MONTREAL (CP)  
Five years after he landed in Montreal in a blockbuster trade with the New York Islanders, Vladimir Malakhov remains an enigma. Big, strong, tough and talented with a point shot most defencemen envy, Malakhov also brings unpredictability and inconsistency that can drive coaches mad. Good enough to win the Norris Trophy, if only he'd try, is the standard line on the six-foot-four, 230-pound Russian, whose days as a Canadien appear to be numbered. 

A team-imposed suspension last week for skiing during the all-star break when he had not yet returned from a knee injury made his departure before the March 14 NHL trading deadline look inevitable. And when he goes, most fans will still know little about the brooding defenceman they have both marvelled at and cursed.  

"People in Montreal sometimes forget that he's a person and people have personalities," Latvian centre Sergei Zholtok, Malakhov's closest friend on the Canadiens, said Monday. "No one has the right to judge him. "He's a good family man and a good friend. I don't agree with people who say he doesn't try. When I came here last year, what I saw was a guy giving everything he had to try to push the team into the playoffs." 

Some teammates went on the record with their disappointment when news broke that Malakhov had taken his wife and five-year-old son skiing at Mont-Tremblant, if only on the beginners hill. Malakhov finally returned to the ice for a 5-4 win over Ottawa on Saturday night after missing the first 53 games of the season with a torn knee ligament. It was one more incident that left fans -- and Canadiens coach Alain Vigneault -- perplexed. Two years ago, Malakhov pulled out of the final game of a playoff series against Buffalo with what was said to be a neck injury, while some teammates soldiered on with broken limbs and separated shoulders. What has been left behind is an image -- rightly or wrongly -- of a player who doesn't care if his team wins and who uses his considerable talent only when the mood strikes him. 

The rare interviews he grants sometimes only make it worse. "It's true I don't like to play with injuries," Malakhov told the Montreal Gazette after the Ottawa game. "If I'm only 70 per cent, I don't want to play. "Sometimes injuries cause other injuries. And if I'm injured and play, but I don't play good, everybody is going to say I'm no good. What am I supposed to do?" 

Zholtok said most of Malakhov's problems stem from misunderstanding -- on and off the ice. "I don't think he likes the media attention here in Montreal," said Zholtok. "Sometimes, when people write bad things about him, he tries to back up from the media and not answer questions." On the ice, Zholtok said: "For some guys, it shows in their face when they're working hard, but for others, it all looks easy. "Vlad's skating ability is unbelievable, but to some, it looks like he's not trying." No one questions Malakhov's talent and the Canadiens have to wonder how they'll replace it if, or when, he's traded. "Skill-wise, he's one of the top three or four defencemen in the league," said team captain Saku Koivu.  

"He brings size, toughness and skill. He's the full package. "When you have a guy like that, the other team has to pay attention to him and that opens up room for other guys." "He can do everything," added Zholtok. "He can score, kill penalties, play the power play, be physical and he doesn't let anyone push him around. He can fight." The Canadiens, who were not certain to make the playoffs even before they were whacked by injuries, can ill-afford to lose a top defenceman who scores, moves the puck quickly and goes head-to-head with the league's top scorers.  

But Malakhov's skiing trip may have forced it. Reports have said several teams, including Carolina and Florida, were interested, although Panthers coach Terry Murray played down the reports Monday. "The question was asked: 'Do you like him?' And I said 'yes,"' said Murray. "I didn't say I want him on our team. "I'm not tampering with other teams' players."