A lot of questions about Andrei have been asked since he's made the team. Will he ever live up to expectations, can he perform consistently, is he a bust? Whoa there, a bust is going a bit too far but it has been said. Andrei has gone through a lot during his time with the habs. He's had ups, he's had downs, he's possibly even been one of the most criticized habs on the team. Over the past three seasons with the habs his production has steadily declined, well what about this season is so different then in the past three?
For starters it's going to be Andrei's 4th NHL season and in order to impress management he needs to have a career year. This is important for Andrei to continue making good money at the NHL level. Furthermore his 4th NHL season (despite having a decline in production leading up to it) is still his 4th NHL season, he's got experience to go with his skill set now. That all having been said though I think the things that have held Andrei back up until this point in his career are injuries (slowing him down) and of course distractions off ice. It didn't help that he Sergei and Hammer were all part of a debacle that we'd all probably like to forget about now. Whether or not there was any truth to it simply isn't relevant, what is relevant is that for a young developing player in the NHL this is a recipe for disaster.
Whenever people had a problem with Sergei they would look to Andrei to solve the problem. This simply could not have helped either, especially if Sergei was as bad behind the scenes as he's made himself out to be. Andrei and his brother seem a lot more different then a lot of people think. Andrei seems more like the quiet Markov type player where as Sergei is more of the crap disturbing type. Andrei seems calm where as Sergei seems like the wild type. I'm sure Andrei felt he could not babysit a grown man and I'm sure Sergei didn't want to have it when he tried to. The strain it likely put on their relationship likely didn't help his on ice performance. With the injuries he's had slowing him down, the off ice media circus surrounding him and the fans burning him for every little thing is it any wonder that a young player from Belarus has had trouble adapting to the NHL? In my mind there's no question that it all adds up.
I think this year will be different though. For starters Plekanec his line mate appears to be playing with a spark. Mike Cammalleri will always be Mike Cammalleri, difference this year is though that they've had time to develop that chemistry, Sergei is no longer in the picture and Andrei is on a contract year. Barring injuries I see this kid having a season more comparable to his first season with us. We all know what a healthy clear minded Andrei is capable of even when he's raw and undeveloped, time to see what he's capable of this year where everything is in place for him to have a solid season. I know I haven't given up on this tremendously talented kid and hopefully he proves why he was the high upside pick he was in 2003.
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