My heart sank when Markov fell to the ice and punched the boards in frustration. Every SANE and TRUE fan of this team knows what this man means to the franchise. We love him, he loves us, he wants to be a Hab for life, and now this is in jeopardy. The "realists" now think he shouldn't be resigned, or should just retire. We're being told his season is over. We're being told it's 3 months. Someone said 3 weeks. Then 8 months to a year.
All this without an official word from the team, the doctors, or seeing any MRI result.
"More testing is needed," claimed Jacques Martin in his usual cardboard calm after he switched back his defensive pairings to the October Habs. The rest of the team is back on the ice, absolutely wired by Price's first-star of the week honours, and working hard to ready themselves for the Flyers. They'll remember to play smart and play as a unit, which is their Markov-less Recipe for Success. Of course they're stronger when Markov is healthy! The organization knows this more than the fans and will hopefully find some kind of deal for him regardless of the injury. Besides, the Habs don't do deals or contracts until the season is over (which is smart).
We the fans don't need the media trying to out-scoop not only each other but the organization in this case. We're dealing with a guy who is a key member of the team and it's leadership group. Markov is one of the best defensemen in the NHL, and you can't replace a guy like him. On the list of potential UFA defensemen, he's at the top. And while he started his season late, he was dying to get back on the ice, so much so that it looked like he stood the entire Islanders game, watching, waiting.
We don't need this circus in our time of worry. Markov is a loyal member of not just this team but this city, so much so that he enjoys his South Shore home in the offseason and became a Canadian citizen. He deserves our respect in this difficult time and patience, but more importantly he needs our support. The Habs will tell us when they know for sure and getting angry at their "secrecy" while jumping to rehash every speculative rumor isn't helping. They just want to make sure how long he'll be injured and what can be done. Ever hear about a second opinion? Unless Markov seriously cannot return from this injury, he will be back. Just look at Jeff Halpern after McGuire so graciously reminded us almost weekly of his terrible knee injuries that apparently "ruined" his career. (Looks OK to me, Pierre!)
Meanwhile, the Carolina Hurricanes have once again injured one of our stars. First Koivu's eye, now Markov's knee. And while Georges Laraque wonders how he got 5 games for a knee-on-knee hit on Niklas Kronwall, Gary Bettman's star member of this year's All-Star Game's home team didn't even get a penalty on the play. Karma might be our only hope. As in I hope the Carolina Hurricanes have a terrible season and keep getting blown out every game. (Sorry Cam Ward). Call me petty if you want, I'm sick of that team.
I send out this call for calm and reason. All we can do now is hope he heals up and that the team can continue their strong play without him until he's healthy and ready to return. And please, stop talking about Bergeron. We need a defenseman not a fail-train. (Anyway he's also out with a knee injury).
Markov 2.0?