 16-25 on the season, with a save percentage of .914 and a goals-against of 2.41. Halak had his shutout string broken by the struggling Buffalo Sabres Saturday night, but still won the game 4-2. He’s now 14-12, with a .920 save percentage, a sparkling 2.00 goals-against and four shutouts in 26 starts, compared with Price’s two shutouts in 41 starts.

Obviously, Price had the better season last year, but it takes more than one season to make a career, just as it takes more than one fabulous playoff run. The truth about Price, it appears, is that you have to keep him from getting too comfortable. After he lost his starting job to Halak, Price came roaring back with a fine season.

Then he got comfortable again and it wasn’t until Peter Budaj got a couple of starts in a week’s time that Price sensed the heat enough to come up with a big performance in Toronto. Meanwhile, the cheerleaders in the media (MacLean among them) keep telling us that Price is Ken Dryden, Patrick Roy and Terry Sawchuk all rolled into one.

Maybe he is. But he hasn’t proven it yet and until he does, the Canadiens are going to be just one more mediocre team.

Lies, rumours &&&& vicious innuendo: If Pierre Gauthier was smart, he would be looking for ways to get in line to draft either Nail Yakupov of the Sarnia Sting or Mikhail Grigorenko of the Quebec Remparts. Of course, if Gauthier was smart, the Habs wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.

The most troublesome aspect of the Michael Cammalleri trade is that he was not dealt because he had spent the first half of the season sucking rocks – he was dealt because he dared to speak out. Never mind winning Stanley Cups: the slogan for this organization now is “Manage the Message.” …

If you’ve really had enough, go to www.firegauthier.com. You can order a snazzy white T-shirt that bears the message “Fire Gauthier” on the front and “Congédier Gauthier” on the back. The price is a mere $15 and I have it on good authority that five dollars of that will go to the Montreal Children’s Hospital, so you can support two good causes at once. …

Scott Norwood lives! You have to feel for Baltimore Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff. Can there be anything worse than going in to face a roomful of ferocious, 300-pound men who could break you in half after you’ve just blown their shot at the Super Bowl? …

The saddest sports story of the year so far has to be the death of Canadian superpipe star Sarah Burke. It’s almost too painful to comprehend, that in a sports world full of arrogant, overpaid jerks, it’s a classy, courageous Canadian amateur athlete who is killed pushing the limits of her sport. …

Heroes: Sarah Burke, Jaroslav Halak, Saku Koivu, Paul MacLean, Evgeni Malkin, Tyler Seguin, Erik Cole, David Desharnais, Max Pacioretty, Peter Budaj, Josh Gorges, Etta James &&&& last but not least, 70-year-old Muhammad Ali, a genuine hero for our time.

Zeros: P.K. Subban, Don Cherry, Ron MacLean, Jeffrey Loria, David Samson, Roy Williams, Tim Tebow, Pepe, David Stern, LeBron James &&&& last but not least, Serena Williams, for being everything Sarah Burke was not.

jacktodd46@yahoo.com