Montreal Canadiens: Where Does Andrei Markov Rank Among Habs Defencemen?

Where does Markov rank among all Habs defencemen?

When you speak about all-time Habs greats, the talk inevitably turns to the past. There were dynasties in the 50’s, the 60’s and the 70’s. Some of the greatest teams in the history of hockey suited up in Montreal, especially in the 50’s and 70’s. Those teams were stacked with Hall of Famers.

There aren’t as many current or recent Canadiens players that figure into the all-time Habs talk. Maybe over time Carey Price will, but he has some tough competition in goal from Jacques Plante, Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy. We haven’t seen any forwards excel at the rate some of the past greats did, but Markov put up some impressive statistics for a Habs defenceman.

Upon his retirement, Markov played all of 990 NHL games with the Montreal Canadiens. This is the second highest number ever by a Habs blue liner. He scored 119 goals in that time which is third behind Larry Robinson and Guy Lapointe. Markov’s 572 points in a Canadiens jersey tie him with Lapointe for second all time, only trailing Robinson.

Markov’s 60 power play goals also put him second behind Robinson. However, anyone who can remember the Canadiens fierce power play following the 2005 lockout, can recall Sheldon Souray and Mark Streit blasting slap shots from the point. They can also remember that Markov was the catalyst of that power play. Usually he was setting up Souray, Streit, Alex Kovalev, Michael Ryder or Saku Koivu for a scoring chance, but sometime he would sneak in the backdoor and one-time a puck in himself.

Markov’s impressive statistics speak for themselves. He lost almost two full seasons with a series of knee injuries in 2010-11 and 2011-12. I’ve always wondered how that opening round playoff series in 2011 with the Boston Bruins would have ended if Markov was playing. The Habs did go out an acquire James Wisniewski to replace Markov when he was injured, but they lost Game 7 in overtime and Markov’s dominating presence at both ends of the ice at that time in his career could have been the difference.

So, where do Markov’s accolades rank all time among Canadiens defencemen? Well, there is little doubt he comes in behind Larry Robinson. Doug Harvey didn’t put up as many points as others, but he played in a different era where defencemen defended and forwards scored. Harvey won the Norris Trophy six times as a member of the Canadiens so it is safe to say him and Robinson are the top two.

After that, the debate begins. It is difficult to compare players that played in different eras but it would be difficult to convince me Markov is any lower that fifth all-time among Habs defenders. The only other two defencemen in the history of the Canadiens that can compare to Markov are Guy Lapointe and Serge Savard.

Lapointe scored just as many points as Markov but did it in 213 less games played. Savard was a two-way force. None of them ever won a Norris Trophy, but Lapointe was in the top five in voting on six different occasions. Savard was in the top five for the Norris four different times. Markov was ranked sixth on two occasions.

I would say Markov comes in just behind those two members of “The Big Three.” Clearly Robinson and Harvey are the top two and then Savard and Lapointe are next. After that? No defenceman has done more over a longer period of time for the Montreal Canadiens than Andrei Markov.