Former Montreal Canadien Sergei Kostitsyn had his fair share of publicized issues with head coach Jacques Martin and it appears that older brother Andrei - who's still with the club - isn't too cozy with him either.
Andrei, who signed a one-year contract with the Canadiens in June, told Belarussian sports website Goals.by this week that he isn't on very good terms with the veteran bench boss.
"I can't guess about next season," Kostitsyn told Goals.by. "My relationship with the coach is not too good."
Kostitsyn's best season numbers came in 2007-08, when he scored 26 goals and 53 points in 78 games and was rewarded with a three-year contract. His goal and point totals fluctuated over the next three seasons, tallying 41, 33 and 45 points in each campaign. Kostitsyn's streaky point production last season saw him relegated to the bottom two lines down the stretch.
"It wasn't me who started to play badly," Kostitsyn explained to Goals.by. "It's just that I was being put into (the) third and fourth line...I've tried talking to (Jacques Martin) more than once. But he doesn't care."
Martin arrived as Montreal's head coach two seasons ago and called out Sergei Kostitsyn's play and work ethic at the start of training camp. He spent much of that season with Hamilton of the American Hockey League before being dealt to Nashville last summer.
When asked by Goals.by if it would be better to switch teams, the elder Kostitsyn replied, "I am not thinking about it for now. My agent's advice is to play hockey."
When contacted by TSN on Thursday, Kostitsyn's agent Don Meehan said he had not spoken to his client about the story.
Andrei, 26, was the Canadiens' first round selection (10th overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.
