How do you drop an atom bomb on a hopeful season? You take away the team's top two offensive, puck-moving defensemen out of the equation for the long-term and watch the devastation spread. The Canadiens learned on Monday that both Mathieu Schneider and Andrei Markov for the long-term.
Schneider, who was acquired by the Canadiens at the deadline, has now had his season end with a major shoulder injury. Schneider is likely to have season-ending shoulder surgery this week. This will now reduce Derek's number of skater games remaining by a few and we can now call his stats final. Schneider finished the season, playing 65 games, scoring 8 goals and adding 23 assists. Since joining the Canadiens, he played 21 games and had 16 points, which made him a very valuable member of the team, especially in this playoff run.
Markov, on the other hand, will miss the next three weeks, which potentially could see him back in the Habs line-up in the playoffs, if the bomb didn't decimate them enough to be swept. Markov was leading the team in scoring at the time of his injury, which is a huge member to lose this late in the season. He had 12 goals and 52 assists in 78 games with Montreal for 64 points. He was also second in the NHL for scoring among defensemen. With a 7-point cushion, he may still finish second this year.Both of these players are also on the Playoff Pool Sheet, so you may want to avoid them as much as possible, if not avoiding the Habs all together. This also may have an effect on the last week of the regular season, for those who have Habs to rely on... just a thought.
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1 comment:
You're absolutely right in saying Montreal's season just took a massive blow and could be trouble. Anyone with either player in their hockey pool is hurting... but not as much as the Habs.
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