If you believe in miracles, now is the time to start praying. The Canadiens have lost Markov for anywhere between 2 and 4 months after Carey Price’s skate damaged some tendons in last night’s season opener. It appears that Markov doesn’t like playing against the Leafs, as his last 2 games against them ended with him leaving with a major injury.

This is a critical blow to the Habs’ hopes for this season, and the hopes were not high to begin with. A playoff spot was probably the target, and without Markov, that job just got a lot tougher.

Let’s be clear on one thing: There is no replacement for Markov, unless Gainey can swing a deal for Chara…or maybe Mark Streit. Sure Josh Gorges was excellent last night, and can pick up a little bit of slack. But let’s also be aware of this guy’s ceiling. He will never be a true replacement for Markov. Jaroslav Spacek is now going to have to earn his paycheck and then some, as he will become the power play quarterback. We can also easily see Weber quickly coming back to the big club to help on the power play. We saw him do a good job in that role in the brief playoff series against Boston last season. Gainey may also feel some pressure to make a move to bring in the best available guy out there…which would cost at least 1 blue chip prospect, perhaps more. Should they stumble, as is expected now, Gainey may also feel some additional heat from those who will repeatedly mention that he should never have let Sheldon Souray, Mark Streit and Mike Komisarek go for nothing in return aside from playoff runs that fell completely flat. I was never a big fan of losing those guys, but the loss of Streit hurts the most in my opinion. He was willing to sign here for just over 2 million dollars in his contract year, but ended up making 4.5 million with the Islanders, and he went on to be their best player last year.

So buckle up Habs fans, we’re heading to uncharted waters here. What we do know is that the Habs record all time without Markov is 7-20 (not sure if that includes playoffs). Not good. Season 101 is already off to a dramatic start!