Who out of these three was a better player at his best?
Zubov was the best in that group, but am I the only one who would rather trust Markov than Gonchar with big minutes despite the latter earning significantly more accolades during his career??
Zubov, he should be in HHOF imo.
One of those situations where his reputation of offence-only followed him, despite the fact that his game was 2-way later in his career.
How many "big minutes" has Markov played in his career? Montreal always seems to lose in the early rounds. Gonchar has played in a few Finals at least.
Zubov and Gonchar are better than Housley for sure.
Gonchar came around to be a better defensive player as his career matured...much more reliable than the early Capitals version.
Zubov is still the best of the bunch, had the most offensive upside and didn't have the lowest floor. Gonchar packed a lot of offensive upside, showed some maturity to his game later in his career. Softest of the bunch with the lowest floor.
Markov more reliable two-ways, not as good of a skater as the other two, limited puck carrying ability compared to the other two. Game-in, game-out is less prone to major defensive errors. Played in much more defensive systems over the life of his career. Lowest ceiling, but a high floor.
That's how I size them up very roughly.
I will look if you present the data
He's third, however Brisbois is 6th. Canadiens never really had an offensive defenseman post-expansion. Thats why. The two guys in front of him are both from post-expansion (Robinson and Lapointe) and all the players behind are pre-expansion except Savard and Chelios. Chelios has better PPG. I doubt anyone will rank Markov top-10 even if its only offense. Habs had too many great defensemen in the O6.
Btw hes 6th in PPG out of players who played 100+ games with the habs.
...You made me double-check : Markov and Lapointe are actually tied.
How many HHOF forwards did Markov play with during his career?
How many HHOF forwards did Markov play with during his career?
Point is, there's not a lot of big game experience to gauge him by. I know it's not his fault that the Canadiens haven't had a top tier forward in several decades.
Actually, having seen about 95% of Markov's NHL games, the biggest issue with him is probably playoff performance.
Problem is given the habs circumstances, they've never been able to effectively manage his minutes. He runs out of gas.