Two Words For Martin Brodeur (VIDEO)

Martin Brodeur has stepped away from hockey to consider his future.  The rest of us are left to contemplate his past.

Martin Brodeur is in the middle of his hiatus from hockey to decide what the next step in his career will be.  During this offseason he did that as well, waited and watched, and eventually hooked up with the St. Louis Blues after Brian Elliott went down injured on November 25th.

Since that time the legendary goaltender has been less than legendary, posting a .500 record to go with an very not Martin Brodeur GAA of 2.87 and save percentage of .899.  But that isn’t the narrative on the career of Martin Brodeur.  Nor should it be.

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I fear many casual hockey fans are going to remember the Martin Brodeur that hung on and played for someone other than the New Jersey Devils.  But he earned that right.  I know when Brodeur was looking for teams as a free agent I cringed at the thought of seeing him in anything other than a Devils sweater.

But that’s my problem.  It’s my issue that I wanted to see one of the greatest players of any generation compete for his entire career for only one franchise.  It happens so infrequently in sports now with free agency that there is something magical about it possibly happening.  I felt this way about Raymond Bourque as well.  But for fans to expect a player to live up to that standard when they still believe they can compete at the highest level and want one more shot at the Stanley Cup is unfair to those we cheer for.  A professional athlete should be able to go out on their own terms whether fans agree with that or not.

I will remember Martin Brodeur for the three Stanley Cups, four Vezina trophies, multiple All-Star Game appearances and pads that looked like oversized calf muscles compared to what we see now.  I will not remember Brodeur giving up many bad goals, if any.  He always seemed to be in the proper position at the proper time.

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But my greatest memory will be of a game he lost to my beloved Buffalo Sabres.  Game Six of the 1993-94 Eastern Conference quarterfinals had the Sabres on the brink of elimination to Brodeur and the Devils.  But Dominik Hasek was having none of it on that night.  What a night that had to be in the old Memorial Auditorium.  Brodeur versus Hasek in a game that spilled into a fourth overtime without a goal being scored.

That game had to be like watching Picasso and Monet work on the same canvas.  Two distinctly different styles producing consistently spectacular results not just in this game but over their Hall of Fame careers.

When I first started my collection of NHL sweaters Martin Brodeur was the second non-Sabres name in the closet. John Vanbiesbrouck was first because I didn’t make a lot of money and at the time you paid for the name stitching by the letter. So that was a holiday gift. But Martin Brodeur was of my own money. I respected him, the way he played and competed. As a goaltender myself players like Brodeur, Hasek and Patrick Roy were must see television. I feel very lucky to be able to have memories of all three of these great players from their prime. Here are a few of Brodeur’s greatest for us to relive from YouTube:

But Martin Brodeur is finding out now what all athletes eventually face: time is undefeated. Eventually the body and mind will no longer allow you to compete at the level you expect of yourself. Your family becomes more important because of the years athletes have to sacrifice away from them to pursue their dreams. And it’s possible in a few days time when Brodeur returns to the Blues from his leave of absence he will ask to be traded. He may ask for his release. He may also retire.

And if he is leaving this game for good and putting the finishing touches on all of his NHL records, we owe a debt of gratitude to Martin Brodeur. For playing the game at the highest level and exhibiting class to match. Devils fans will thank him for his role in the three parades they were able to throw. And yes, we will thank him for that bizarre memory of him in a St Louis Blues sweater.

And those are my two words for Martin Brodeur. Quite simply for all of the memories you leave the fans of this great game with, thank you.