There is no doubt that the Montreal Canadiens and their fans were ecstatic for the addition of 2024 fifth-overall pick Ivan Demidov. He somehow slid to the Canadiens and the excitement fans feel is palpable. Is it warranted? Yes, Demidov is seen as a future offensive star, which is exactly what Montreal has been missing in their system. With his addition, the rebuild is seen as nearly complete.
The “Russian Factor” seems to have a slightly different meaning in Montreal. Yes, it does still allude to the difficulties NHL teams face at getting Russian prospects over to North America, but for Canadiens’ fans, it has an additional meaning. It means exciting hockey. That answers the why, because it’s no secret, Montreal loves players with flair, see PK Subban. But what gave birth to this love affair, and who has carried that torch over the years?
Canadiens’ Russian Big Three
Since the turn of the century, there has been a handful of Russian-born players to wear the Canadiens uniform. While some have been good, only a handful have been truly memorable.
Andrei Markov
Andrei Markov is an outlier when talking about flashy Russian skill players. While he is Russian, he never played with that reckless abandon and desire to push for offence that Russian players are known for. Instead, he was an incredible two-way defender who was able to quarterback a power play with aplomb. He was smooth and poised under pressure. He had incredible vision and could make long-distance passes through traffic quickly and accurately, leaving teammates with easy tap-in goals.
Related: Evolution of Canadiens Development Model
He suffered not one, but two significant knee injuries which forced him to miss nearly two entire seasons of play. While these injuries did affect his skating, which was once seen as smooth, effortless and one of the best strides in the game at that time, it did not cause him to have a sharp decline in effectiveness as some anticipated at the time. What made him special was his hockey mind. He was able to control a game because of his ability to read, react and anticipate what everyone on the ice was doing. In the end, he provided Canadiens fans with 990 games of excellence, finishing his NHL career, some would say too early in 2017, with 119 goals and 572 points as the highest-scoring Russian-born player in team history and even has fans talking about if he has done enough to have his number…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Hockey Writers…