#30 Martin Brodeur - The Retirement & Career Celebration Thread

[ghoti]

I have never seen any athlete in any sport as calm and even-keeled in pressure situations as Martin Brodeur. If he made ME, just some guy watching on TV or from the stands feel confident and reassured, I can only imagine the effect he had on the team in front of him or some rookie with jumbled nerves or the other team who looked at him and saw Doc Holliday, a guy they couldn't rattle and they likely wouldn't beat.

 

[Japam]

My birthday is March 26th, and I was supposed to go to the game on my birthday in 1992 but got sick and couldn't. I watched the game on tv as this new guy took to the nets that night. Around that time both Billington and Terreri were hurt and there was a carousel of minor leaguers playing games and looking like ****. I didn't think much of it except "another stop gap minor league guy" until the game started and Marty did his thing. My jaw dropped and some of the saves he was making. I knew Devils fans were about to see the start of something great.

I would also play open hockey with this goalie who was a huge Rangers fan. One day he shows up wearing a Devils hoodie. My friend and I were like "aren't you a Rangers fan?". He goes "yeah, but I'm also a goalie".

 

[Wingman77]

 

[Brick City]

Interesting article about Marty's impact on hockey rules with the advent of the trapezoid:

http://www.newyorker.com/news/sporting-scene/martin-brodeur-hockey-shifting-boundaries

The short version is he was so good at puck handling and acting as a third defenseman that the league felt compelled to tether him to the net.

Bonus points for Marty being the subject of a New Yorker illustration. Cannot say I ever expected to see that happen.

 

[billingtons ghost]

New Yorker article on Brodeur/Trapezoid

http://www.newyorker.com/news/sporting-scene/martin-brodeur-hockey-shifting-boundaries

 

[MoonDragn]

Brodeur was one of the reasons I started loving hockey. I remember watching the Devils on TV off and on in my childhood but it wasn't until Marty became the goalie that I started watching them consistently. I remember how happy I was to see them win their first cup.

Marty had a special swagger back then, he relished going up against the "Dominator" and you could see his intensity amp up for those games. There was the same intensity whenever he went home against the Habs too.

It is just something about the way he plays that inspires you. For a while there I even watched Blue's hockey just to see him play. We probably won't ever see another goalie like him again, I'm going to miss him when he retires.

 

[haakon84]

hi-res illustration. would love to be commissioned that assignment.

 

[Brodeur]

Normally don't like Ken Campbell, but he had this amusing observation:

Ken Campbell @THNKenCampbell
Just looking at Martin Brodeur's draft year in 1990. He outscored four skaters taken in the first round of that draft. Had 47 career points.