Andrei Markov

Let me preface this by saying that this, in no way, is an actual rumor.

An interesting discussion took place on Montreal's Team 990 radio station last night about pending unrestricted free agent Andrei Markov.

With playoffs just two weeks away, teams should be starting to wonder what roles their rookies are capable of playing in these intense games. Likewise, rookies should understand that their confidence will be challenged, and they will be expected to adjust their style in order to be able to help their team in the playoffs.

Russia's Kontinental Hockey League has been in the news recently after Evgeni Nabokov terminated his contract with KHL club SKA St. Petersburg. Also Kyle Wellwood and Atlant Mytishchi parted ways over conflicting reports of whether he returned to the U.S. to be with his pregnant wife or if he was cut based on his performance.

Wellwood signed with the St. Louis Blues and Nabokov has yet to sign with another team.

As the season moves along, many factors will start to affect the judgment of front office officials in the NHL.

Injuries, standings and pressure from every direction will start to wear on people and a move will have to be made.

Many of these defenders are getting older and are becoming unrestricted free agents at the conclusion of the season, so teams may be looking to get whatever they can in return so that the player doesn’t walk without the team getting compensation.

Shortly after the Montreal Canadiens made it official that defenseman Andrei Markov would miss the rest of this season, I got into a twitter debate about the trading of Jaroslav Halak.

Believe it or not, this lively discussion about the Habs’ former goaltender stemmed directly from the conjecture about what GM Pierre Gauthier will do with the cap space the Habs have suddenly cleared.

On the same day that the Montreal Canadiens officially announced that star defenseman Andrei Markov's knee injury was serious and he would be out "long term", his teammates faced their biggest challenge of the season.

Last night was the return of the Canadiens' playoff nemeses: the Philadelphia Flyers.

So much for the ''who have they beaten'' argument.

A flawless week that saw finally saw the Montreal Canadiens meet and defeat superior competition. Three flawless outings, with only three goals allowed by temporary fan-favorite Carey Price.

Following the No. 3 trend, we have no choice but to mention the loss of superstar defenseman Andrei Markov after a collision with Carolina Hurricanes captain Eric Staal.

After tearing an ACL in last season’s playoffs, Andrei Markov finally returned to the lineup a scant seven games ago. Last night versus the Carolina Hurricanes, the Habs' best defenseman once again went down to the ice in pain with his gloves flying off, pounding the sideboards in frustration.

I can only sympathize. Like him and many other Habs fans, I’m feeling very frustrated this morning.

The Montreal Canadiens had a lot of people worried about last night's game against the Carolina Hurricanes, despite their excellent play in recent weeks and regardless of their convincing wins over the Bruins and Canucks.

But why?

The Montreal Canadiens are off to a surprising start for most, almost as surprising as their conference final finish last season. There are many reasons as to why they are sitting atop their division and tied for fourth in the league.

It's actually the same reason why they had such a deep playoff run last spring. They've been winning close defensive hockey games, buying into Jacques Martin's system.