A solid partnership

MONTREAL – Sergei Berezin’s tenure with the Canadiens was brief, but his impact on Andrei Markov’s career has been going strong for years.

For over half a decade, Berezin has served as Markov’s personal trainer during the offseason in Boca Raton, FL. Their working relationship began for real as the Canadiens’ No. 79 battled back from a trio of surgical procedures on his right knee – including two ACL reconstructions – between May 2010 and December 2011.

Every summer, Markov enjoys a couple of weeks of downtime before Berezin begins preparing him for the rigors of another NHL season. As evidenced by Instagram posts on both Markov and Berezin’s accounts respectively since late April, things weren’t any different this time around, either.

Over the last four months, the pair has worked tirelessly to ensure that the Russian rearguard is primed for his team-leading 16th year in a Canadiens uniform, engaging in everything from beach and swimming pool workouts to dry-land training exercises and lengthy runs along neighborhood sidewalks. On the ice, Berezin has his fellow Voskresensk native going equally as hard, albeit without the scorching Florida sun shining down on him to up the sweat factor, of course.

According to Berezin, who develops workout regimens primarily by tapping into old-school methods used by some his former coaches all across the globe, Markov’s fitness level is still very much on the upswing at 37 years of age – which certainly isn’t the norm.

“He’s actually getting better. This is what’s amazing about Andrei. I make up a schedule for him for a week. He’s always there. He’s working hard. He’s a real workaholic and a real ironman. I’ve played with a lot of hockey players and worked with a lot of athletes, and Andrei is just off the charts. He’s really unbelievable,” said Berezin, who met his future trainee when he was dealt to the Canadiens on January 24, 2002 in a trade with the Phoenix Coyotes – three days before he scored the 10,000th home-ice goal in franchise history.

“I’ve always kept the notes from every single workout and practice we’ve done together. His results are better than they were two, three or four years …

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