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Pregame: Canadiens vs Stars and About Subban... |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
The Canadiens will have a big task on their hands tonight when they take on Dallas. The Stars are currently 6th in the league and 1st in the Central division, they’ve got a 5-3-2 record in their last 10 games even though they lost their last one. There were talks of postponing the game to ensure that the Canadiens could make their way back home for the Christmas break considering the snowstorm that is currently hitting Montreal, but the league decided to go ahead with the game. The puck will drop at 8:00 PM and the Habs’ next game after this one will be on December 28th.
Yesterday, TSN 690 asked its followers on Twitter: which was the best defenseman P.K. Subban or Andrei Markov? It’s easy to know where the inspiration for that question came from since the Canadiens have announced that they’ll hold an homage to P.K. Subban prior to their game against the Nashville Predators on January 12. Never has an athlete been as polarizing as Subban in Montreal, the fan base is still divided about the former blueliner and when the announcement came, many were quick to criticize and say that if Markov didn’t get that, Subban didn’t deserve it. Hours later, Chantal Machabée reached out to Martin Lemay, a radio show host on BPM Sports to tell him that the Habs actually wanted to honor both Subban and Markov but that the latter’s schedule made it impossible (Markov is now an assistant coach in the KHL).
But back to TSN’s question, I don’t think there’s a debate to be had there. I loved P.K. Subban and his entertaining, attacking style of hockey, it was great to see him take off on the ice and make everyone jump out of their seat at the Bell Center, but he just wasn’t as good a defenseman as Markov was. Prime Subban was very good, he even won a Norris trophy, but at the end of the day, he had his best years in Montreal and once he started declining, his star faded fast. Over the course of his 834 career games, Subban gathered 115 goals and 352 assists for 467 points. Meanwhile, Markov played 990 games and finished with 119 goals, 453 assists and 572 points. It’s close, Markov has got a 0.58 point per game average while Subban stands at 0.56, but being a defenseman is about so much more than points.
When Subban lost his speed, he declined fast and didn’t have Markov longevity. The General as we used to call him suffered a few knee injuries over the course of his career and many thoughts he wouldn’t be as good a defenseman after that, but he didn’t miss a beat. Markov made up for the speed he lost with his hockey smarts and stayed as efficient as ever. Subban was spectacular and entertaining, but Markov was a calm, steadying and reassuring presence on the blue line who could orchestrate a power play like no-one else.
When Subban left, the Canadiens became less entertaining, but when Markov left, the wheels came off the power play wagon and that is still an issue to this day. As fun to watch and as generous as Subban was off the ice, for me, Markov was the better defenseman and it’s not even close. I’m not saying Subban doesn’t deserve the homage he’ll receive on January 12th though, what he did for the game of hockey and as a role model for so many young players are remarkable and inspiring just like his pledge to the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Whether you liked him or not, you cannot deny the effect he had both on this team and on this city and for that, he deserves to be honored. Come January 12th, I’ll be at the Bell Centre cheering him on and I hope every fan there will do the same.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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