Which Hab...only one Hab...money Hab...

And the soap opera begins, here's your cast for ''Money Habs vs. Which Hab?''

MONEY HABS----------------------------------------- WHICH HAB?
starring:----------------------------------------------- directed by:

Andrei Markov---------------------------------------Montreal Canadiens
Sheldon Souray------------------versus------------ Bob Gainey
Don Meehan------------------------------------------Well-being of team
113 points-------------------------------------------- Salary Cap
$$$$$$$$$$--------------------------------------------$$$$$$$$$$

It's no secret the Montreal Canadiens can do only so much, as a team on the ice, as buiseness men off the ice and as regular but slightly more rich people in general.

And they can only sign one of their current impending UFA defencemen, unless they want to devote a quarter of their cap total to 2 players and not bring in a guy that can help this TEAM SCORE GOALS.

I have devisted a little battle/movie premiere for you, I hope you enjoy it, especially those who aren't aware of this situation (oh brother...)



1) Andrei Markov vs Montreal Canadiens
The Star: Andrei Markov
The 28-year old Russian-born defenceman is by far one of the most underrated and best defencemen of the NHL.
He is an excellent skater, plays a sound and solid defensive game while providing a more than average offensive touch.

The Stat: Markov had 6 goals and 43 assists last season in a total of 77 games played, averaged 25 minutes of ice-time and was a +2 on a team whose defence featured a -28 by the other star, Sheldon Souray.
He set career highs in assists (43), points (49), and powerplay assists (27).


The Director: Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens' up-and-down season was full of surprises and some unwanted twists and turns.
But it became clear after the season ended in dismay, after we realized that Andrei Markov would become a UFA that we needed him more than everyone originally thought. He is such a good player and guy to have around your team, he excels defensively and is improving year-by-year offensively.
He is a Paul Coffey of the new NHL, and only God knows how much this guy's been underrated in 29 GM's minds.
The Canadiens world was in shock once Zdeno Chara was named to the new NHL's first ever NHL all-star game while Andrei Markov can all but sit and watch from his television screen.
The point above also illustrates how Markov is underrated and underlooked in this case in many, many people's minds.
Chara had a decent season but was nothing compared to the powerhouse monster he used to be in Ottawa.
Only Montreal Canadiens fans understand Markov's value, more than any other team or fanbase in the entire country, and it is imperative that Bob Gainey make him his no. 1 priority, and not Sheldon Souray.

The $$$$$$: Andrei Markov put a little more than $2 million in his bank account last year and he'll be looking to double and almost triple that come this summer.
Rumours are flying around media sources like RDS and La Presse that suggest Markov has been offered a 4 year/$20 million contract by Bob Gainey, and that Don Meehan (his agent) and co. will evaluate this offer carefully.

The deal-breaker: Markov recently blew his knee out on a knee-on-knee hit at the World Championships in Moscow, his knee was examined by Montreal and Russian doctors and both have come to the same conclusion: no surgery needed, and thank God!
It is not expected to have an impact on his potential deal, but nevertheless, doctors can be wrong too.

The Skinny: Markov will be retained by the Canadiens, for a duration of 4-5 years and he will net between $5 and $5.5 million.
I am almost certain he will be in the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge and a topic on this blog for the years to come.
(more to come)