Hockey

Andrei Markov: Steve Bégin has only had one discussion with him in six years
Maxime Truman
Andrei Markov: Steve Bégin has only had one discussion with him in six years
Credit: Getty Images

One day is like another, but not the same, they say.

They do! On Tuesday, the Canadiens came out ultra-flat and delivered another disastrous performance in front of their home fans.

The next day, they fought back – literally and figuratively – and managed to beat the big Winnipeg Jets (once again at the Bell Centre). Let's just say that Wednesday's $200 ticket made for a much better show than Tuesday night's $200 ticket..

But it wasn't just the game itself that had fans in the Bell Centre on tenterhooks: the video tribute to Andrei Markov, the standing ovation he received afterwards, and his speech sent shivers down the spines of many fans

“I love you Montreal!”

Except that many of us were surprised to see Markov talking so much at the microphone. Why was that? Because when he was still a Habs player, he never spoke in public. And when he did answer journalists' questions, he did so in very few words. With a desire to be elsewhere most of the time..

Steve Bégin told Martin Lemay an anecdote yesterday afternoon, one that corroborates EXACTLY what we've been hearing for years about Andrei Markov's personality during his time in Montreal. Bégin was his team-mate for six years with the Canadiens… and he only had one discussion with him during those six years.

What was that conversation? Something like, “Hi, how are you?” followed by, “Why do you want to know that?”

In 2020, Bégin also told RDS that Markov almost always responded to him in the dressing room with a shake of the head, not words.

As for Louis Leblanc, he told the hosts of the Sports Dep Podcast(yesterday) that one summer day, while practicing in Brossard, Markov came up to him and asked him to shave the back of his head. Leblanc was young… and of course he said yes.

Still, it must be special to shave someone who hardly ever speaks and whom you see as a role model/idol.


overtime

– Interesting.

– Read more.

– It's the Canadiens' birthday.

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