Canadiens Knew Of Risk When Signing Andrie Markov

from Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette, Markov, who underwent his second major ACL reconstruction on his right knee in December, skated on his own in Brossard on Thursday and it was obvious that he?s far from 100 per cent.

General manager Pierre Gauthier acknowledged as much when he addressed the media at the team?s golf tournament Wednesday, but he put on optimistic spin on the situation while preaching patience.

?It?s always a risk when you sign older players, first, and it?s a bigger risk when you sign older players who have had injuries,? said Gauthier, who gave Markov a three year deal worth $17.5 million. ?But you evaluate that as a calculated risk, and you also evaluate what your options are. In the case of Mr. Markov, he?s such a professional, such a hard working person,? Gauthier added.

?One of the things that was interesting about his knee is he had absolutely no collateral damage. The ACL was torn a second time, but in a lot of cases with knee injuries there?s something else that?s gone wrong, like an MCL or some cartilage. In his case, it was strictly one band that was ruptured. So we feel pretty good about his prognosis.?

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Source: http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/hockey/comments/canadiens_knew_of_risk_when_signing_andrie_markov/

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