Confirmed with Link: Andrei Markov retires

[Adam Michaels]

A career to be proud of. I enjoyed watching him.

 

[BLONG7]

Markov should have accepted what was offered but it’s okay that we are paying Karl Alzner 20 million to play in the minors and to help the equipment staff.

The Bargain Bin Way....

 

[ahmedou]

He wasn't a talker. Until he was on ice to be the general.

That's Markov.

 

[Scriptor]

Class thing to do for me would be to sign him to a one day contract and let him retire a Hab.

How many games to reach a Thousand? 11? Sign him to that length of a contract and play him as a 3rd pairing D for that many games, then have him mutually terminate the contract.

 

[sdf]

But why

 

[HabsCowboysOwn]

enough with the sentimental nonsense, its time to move on,

No, it’s not time to move on. It’s time for our idiotic GM to admit he’s made a huge mistake by treating one this team’s all-time great at his position like shit. Markov deserves to have his career celebrated and people will not move on before it happens because that’s the least dumb dumb Bergevin could do to fix his own mess.
A ceremony is a must if he wants to save face a little, not a choice.

 

[donghabs98]

It's a shame Markov didnt play out 17-18 and top 1000 games. I would have preferred watching a 38 year old Markov over a 39 year old Mark Streit.

 

[CanadienShark]

f*** Bergevin. Markov should've retired with 1000+ games as a Hab. Markov is a legend. Such a damn smart player.

 

[Jerryvvv]

No, it’s not time to move on. It’s time for our idiotic GM to admit he’s made a huge mistake by treating one this team’s all-time great at his position like shit. Markov deserves to have his career celebrated and people will not move on before it happens because that’s the least dumb dumb Bergevin could do to fix his own mess.
A ceremony is a must if he wants to save face a little, not a choice.

Maybe Markov doesn't want a ceremony, maybe he wouldn't go to one,

Do they really want to have a ceremony without the player present?

If Markov wanted to stay and get his 1,000 games he could have, it obviously wasn't that important to him, he is the one that walked, and turned his back to the organization,

i highly doubt he cares about a possible jersey retirement or ceremony

 

[LeHab]

3 seasons since Markov left, 3 seasons without playoffs.

Thanks for years of great service and loyalty. Enjoy a well deserved retirement!

 

[nyhabsfan]

For the organization that is considered one of the best in the NHL... Okay maybe not recently, we sure have F***Ed up with players that have provided amazing service to this organization.

Markov
Carbonneau (coach)
Koivu
Lafleur
Naslund

 

[LeHab]

For the organization that is considered one of the best in the NHL... Okay maybe not recently, we sure have F***Ed up with players that have provided amazing service to this organization.

Markov
Carbonneau (coach)
Koivu
Lafleur
Naslund

Add Roy.

 

[Ezpz]

It's not a coincidence we dropped out of the playoffs every year he was injured and every year since Bergevin lowballed him. He was better than Subban or Weber. He'll never get that respect due to his ethnicity and playing for us in a dark period. Guys like Kaberle were never even close to him as a player. He was Lidstrom-lite.

 

[groovejuice]

I figure if Markov wasn't so unlucky wth the knee injuries, he mightmight possibly have made it to the NHL HOF. He was just that good and also had amazing longevity.

I doubt the Habs would have retired his jersey though. Look how long they made Guy Lapointe wait for that very thing, and Guy was guerre de chez nous.

 

[SquiddFX]

There was nothing greater than watching Markov sneak down the wing while everyone’s distracted and scoring.

He was the best defenseman that I have seen on the Habs in my lifetime. He made Komisarek a whole lot of money.

 

[BLONG7]

Amazing Dman.............never got his due.

We lost Markov, and brought in Alzner and Streit, and kept MB working for years after for doing it...........let that sink in guys....
Clown GM has made many mistakes, losing Markov was a huge one.

 

[MTL-rules]

What was again the team's record with and without him ? Great player,sad he didn't finish with the habs... at least, we didn't see him in another NHL uniform like Plekanec.

 

[HabsCowboysOwn]

Maybe Markov doesn't want a ceremony, maybe he wouldn't go to one,

Do they really want to have a ceremony without the player present?

If Markov wanted to stay and get his 1,000 games he could have, it obviously wasn't that important to him, he is the one that walked, and turned his back to the organization,

i highly doubt he cares about a possible jersey retirement or ceremony

That’s not how I remember it. What I remember is MB lowballing him and making stupid, insulting comments about him and Radulov in the media. He wanted Markov to sign for peanuts but had not problem signing washed up, laughing stock Alzner for 5 years/almost 5 mil per a couple of days later. MB showed him no respect whatsoever and disregarded everything he had done for the franchise for the last 16 years over a couple extra millions. He had all the cap space in the world to sign him too. Pretty fitting that the team has been a complete joke ever since.

 

[Adam Michaels]

That’s not how I remember it. What I remember is MB lowballing him and making stupid, insulting comments about him and Radulov in the media. He wanted Markov to sign for peanuts but had not problem signing washed up, laughing stock Alzner for 5 years/almost 5 mil per a couple of days later. MB showed him no respect whatsoever and disregarded everything he had done for the franchise for the last 16 years over a couple extra millions. He had all the cap space in the world to sign him too. Pretty fitting that the team has been a complete joke ever since.

Where Bergevin screwed up was with his loyalty and dog comment. That's all on him.

Aside from that, let's not absolve Markov from those contract negotiations. MB said he was offering him the typical 35+ contract. Which has a base salary and a lot of performance bonuses, easily attainable ones like 10 GP, 20 GP, and those types of bonuses. The same kind of contract Chara signed with Boston the last two years.

Another part where Markov went wrong is he chose to represent himself rather than have an agent represent him. So he's hearing MB tell him why he wants to pay less. So his ego was taking a hit listening to that. This is why an agent is imperative. He's the buffer. He's the one the GM says those things to.

This is why last off-season, Markov hired Alan Walsh to see if he can get an NHL deal. He learned from last time.

And I'm not saying it's all on Markov. It takes two to dance. But I don't think it's fair that it's all put on MB.

 

[Kimota]

Markov was a great D for a long time but it's as if it was later on in his career when he was older and I was older than I grew to appreciate him more. His pure intelligence on the ice, the ease in which he would evade other players in a defensive capacity has been unmatched from what I saw from other guys in his position before or since. Not to mention his great passing skills.

 

[CHwest]

Markov should have accepted what was offered but it’s okay that we are paying Karl Alzner 20 million to play in the minors and to help the equipment staff.

But we got better.

 

[OldCraig71]

It's not a coincidence we dropped out of the playoffs every year he was injured and every year since Bergevin lowballed him. He was better than Subban or Weber. He'll never get that respect due to his ethnicity and playing for us in a dark period. Guys like Kaberle were never even close to him as a player. He was Lidstrom-lite.

You are obviously unaware the only French born players suffer this type of injustice. The Lidstrom comment was exactly how I saw him as well, I felt that the general made his D partners better and to a man i'd be willing to bet that they would give the man loads of credit for how he helped their individual games. A very smart player.

 

[Sagikev]

Do you guys think it would be legitimate to retire his number?

 

[beowulf]

So sad that he didn't get to 1,000 games with the Habs. Great dman for virtually all his career. Thanks for the memories General Markov.

 

[Canadiens Ghost]

One of those players that could elevate his team to be better than they really are. Sadly, he was at times under appreciated. He deserves a huge ovation at the BC.