Andrei Markov announces retirement

[Sugi21]

He never made it right with him. Markov wanted 2 years and deservedly so after all he was/has been the best habs defenseman of the past decades and a loyal servant. Markov was also only missing 10 games to reach 1000 games. It was a dick move more ridiculous once you realize his replacement was Alzner.

This should have got Bergevin fired, and to make it worse he has never tried to correct this mistake. I don't even care the habs missing the playoff for the last 3 years without Markov. The disrespect to him has made me want his head. I truly despise and cannot trust Bergevin anymore.

Was t it around the same time too when he gave Plekanec a $6 million deal? No wonder why Markov wanted the same he was just as good of a warrior or better than Pleky

 

[Bleedred]

10 games short of 1000 in Montreal. MB just can't show any respect to players. Pathetic in this case; Markov was a great soldier and a leader for the Habs.

I don’t agree with showing players loyalty in these cases just because of who they are to the franchise or what they were.

But it was when they opted to let Markov go that they signed the STUPID Alzner contract, which I (as well as many others predicted) said was not gonna go over well. And a little over a year into that horrific contract Alzner ended up buried in the minors, because he was an awful player on an even more awful contract.

So while Markov was old, I think signing him for just one more year (or even two) would have been MUCH more safer than signing that stupid 5 year contract for Alzner, who despite being 10 years younger was already worse than Markov might be had he played in the NHL in 2021.

 

[Canadienna]

He was a huge part of Subbans growth and eventual Norris.

When he left the Habs PP never recovered. He had the ultimate no look back door pass.

That's exactly how galchenyuk hit 30

 

[Le Tricolore]

I agree. He has that Backstrom type of hype even during his prime, not sure why, considering he played in Montreal

He was never a flashy player. He did everything right and made guys like Komisarek and Emelin (and Subban?) a lot of money by making them look way better than they were when paired with him.

 

[Kunta Kinte]

2o007-2008 he was at his best ever IMO.

Finished 1st in the NHL for powerplay goal for while on the ice (PGF). 18 goals and 65 adjusted point.

Shame that he missed half of 09-10 and both season after 7 and 13 games, missed his whole prime, people called him done for good. Came back lockout season played the full 48 games season then 81,81,82 games. Fans never talk about that, everyone was saying he was done and made of glass his knees shot. Dude played 4 season without missing a beat, then 62 games in his last season..

And he didnt just played the game on his downhill, 30pts in 48games, 43pts in 81, 50pts in 81, 44pts in 82 and 36pts in 62 games... Dude was still productive when he was let go.

 

[Kunta Kinte]

 

[JianYang]

He was an excellent player. He was always an elite puck mover, and didn't really have any weakness in his game.

I recall during that 2010 run to the semi finals, markov missed half the season. In the playoffs, Matt Cooke knocked out markov in game 1 against pittsburgh. Montreal did eliminate pittsburgh that year, but they couldn't go any further.

He could have easily played a thousand games despite the injuries. When he could not agree to a contract with Montreal, he just opted to go straight to the khl. At the time, he was still a guy who could play well in the nhl, and I recall the flyers were particularly keen on signing him.

He will go down as one of the most underappreciated players of his era. He finished his career with the habs tied for 2nd in all time dman points behind only Larry Robinson.

 

[Sugi21]

He was never a flashy player. He did everything right and made guys like Komisarek and Emelin (and Subban?) a lot of money by making them look way better than they were when paired with him.

Don’t forget about Souray and Streit! Souray had career years playing with Markie!

 

[JianYang]

Don’t forget about Souray and Streit! Souray had career years playing with Markie!

I think markov generally played PP with souray and streit, which is where these guys scored alot of goals.

But 5 on 5, streit was playing as a forward by the time he joined the 1st PP unit, and souray generally played with rivet.

 

[dirty stanchion]

His willingness to share handshake etiquette with Lucic will always endear me to him.

Easily one of the most underrated Dmen of the last 20 years.

 

[PavelBrendl]

No player that I'm old enough to remember has done more for the Montreal Canadiens than Andrei Markov.

His unceremonious departure was only part of the off-season that should have cost Bergevin his job.

 

[JuJu Mobb]

His high hockey IQ is dearly missed on our defense.

Never been replaced...

 

[JianYang]

 

[Fixxer]

I was a kid when he came into the league. I thought he was mostly an unknown depth defenseman.. but he slowly got better.. and better.. and even better. Sadly, his knee acted up but after a few rough years, he got healthy again. He was still a very dependant defenseman and the guy who could move the puck and make the PP work consistently.

 

[GordonGraham]

He had a very good career but no Norris, not even a nomination, never was 1st nor 2 team all star either, he was a #1D on a very poor team

 

[Kunta Kinte]

He had a very good career but no Norris, not even a nomination, never was 1st nor 2 team all star either, he was a #1D on a very poor team

Finished 6th twice but got robbed of a top-3 in 2009.

He was 2nd in pts and dominant in both ends.

 

[JianYang]

He had a very good career but no Norris, not even a nomination, never was 1st nor 2 team all star either, he was a #1D on a very poor team

A chunk of his prime was taken by multiple season ending injuries.

He put up big numbers in 07/08, and the team was 1st overall in the conference. This is finally when he just started to get the recognition he deserved.

Unfortunately, this was also around the time he started being hit by some freakish, and season ending injuries for much of the time from then on right into the lockout.

So basically when the league came out of the lockout, all the recongition he had finally started to establish was long forgotten. People didn't even know if he could still play. It turns out he was still good, but he was already over 30 years of age by this time.

Despite it all, only Larry Robinson had more points as a habs dman than andrei markov.

 

[MakeTheGoalsLarger]

He had a very good career but no Norris, not even a nomination, never was 1st nor 2 team all star either, he was a #1D on a very poor team

yeah playing in the NHL for 16 years and not being nominated for any award is a total failure.

 

[Kimota]

He had a very good career but no Norris, not even a nomination, never was 1st nor 2 team all star either, he was a #1D on a very poor team

Says a lot of the stupidity of the nomination chosers.