Habs : Return of the general

Source : canadiens.nhl.com



We sometimes take certain things for granted. In their absence, we tend to discover just how important they really are. And, we appreciate them even more when they return.

That’s somewhat been the story of rearguard Andrei Markov, a general who has long patrolled the Canadiens blue line.

Having only contested 73 of his team’s 272 games between 2009 and 2012 after undergoing several knee surgeries, the Russian defenseman returned to form when the NHL season began back in January.

After putting his knee to the test in the KHL with a 21-game stint with Vityaz de Chekhov during the lockout, Markov showed that time spent in his native Russia played an important role in his being able to perform consistently during the condensed 2012-13 NHL schedule. His decision to head overseas ahead of the regular season was welcomed by Canadiens brass.

“The fact that Andrei played in the KHL helped him,” indicated Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin. “He hadn’t played for such a long period of time. We obviously had no control over whether or not he would play in the KHL, but internally we were pleased. We knew that he had to find his rhythm again. The best way to do that was to play hockey, and that’s what he did. He had a great start.”

If the Canadiens started the season off at a torrid pace and began heading down a path that would see them jump from finishing 15th in the Eastern Conference in 2011-12 to second in 2012-13, partial credit goes to number 79 who registered four goals, including three game-winning markers in three consecutive games – a first for a defenseman in team history – and four assists during the first six games of the season in January. All doubt had been set aside. The Markov of old was back.

At his post for each of the 48 regular season tilts and five playoff games, Markov was a veritable workhorse for head coach Michel Therrien’s defense corps, logging at least 20 minutes of ice time in all but two games over the course of the year. It was a tall order for a 34-year-old defenseman who hadn’t laced up his skates in practically two years. Markov, however, met the challenge in front of him head on. He finished the season with 30 points, 23 of which came on the power play, finishing second only to teammate P.K. Subban who led all NHL defensemen in that category.

"Not playing over the course of two years and then playing two games in two nights, four in six. I was tired just traveling with the guys," explained Bergevin with a grin. "In general, we’re happy with the way he performed."

Having coached Markov during his early days in the NHL, Therrien was happy to be able to count on his general game in and game out. Markov’s triumphant return did not go unnoticed when it was announced that he was the Canadiens’ candidate for the Bill Masterton Trophy.

"It’s a great demonstration of perseverance. He went practically two years without being able to play," said the Canadiens bench boss. "He’s a player that we used a lot, who’s important at the heart of our team and who played in all of our games. When we talk about perseverance, Andrei is an excellent example of that."

The Voskresensk, Russia native took full advantage of the season to cement his place among the best defensemen in team history, moving up to fifth on the all-time points list with 399 points. Legends Serge Savard and Doug Harvey are in sight for Markov in 2013-14.

While the campaign may have ended earlier than expected after a successful regular season, the veteran rearguard is optimistic about what the future has in store.

“We expected more. Regardless of where you finish in the standings, you want to get past the opening round. Everyone was disappointed,” confessed Markov. “We’ve got a good group of young players who will get even better next season. We’ve got a bright future ahead of us.”

Habs : Time to give Andrei Markov a rest before playoffs

Source : montrealgazette.com

During the grim winter of 1999, I spent two weeks in Moscow working on a series of articles on Russian hockey.

Russia was in chaos. The ruble had collapsed the previous August. Rival gangsters were gunning each other down on the street and massacring bankers. Genteel women in their 50s and 60s stood in the cold outside metro stations, trying to sell cracked vases and broken vases. Younger women stood shivering in the cold in thin dresses, hoping to sell their bodies.

There was a flu epidemic and many of the people I wanted to interview were sick in bed — but the hockey was great. On the advice of Pierre McGuire, I keyed on the Dynamo Moscow team and three young NHL draft choices.

They were the flashy Maxim Afinogenov, who had a decent NHL career before spending the past three seasons with SKA St. Petersburg; the hulking Nik Antropov, who is still in the NHL with the Winnipeg Jets — and a converted forward named Andrei Markov, who was teeing it up on the blue line for Dynamo after being drafted in the sixth round of the 1998 draft, 162nd overall, by Canadiens GM Réjean Houle.

Give McGuire credit: He was high on Afinogenov, but he told me that Markov was the one to watch and he was right. Markov had moved to Moscow that season from Voskresensk Khimik. He was still learning to play the blue line, but he was a smooth skater and an accurate passer.

When we set up a post-game interview with the young trio of Dynamo stars, Afinogenov had plenty to say. Antropov was gruff, but happy to talk. Markov, even in Russian, was painfully shy and almost completely silent. I managed to coax a few semi-audible words out of him, but it was obvious that his game would be on the ice, not off it.

Before long, of course, Markov was making Patrice Brisebois look far better than he ever was. Over a dozen seasons, Markov has emerged as the Canadiens’ best defenceman and Houle’s most brilliant draft choice. Not only that, but he’s become an articulate interview and a team leader — in English.

Knowing where he came from, knowing what Russia was like during that grim winter when Markov was sharpening his skills for the NHL, I have always felt a particular sympathy for the man and his game. More than any other factor, his play the first half of this season was responsible, in my view, for the Canadiens’ turnaround.

The remarkable thing is that he’s playing at all. After Carey Price’s skate blade sliced a tendon in his left ankle during the opening game of the 2009-10 season, Markov was propelled into a run of bad luck that threatened his career. He came back, but suffered a more serious injury during the playoffs in the spring of 2010 when Pittsburgh dirty-tricks specialist Matt Cooke took out his knee in a play along the boards.

Markov tried to come back too soon to help his team, reinjured the knee, and during the next two seasons played a total of 20 games. Overall, fans and media give him no credit at all for enduring all that.

No matter that Markov has shown remarkable courage and determination in coming back at all or that he was the team’s best defenceman during the first half of this season: He is a favourite target of the Twitter posse, cursed as too old, too slow and too fragile, blamed for everything from the Canadiens’ current losing streak to the lousy spring weather.

To be fair, Markov looks tired and beat up and it’s probably true that he hasn’t been the same since Alexei Emelin was hurt in a 2-1 victory over the Bruins at the Bell Centre April 6. Emelin was sidelined for the season and Markov very much misses his physical, stay-at-home partner.

The night Emelin was hurt, Markov played a shade under 24 minutes and was a minus-1. He was over 25 minutes with another minus-1 in the club’s next game, a loss to Washington, minus-1 with two points and a power-play goal against Buffalo, minus-2 in the debacle in Toronto that signalled the beginning of this skid, minus-1 against the Flyers, even with a late goal against Pittsburgh, minus-1 against Tampa Bay and minus-1 against the Caps Saturday.

Since Emelin went down, Markov is minus-8 in eight games, while consistently playing between 22 and 26 minutes throughout.

Remember, this is a guy who hasn’t played anything like a full season since 2008-09. This season, he has played 21 games with Chekhov Vityaz and 45 games with the Habs during a short, brutally intense NHL campaign.

Markov isn’t old, but he is 34, trying to run a marathon after four years of short sprints. Rather than cursing Markov, fans and the media in this town need to take the long view of what he’s trying to accomplish here, understand how very difficult that is in light of his recent history, and cut the guy a break.

The Canadiens are going to need Markov in the playoffs. They have three remaining games, all on the road, against New Jersey, Winnipeg and Toronto. At this point, playoff seeding means less than being ready to play in the post-season. With every game, it seems, the Habs edge a little closer to a first-round date with the Leafs, which would be traumatic — especially for a team that is less than healthy.

Michel Therrien needs to rest Markov and a banged-up Brandon Prust. This team is capable of winning any of the last three games without Markov and Prust — if Price gets back on his game. If he doesn’t, there isn’t a whole lot the two veterans can do to help, now or in the playoffs.

If you want to know what’s wrong with this team, stop cursing Markov and try to understand what it does to your team when your goalie lets in a soft one. As someone said on Twitter Saturday night, “you might as well go along the bench and kick every one of your teammates in the (testicles.)”

Price has put the Canadiens in an early hole night after night during this stretch. Nor is he showing the career trajectory you’d like to see in a relatively young goalie. His numbers have got significantly worse over the past three seasons, from a 2.35 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage to 2.43 and .916 last year and a woeful 2.59 and .905 this campaign, with a far better team in front of him.

Having Markov and Prust healthy and rested will help. Having Price where he was during the 2011 playoffs against Boston, when he put up a .934 save percentage and a 2.11 GAA while facing the eventual Stanley Cup winners? That would help a good deal more.

Price needs to get in touch with his inner pit bull. Blame Markov all you want: the simple truth is that either Price turns it around, or the Canadiens are on the golf course by mid-May, one and done.

Heroes: Andrei Markov, Brian Gionta, Alex Galchenyuk, Gabriel Dumont, Brendan Gallagher, Bryce Harper, Dwayne Casey, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Stephen Curry, Sergei Bobrovsky, Braden Holtby, Troy Brouwer &&&& last but not least, Alex Ovechkin — who would get my Hart Trophy vote if I had one.

Zeros: Matt Cooke, Sebastien Vettel, Bernie Ecclestone, those Pirelli tires, Mike Duffy, Patrick Brazeau, Bryan Colangelo, Tom Garfinkel, Carlos Quentin, Pierre Gauthier, the battling McCourts, Lance Armstrong, Claude Brochu, Curt Schilling, David Samson, Jeffrey Loria &&&& last but not least, Luis Suarez — who seems to have developed Mikhail Grabovski disease.

Heureux d'être à Montréal

Source : Rds.ca

Les blessures ont considérablement ralenti la carrière d'Andrei Markov au cours des trois dernières saisons. À l'aube de la prochaine campagne, le défenseur russe, qui est arrivé à Montréal jeudi, se dit prêt et en santé.

Après avoir disputé 21 matchs dans la KHL, Markov est de retour en ville et s'est dit heureux de renouer avec l'environnement de la Sainte-Flanelle. « Je me suis ennuyé de Montréal », a-t-il admis avec sa timidité habituelle.

 « Je me suis ennuyé des partisans du Canadien et cette saison écourtée s'annonce amusante. »

Markov, qui a décidé de prolonger son séjour en Russie en disputant un dernier match mardi, a admis que de jouer dans la KHL pendant le lock-out était la meilleure décision qu'il pouvait prendre. De plus, il affirme être en santé et ajoute ne pas être ennuyé par une blessure aux côtes subie il y a quelques semaines.

« Je me sens au sommet de ma forme. Je suis heureux d'être en santé et je suis anxieux de commencer à jouer. » Markov retrouvera Michel Therrien, pour qui il avait évolué au début des années 2000. Therrien était l'entraîneur-chef du Canadien lorsque Markov a fait ses débuts dans la LNH. D'après un reportage de Félix Séguin

L'incertitude persiste autour de Markov

Pas de nouvelle, bonne nouvelle. C'est l'attitude qu'adopte le Canadien dans le cas de l'état de santé d'Andrei Markov. Mais rien n'est moins assuré que tout va pour le mieux en ce qui concerne le défenseur russe.

Markov est actuellement en Floride afin de rencontrer le médecin qui a pratiqué la deuxième opération à son genou droit, le docteur James Andrews.

Une visite planifiée, comme l'a indiqué mercredi l'entraîneur Jacques Martin sans en dire davantage.

La question était de savoir si la période de récupération du Russe avait essuyé du recul dernièrement. C'est qu'on ne le voit plus patiner en solitaire à Brossard, ou ailleurs. Il avait accompagné l'équipe dans sa retraite fermée à Collingwood, en Ontario, ainsi qu'à Toronto, en vue du match inaugural contre les Maple Leafs, jeudi dernier.

Depuis ce temps, il n'est plus dans les parages. Il aurait quitté pour Miami dimanche. S'est-il rendu là-bas afin d'obtenir le feu vert pour recommencer à s'entraîner avec ses coéquipiers? C'est peu probable.


On a tenté de communiquer avec le conseiller de Markov, Don Meehan, qui n'a pas immédiatement retourné notre appel.

Au tournoi de golf du CH, le directeur général Pierre Gauthier avait dit que tout se passait normalement et qu'on espérait le retour de Markov pour le premier match. Peu de temps avant la fin du camp, Gauthier avait répété que la réadaptation suivait son cours en précisant qu'il ne raterait que quelques rencontres en début de saison.

Markov lui-même avait affirmé, à l'ouverture du camp, ne pas savoir à quel moment il pourra effectuer un retour. Il avait mentionné que sa saison n'était pas compromise et s'était même dit confiant de pouvoir prendre part au premier match.

Or, depuis la fin du camp, on est muet comme des carpes. Markov a patiné pour la dernière fois à Collingwood, au début du mois. On est donc très loin d'un retour sur glace avec l'équipe, encore moins d'un retour au coeur de l'action.

L'état de santé de Markov est préoccupant, compte tenu qu'il a été opéré deux fois au même genou en l'espace de sept mois. L'organisation du CH a misé sur sa récupération complète, l'été dernier, en lui accordant un contrat de 17,25 millions $ US pour trois ans.

Source : Rds.ca