Canadiens’ P.K. Subban puts his money where his heart is

And now for some nice news. Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban will donate $10 million to Montreal Children’s Hospital over the next seven years. No matter what the conversion rate is, that’s a deep well of generosity.

Lots of professional athletes attach their names to charities, usually at the urging of their agents for the positive public-relations hit and usually with no accompanying monetary gift from the jocks. That’s fine. It doesn’t matter how a charity benefits, just that it does. If an athlete can help raise money with his time and face, it’s better than nothing.

But it has always galled me that the people who are making millions and millions of dollars want the people who are trying to make ends meet to open their wallets.

Subban, who signed an eight-year, $72 million contract with the Canadiens last year, clearly is different.

“Montreal made a long-term commitment toward me,’’ he said. “Now it’s my turn to make an engagement to Montreal. Montreal has become my second home. Montrealers have taken me into their hearts for the past five years that I’ve been here … and I hope to remain here for a very, very long time.’’

As I said, nice.