By JOSH HELLER
Staff Writer
On Thursday, January 29th, the hockey world said its goodbye to the winningest goaltender of all time, Martin Brodeur. When Brodeur announced his retirement, he also announced that he would be joining the St. Louis Blues organization as a Senior Advisor to the team. Doug Armstrong, general manager of the Blues, announced that Brodeur would travel with the team on a regular basis, and both are very excited to get started. The news of Brodeur’s retirement began on Tuesday morning, but there was not an official press conference until Thursday. In that two day span, there was plenty of argument as to whether Brodeur could be thought of as one of the greatest goalies to ever play the game. The answer to this question is quite simple: yes.
Brodeur played 22 seasons in the NHL, 21 of which with the New Jersey Devils, before going to the St. Louis Blues for his final (half) season. In this past offseason, the Devils did not re-sign Brodeur, so became an unrestricted free agent. Brodeur actually remained unsigned until December 2nd. At that time, the Blues were doing very well in the conference, but had just suffered an injury to starting goaltender and eventual All-Star Brian Elliott. The Blues had youngster Jake Allen, but did not have a solid backup for him. So, the Blues signed Brodeur to a 1-year deal to fill the void. In his time with the Blues, Brodeur played in seven games (starting in five of them), posting a 3-3-0 record (one shutout), a .899 save percentage, and a 2.87 goals against average. These numbers completely pale in comparison to his career numbers. Brodeur accumulated a 691-397-154 record, a .912 save percentage, and a 2.24 goals against average. The 691 wins puts him 140 wins ahead of second-place all-time in wins (Patrick Roy), while his goals against average puts him at ninth all time. Also, Brodeur allotted 125 career shutouts, 22 more than second-place Terry Sawchuk. That’s a lot of numbers, so let me break it down for you: Martin Brodeur is one of the greatest goalies of all-time, and he is a first ballot Hall Of Famer. One stat that I always see overlooked when it comes to Brodeur: with two goals and 45 assists, Martin Brodeur sits second all-time in most points scored by a goalie, one point behind Tom Barrasso. Brodeur is the only goalie in NHL history to score two goals, and although this stat has a lot to do with luck, it is quite impressive.
Once Brian Elliott became healthy, people strongly wondered whether or not Brodeur would be sent down to the AHL, or even stay with the team at all. However, the team decided to stick with Brodeur, at least for a little while longer. When the NHL resumed action after the All-Star break, the St. Louis Blues held a practice for the first time since the break. Missing from the ice was Brodeur. It was later announced (unofficially) that Brodeur was planning to retire. Then, a few days later, St. Louis had a press conference to announced Brodeur’s retirement and his introduction as a senior advisor. In his goodbye press conference, Brodeur said, “I’m leaving the game with a smile. I don’t think if I would have done that last year it would have been the case. This is a great day for me. I’m excited to start a new chapter in my hockey career. It’s something I’ve been thinking about.” Brodeur may not have left New Jersey on the best of terms, but he will always be remembered for his legacy as a Devil, not as the senior advisor for the Blues.
2014-15 has been a season of memories. We’ve seen incredible performances from people like Pekka Rinne and Roberto Luongo, bounce-back seasons for people like Rick Nash, and disappointing seasons for teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs. We’ve also seen the departure of two legendary players: Daniel Alfredsson, Saku Koivu, and Brodeur. Koivu and Alfredsson are great in their own right, but Brodeur is on another level. Brodeur spent time on the Devils from the age of 19 to the age of 41. That’s the age difference between Brodeur and his own son! Martin Brodeur, you leave a legacy to the sport of hockey, and even as a Ranger fan, I raise my stick to you.
