NHL Hockey, Hockey Net Blog, Back For 2012 Season

Blair Charbonneau, Hockey Net Blog

The NHL’s 2012 season is back and here to stay for as long as the Mayans and Roland Emmerich see fit. A fresh hockey season germinates, blooming into new false hopes for dead markets (Phoenix), unrealistic expectations (Toronto), and the sound of oxygen sucking as deflated Sharks fans begin to breathe again — how exciting! What more can we expect? Well, let’s take a look:

The sub-dwelling Flames have reclaimed their corpse-like position in the basement of the Western Conference with a comfortable 1-2 record — nothing like a good headstart.

After three games David Legwand is leading the league in scoring — could you imagine if...wait, no, don’t bother.

Which players will have their eyes rolled back and minds wiped etch-a-sketch style by blind-side hits this year? And how long will Crosby milk this concussion to sit at home and play NHL 12? 

Also: How many games will it take to run Craig Anderson out of Ottawa? Will Andrei Markov walk again? How will Canucks fans blame Luongo for the Sedin’s shortcomings? What’s the over-under on fires during Montreal riots? Oh the suspense!

Bionically rebuilt Markov may see action Friday (UPDATED)

Markov-7900 erroneously checks for the serial
number on a young human male.

Blair Charbonneau, Hockey Net

MONTREAL — Montreal Canadiens defenceman Andrei Markov could return to the Habs’ lineup Friday night after undergoing an experimental and revolutionary operation to repair a torn ACL he suffered during the second round of the 2010 playoffs.

“Basically we bionically reconstructed his ACL, knees, and ankles, then grafted his muscles to a synthetic titanium alloy frame. We also reinforced his shoulders so he can finally start body checking.” explained GM Pierre Gauthier.

Markov cannot return soon enough for the Canadiens’ struggling powerplay. Andrei is practicing with the team, however doctors and Canadian Space Agency scientists still need to run a few more tests.

“We’re not sure if Markov can sweat anymore. We need to monitor the effect any perspiration might have on his circuitry,” said team leader and head scout Trevor Timmons.

Some have raised concerns regarding how long the new Markov engine can go without lagging or even crashing under the duress of an NHL season.

“Markov’s running smoothly. Everything’s connected to his new central nervous system— an Intel Itanium 9300 processor,” said assistant coach Muller, “And Jacques can perform cerebral overrides manually from the bench whenever he needs to. We’ve even programmed French into Andrei’s language drive.”

No one doubts Markov’s value to the Canadiens, but Montreal media has criticized the Habs for investing this much in a single player, and have demanded to know the cost of such a radical operation.

“Well, I’m not going to get into specifics, but let’s just say it’s about eight Gomezes," commented Gauthier.

And it still remains to be seen how the revamped Markov will gel with his old teammates.

Defenceman Jaroslav Spacek confessed to Hockey Net,

Spacek isn’t the only one, and there are rumours surrounding the Canadiens camp as to what sort of Frankenstein Markov has become. Nevertheless, only time will tell.

The Canadiens expect to roll-out “Markov-7900” Friday against the Islanders.

UPDATE: Markov-7900 may be in dire need of repairs or replacement parts following a collision with Eric Staal in the third period of the Habs/Canes match up of November 13, 2010.