Listen, the track record for RDS on injury reporting has been a little spotty of late, but when they report that Andrei Markov will miss three to four months after undergoing surgery to repair tendon damage you have to take notice.
If Markov is out four months, that will mean he might be able to return after the Olympic break. While this is actually very good news for Yannick Weber, who should be on the bus to Buffalo as we speak, losing Markov for that amount of time effectively ends the Habs season before it even started.
It was fun while it lasted.
I'm pretty swamped with other (paid) work right now and will have to leave it at that. I'll take more of an in depth look at things after we hear from the Canadiens today and after I get my head around what, if anything, Bob Gainey can do with the Long Term Injury Relief he'll receive on Markov's $5.75 million salary.
Friday, October 2, 2009
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13 comments:
And let's also remember that in a best case scenario, if the Habs keep it together, if Gainey makes a reasonable deal...then when Markov comes back after the Olympics, it will feel like a MAJOR trade deadline acquisition.
Such a negative nancy arp - season over?! Come on. Its a huge blow, no question, but I feel like this years D squad is in much better shape to withstand his absence. I actually think we 'll be alright. Weber will surprise and maybe will get a little P.K. time - thats fun!
Take it easy everyone. Take a long, deep breath now.
While there's no doubt Markov is an extremely important player for the Habs - likely second only to Price - the beauty of the game of hockey is that it success requires an entire team.
If the Habs are so fragile that the loss of one player means the season is completely shot then Bob Gainey hasn't done a good enough job building the team.
Does this injury make it harder for the Habs? Without a doubt. But the whole point of building a team through the draft and in-house development is to be ready for situations just like this one.
How many NHL stars have been born over the years from situations just like these. A key player gets injured and some wet-behind-the-ears rookie comes out of nowhere to be a hero. Dozens if not hundreds of times.
In 2028 it could be video footage from the this upcoming season that we're looking back upon as Weber retires from a fruitful career, having quarterbacked the Habs to five Stanley Cups.
Among the highlights will be that 2009 Cinderella story...
Remember? When Bob Gainey built a team from the ground up in a few days in July, and they went on to win the Cup in overtime of game 7 in Joe Louis Arena? That's after taking out the Caps in the conference semis and the Pens in the conference final.
Good ol' Weber scored the goal heard 'round the world with a Howitzer from the point.
Wow, look how young he looks. And those losers in the stands; I can't believe we ever dressed like that!
That was the season Gomez was the first Hab to score 100 points in almost 25 years. And Cammalleri potted 50, becoming the first Hab to do so since Stephane Richer scored 51 in 1989-90. Gionta was so close with 48 again...
Look, the above scenario is obviously pretty ridiculous but trust me, there's hope yet folks. In hockey, anything can happen. If that wasn't the case why would you even bother watching?
I love the optimism people, I'm just trying to be realistic. Maybe I'm too negative, but I call it how I see it. Jaro Spacek is suddenly the team's No. 1 defenceman, a role he filled pretty admirably in Buffalo, so maybe things aren't quite as bad as they seem. But really, I don't see this team playing any better than .500 hockey without Markov, and that's a best-case scenario. I hope I'm proven wrong.
Bring up Webber. If that doesn't work we can make a pretty good trade. We have Halak and SK to dangle. That's a pretty good dangle. Who has surplus defencemen. Um. The Leafs do. But that will never happen. Who else?
Arpon:
-you are not being too negative you actually understand the game and made your call based on that knowledge
1. SK has no value currently
2. Halak is a backup currently
-that translates into very little
-as for the polyannish dreams of some well I'll remind you how happy many were very happy to get the plyons known as Gill & Mara...that many still think Spacek was a better D man than Beauchemin
-sometimes you have to let the kids play in the street to know that getting hit by a car hurts. otherwise they do not believe you
-better hope Weber was sent down because his contract and waiver staus made it easy to do so and he is truly ready otherwise kiss les series good bye
-wonder what Streit at $3.5 for 5 yrs would look like now...man that non negotiating policy in mid season is really working out..
Just a note- four months means he would be back in early February, just in time for the Olympics.
Spacek is better than Beauchemin, if last night (warts and all) is anything to go by. Gill and Mara should not be paired together--that's not Bob's fault.
Gill has a specific utility and needs a complimentary player. Mara is not that player. Gorges could be. I'd try Spacek/Mara, Hamrlik/O'Byrne and Gill/Gorges. While that potentially gives too many minutes to Mara, it moves Spacek to the left (where he is clearly more comfortable, as we saw last night after Markov went down) and is a more even distribution of the D. Martin will have to mean it when he says he finds the Cup-winning Carolina D from a few years ago a balanced group where each played within their means.
However, I don't think it matters in the end because Markov is the only, in my opinion, irreplaceable Hab and without him, the playoffs are but a dream.
I meant to say Martin found the Carolina D a good blueprint.
Is this a career threatening injury?
I don't think it's career-threatening. It actually sounds like it's exactly what happened to Lang, and he's back at it at his age. I think it might slow him down a little bit, like it did to Chipchura. God, what other organization has had this happen to three of its players?
Most of you are way too negative. My God, it's one guy and the team will compensate - or it won't. I for one am going to enjoy watching how the cope and persevere.
Arpon... season over? C'mon mam. Switch to decaf.
more significant than losing your best player by far and the 3rd highest scoring D man from last year and a top 10 NHL defenceman which are all reasons not to be positive BUT if you agree they are a bubble team fighting with about 5 others for 7th and 8th the loss of Markov is significant enough to reflective itself in a loss of say 10-12 points in the standings regardless of replacement
in others words they were so close with 5 others in the fight for 7th and 8th that this loss removes the possibility of staying in the hunt with those other 5 teams
BG will need to pull a huge rabbit out of his butt w/o sacrificing a major prospect component to find a replacement if Weber doesn't make the grade
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