Karl Subban
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Karl Subban is a Jamaican-Canadian educator and writer,[1] best known as the father of National Hockey League players P. K. Subban, Malcolm Subban and Jordan Subban.[2]
Born in Jamaica, he came to Canada with his family as a pre-teen in the early 1970s, and settled in Sudbury, Ontario.[3] Living in the predominantly francophone Flour Mill neighbourhood,[4] he integrated into the community by playing neighbourhood street hockey,[1] although he never played in an organized league.[3] He later also played basketball for Sudbury Secondary School and Lakehead University.[3] At Lakehead, he remains the fifth all-time leading scorer for the school's basketball team.[5]
Following his graduation from Lakehead he became an elementary school teacher with the Toronto District School Board, until retiring from teaching in 2013.[1] By this time his three sons were all playing in the NHL, with Karl becoming well known in his own right as a prominent "hockey dad".[1]
In 2017 he published the non-fiction book How We Did It: The Subban Plan for Success in Hockey, School and Life.[3] His children's book The Hockey Skates, illustrated by Maggie Zeng and recounting a true story from P.K.'s childhood, was published in 2023,[6] and was selected for the 2025 edition of CBC Kids Reads.[7]
In the 2020s he was also a prominent campaigner for banning sports betting advertising.[8] In 2026, he gave a talk on race and hockey in conjunction with a National Canadian Film Day screening of the Black Canadian hockey drama film Youngblood at the Acton Film Festival.[9]