Montreal Canadien's Andrei Markov and His Hockey Career

Montreal fans all know who Andrei Markov is. Andrei Markov was born in Voskresensk, Russia on December 20, 1978, making him thirty years old. This Russian hockey professional hockey player is 6 feet tall and weighs 203 pounds. Markov is a defenseman. Like many Russian hockey players on their way to the NHL, Andrei Markov started his professional hockey career in the RSL (Russian Super League). The RSL was the professional league of Russia and it was said to be the second best hockey league in the entire world (after the NHL). In 2008, the RSL was replaced by the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Andrei Markov played his first season in the RSL in the 1996-1997 hockey season with the Khimik Voskresensk. Markov played two seasons with the Khimik Voskresensk before moving on to the HC Dynamo, another RSL team. Many of the Russian players in the NHL have played for the HC Dynamo Moscow, such as Viktor Kozlov of the Washington Capitals, Maxim Afinogenov of the Buffalo Sabres, Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings, and more. The year that Andrei Markov went to play with the HC Dynamo Moscow, he also entered the NHL Draft. Andrei Markov was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens, 162nd overall. Despite being drafted, Andrei Markov remained with the HC Dynamo Moscow for two seasons.

For the 2000-2001 season, Andrei Markov was put in the AHL (American Hockey League). The AHL serves as a developmental league for future hockey players and the teams of this league serve as feeder teams for professional hockey teams. Markov started out the season with the Quebec Citadelles in the AHL, but only played 14 games with them before being called up by the Montreal Canadiens. Markov played 63 games with the Montreal Canadiens and finished out the 2000-2001 season with them. Despite being called up and playing the majority of the season with the Canadiens, Andrei Markov was placed back in the AHL with the Quebec Citadelles for the start of the 2001-2002 season.

Andrei Markov played only 12 games with the Quebec Citadelles before the Montreal Canadiens called him up again. This time, Markov played 56 games with the Canadiens before the end of the season. After the 2001-2002 season, Andrei Markov became a regular player with the Montreal Canadiens, and has never been sent back to the AHL since, with the exception of the 2004-2005 season. During the NHL Lockout of 2004-2005, Andrei Markov returned to Russia and played for his old team, the HC Dynamo Moscow in the RSL. When the Lockout was over, he returned to the Montreal Canadiens and is signed to play with them until 2011. In 2008, Markov was selected to play in the All-Star Game.

Unlike a lot of NHL players, Andrei Markov does not have a lot of international experience with hockey, but he did play for Russia in the 2008 World Championships.

ref-www.nhl.com