Though he has played only two years for Dynamo he has managed to become a fan favorite not only in Moscow but in all of Russia. His name has already gone down in the history of Russian and European hockey.

Last year in the final of the most prestigious European club tournament (Euroleague) he scored against Metallurg Magnitogorsk the most curious and astonishing goal ever seen in the world of hockey.

Metallurg led 1-0 with only eight seconds left in the third period. Magnitogorsk seemed to be the winner of the game.

But, as soon as the Dynamo goalie was pulled and the sixth player Lev Berdichevsky stepped onto the ice Andrei Markov, who was behind the net, got an assist from Maxim Afinogenov. He raised his head and glanced at the scoreboard. Then Markov skated from behind the net and fired a tremendous slap shot heading for the rival’s goal. The puck crossed all the lines and squeezed into the net past the glove of goalie Boris Tortunov. The big goal was scored forcing the game into overtime. The fans went into hysterics. "Wow, unbelievable!" cried the fans for several minutes. Markov received a solid portion of ovation and the next day he received lots of good press.

Later, his goal was referred to in many different ways like "the jest of despair", "difficult to imagine", "a fluke" and "a thing of beauty".

He commented on his shot," Frankly speaking I have never thought of scoring from such a tremendous distance. I got the puck and thought just of shooting it into the rival’s zone and then to fight for it there. Of course I aimed the puck for the goaltender simply not to allow icing."

"I fired at random and I scored. It’s fantastic! First I didn’t realize what I did until I heard the hysterics of the fans. My teammates rushed at me to congratulate me heartily on this very important and huge goal. It’s a pity that Dynamo’s fortune was not an enduring one."

No matter what hockey analysts and observers say about his curious goal, it is well known in sport that chance favors the strongest one.

All the natives of Voskresensk are proud of him. He represents the excellent quality of the Voskresensk hockey school trademark along with such NHLers as Igor Larionov, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Valerie Zelepukin and Sergei Berezin.

His parents played a key role in his development as a hockey player. At the age of six his parents sent him to the Voskresensk hockey school (Children Junior Sporting School of Khimik).

By chance, he became the pupil of the well-known coach Anatoly Kozlov, the father of NHL star Vyacheslav Kozlov. At the age of 16, in the 1994/95 season, he was called up for a tryout with Khimik Voskresensk. In a year he made the line up of the pro team. At the time there were a lot of experienced players on the roster. He played for sometime as center forward and defenseman . He actually didn’t have much ice time, which is why he scored very little.

In 1996/1997 Andrei Markov was named to the Russian World Junior Championships squad where he played with many current NHLers such as Tampa Bay’s Andrei Zyuzin, Buffalo’s Maxim Afinogenov, Boston’s Sergei Samsonov, Washington’s draftee Alexander Volchkov, Dallas’ Roman Lyashenko and Dimitri Nabokov, Florida’s Oleg Kvasha, Pittsburgh’s Alexei Marozov, Calgary’s draftee Dmitri Vlasenkov and Detroit’s Yuri Butsaev.

The same season he was offered the job of defenseman by the new coach of the team Valerie Nikitin, who had been a famed forward and defensemen for Khimik Voskresensk. He realized that if he remained a center he would play only on the fourth scoring line. It meant he would appear on the ice only 5-6 shifts per game and no more. As a defenseman his chances to earn a lot of ice time were much higher. He accepted the proposal of the head coach and made the starting lineup. At that moment his breathtaking career began.

Andrei made a name for himself at the 1997/98 World Junior Championships where he played with Anaheim’s draftee Vitali Vishnevsky, Florida’s Oleg Kvasha, Dallas’ Roman Ljashenko, Vancouver’s Artem Chubarov, Florida’s draftee Denis Shvidky, Anaheim’s draftee Maxim Balmochnykh and Buffalo’s Maxim Afinogenov.

After the 1998 Junior World Championships, where Andrei made the All-Star-1 lineup, he became Montreal’s 6^th round selection, 162^nd overall, in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft.

Shortly there after, he had to transfer from Voskresensk to Moscow. Though he was quite content with everything in his hometown, Andrei soon realized that he must not stop in his development as a hockey player. To polish his skill he must play in a team of a higher level such as Dynamo Moscow.

He commented later on his decision to change teams, "It was a well thought out action of mine. You see, every club has its own plans for the coming season. Frankly speaking, for the last years Khimik yielded its pretensions for the prize places. Its only aim was to stay in the Superleague for many championships. The purpose of Dynamo Moscow had always been to win the champion’s title. Do you see the difference?"

"I can’t say that it is difficult for me to get accustomed to Dynamo Moscow’s style of play but I’d like to point out that everything here is done faster on the ice than in Voskresensk even during practices. I’m also happy that I have been honored to make the starting lineup. I play with excellent experienced linemates. It’s due to them I constantly progress in the development of my hockey skills. "

Also, many clubs are conscious of the possibilities and pretensions of Dynamo Moscow which is why they prefer to let their prospects join the strongest teams. The club of Voskresensk acted in just this way when they released Andrei for Moscow. According to the terms of his contract Markov will be sold to the Montreal Canadiens in a year. The money from the sale of the prospect will be shared between Khimik Voskresensk and Dynamo Moscow.

Markov made his Dynamo debut in the 1998/1999 season and immediately he garnered the attention of the Moscow crowd as one of the game’s most versatile players. He had a great start to the season in the Russian Championships, at the prestigious tournament of European Hockey League, at the Euro Hockey Tour, and as a valuable member of the Russian team. He became an offensive catalyst for Dynamo Moscow and team Russia. This talented defensive threat established himself as one of the league’s premier two-way players who possessed a sniper bullet wrist and slap shots.

At the end of the season he gained a reputation for being one of Russia’s best offensive defensemen. Finally, he was named the best defenseman in Russia and got a golden helmet award.

After Markov’s 1998/1999 breakthrough campaign there were lots of talks about his departure for the NHL. Andrei commented on the situation as follows, "There is no reason to be surprised by my staying here in Russia. I still have a two-year contract in force. This year is left to be served under the contract. As for negotiations with the Montreal Canadiens I do not conceal this fact. My agent is Sergei Isakov who represents Oleg Tverdovsky, Dimitri Kokorev, and many other Russian hockey players. The Canadiens wanted to call me up for a tryout when I was still with Khimik Voskresensk but I made up my mind to play for Dynamo Moscow for some time. I wanted to sign a three-year contract in which I’ll get $1,800,000 but Montreal refused to pay the sum. They thought it was too much for a player of my caliber."

So Andrei Markov continued his solid play in the 1999/2000 season, helping Dynamo Moscow to be in the lead of the Russian Championships and helping team Russia win many vital games at the Euro Hockey Tour. Andrei Markov is without a doubt a world-class defenseman who gives no indication of slowing down.

When he is asked to reveal the secret of his successful play he answers, "As a matter of fact there is no secret at all. I love to recall old good times when I was a forward and it helps me to score many effective goals. Moreover I enjoy playing with skillful and experienced teammates. When you get a pass directly on your stick it is difficult not to score."

Today’s Andrei Markov is a World Junior Championships bronze and silver medallist. In 1998/99, he got the silver in the Russian Hockey Championships and of the prestigious tournament of European Hockey League. He was selected by the fans for the first Russian All-Star Game. In the Western voting Andrei Markov was on top. He got 668 votes which was the highest among all the candidates for the All-Star Game. His rival, the forward of Metallurg Magnitogorsk, Yevgeny Koreshkov got only 519 votes. The others got even less than that. The contrast is evident.