Any goaltender would love to be compared to the legendary Martin Brodeur. The longtime New Jersey Devils netminder is often regarded as the greatest of all time. Edmonton Oilers goaltender Mike Smith seems to have something in common with Brodeur, especially this year.
Both Brodeur and Smith have had legendary playoff runs in the later parts of their careers. Not only were both goaltenders on the wrong side of 30, but they were on the wrong side of 40.
For Smith, that would be this 2022 playoffs in his age 42 season. For Brodeur, it was the 2012 playoffs, in which he celebrated his 40th birthday during the second-round matchup.
Father Time seemed to leave Brodeur unhindered during the 2012 NHL playoffs. Not only did his reinvigorated play lead the New Jersey Devils to the Stanley Cup Final, but it earned him a spot on the Hockey News’ 50 best NHL players list entering the 2012-2013 NHL season in their annual yearbook. Not bad for a goaltender considered past his prime.
Mike Smith is defying Father Time in this year’s playoffs. Legendary goaltender Martin Brodeur did much the same thing in 2012.
Smith is coming off perhaps his greatest playoff start ever in game three as the Oilers took a two-to-one series lead over the Calgary Flames where he was victorious in a 4-1 game that saw him stop 24 of Calgary’s 25 shots.
Smith did exit play for a few minutes to be evaluated in concussion protocol after the Milan Lucic hit heard around Alberta. Add that to his deciding game seven shutout victory over the Los Angeles Kings in the playoffs’ opening round and Smith keeps adding to his impressive resume.
Just like Brodeur in 2012, the 2022 NHL playoffs haven’t been all kind to Smith. Smith was pulled after 6:05 in game one of the Calgary Flames series after allowing 3 goals on ten shots, which was over the limit of the “25% rule” of goals to allow in the playoffs.
Brodeur was pulled in game three of his opening round matchup against the Florida Panthers in 2012 after allowing three goals on twelve shots. It’s worth noting Brodeur played 22:18 in that game and followed up his subpar performance with a shutout in game four.
Of course, Brodeur and Smith isn’t a perfect comparison. Smith is playing on perhaps the NHL’s greatest offensively talented team since Wayne Gretzky retired. Brodeur’s 2012 team may have had more offensive firepower than Devils’ teams past, but he faced a rather low 26.20 shots per game that postseason. Smith is averaging 34.30 shots against in these playoffs, so far.
He also has considerably more pressure than Brodeur. No one expected much out of that Devils team in 2012, and Brodeur already won three Stanley Cup championships. Smith has never gotten closer than a trip to the Western Conference Final with the Arizona Coyotes, also in the 2012 playoffs. Not to mention, Smith plays in hockey-crazed Edmonton that hasn’t been anywhere near a Cup since 1990.
Brodeur finding the fountain of youth wasn’t enough for the Devils that year. Then again, Edmonton fans would be thrilled to see Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl get as close to the Cup as the Devils did a decade ago.
Smith might not want to follow the same trend Brodeur did after his 2012 playoff season, however. Age would catch up with Marty who continued declines in performance and retired three seasons later. The 2012 playoffs are widely considered Marty’s last hooray. If this is Mike Smith’s latest and best chance, he better make it worth it.