MONTREAL - The recipient of the Jean Béliveau trophy for the 2015-16 season will be honored during a short ceremony before the game between the Buffalo Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens tonight at the Bell Centre. On that occasion, Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban will be presented with the award for his charitable actions and community involvement.

The selection committee, consisting of members of the Board of Directors of the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation, evaluated candidates according to their commitment, enthusiasm, implication and time invested in collective and personal initiatives. Candidates were also judged on their leadership and financial contribution to the causes they chose to support.

P.K. Subban’s community actions mostly revolve around his $10 million pledge over a 7-year period to the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation, announced last September. Committed to giving back to the Montreal community, he chose to concentrate his efforts around the cause of sick children and families who benefit from the care and services of the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Since this announcement, Subban has participated in various fundraising initiatives, such as the Winter Classic jersey sale and signing, the Twitter campaign to support P.K.’s Helping Hand as well as a Holiday matching gift campaign. These efforts, combined with his own personal financial contribution and that of the P.K. Subban Foundation, helped raise in excess of $820,000 to date for the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation. P.K. Subban is also a regular visitor to the Hospital, acts as ambassador and has joined the Board of Directors of the Foundation.

One of P.K.’s greatest assets is his capacity to use his personality and his enthusiasm to rally the public around the projects he supports. A man of his time, P.K. shines on social media, multiplying his initiatives to raise awareness, reach out to individuals and engage the community. The press conference announcing his $10 million pledge provided the Hospital and its Foundation with tremendous exposure, with media coverage from coast to coast, throughout the United States and all the way to Europe. It also significantly increased their Instagram and Twitter followers and Facebook community. The video of P.K.’s Winter Wonderland surprise party, organized in collaboration with the Air Canada Foundation, for 50 young patients and their families did much to raise awareness about the cause of sick children.

The Jean Béliveau trophy is awarded annually to the Canadiens player who best exemplifies leadership qualities in the community. The award is accompanied by a $25,000 donation from the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation which P.K. Subban chose to give to the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation in support of the P.K.’s Helping Hand program.

Past winners of the trophy include Carey Price, Brian Gionta, Michael Cammalleri, Maxim Lapierre, Patrice Brisebois, Alex Kovalev, Francis Bouillon, Steve Bégin and Saku Koivu.