I missed the third period (and Reid Boucher's game winning goal) due to going to work a little early and the game starting late due to the ceremony,bur I was able to see the important part of the evening and say goodbye to our greatest star.
Martin Brodeur holds just about every record there is to hold in goaltending,but never seemed to get the accolades that he deserved in most of his career.
What isn't often remembered about the "Marty's Better" chant is that it started way back in the Stanley Cup Finals against Dallas when the hockey media continued to push another goalie as the best in Dallas netminder Ed Belfour.
I can see the argument (although I disagree with it) for Patrick Roy as the best,but no one else and certainly not Belfour and the Devils fans used the chant to tweak those that overlooked "our" Marty.
My first memory of Marty came without seeing him play.
My friend Joe Plum was a semi-season ticket holder for the Baltimore Skipjacks,who then played in the AHL and I would ask him about the Devils players for the AHL Devils-then located in Utica.
I asked Joe about this first round goalie and should I make sure I get a bunch of his rookie cards as the sports card bubble was still the rage.
Joe's response was one that I've never let him forget- "Ahh,I watched that guy play against the Skipjacks,he sucks,you guys have nothing to get excited about there".
I only bought a few (Not that they are worth a ton,too many made) and I remind Joe often about his scouting skills!!!
Marty's style was not exactly new wave,in fact-it was more old school than cutting edge.
He eschewed the butterfly for a hybrid and used his Spiderman like anticipation to make uncanny saves that most others would be trapped into guarding corners could not.....
Considering that the butterfly style has taken over not just professional hockey,but the amateurs and juniors as well,Marty's career may never be duplicated,but his brand of goaltending may not either.
There was always another goalie around that that was flashier (Henrik Lundquist) or more spectacular (Patrick Roy) and there were several flavors of the month through the years to get more credit than Marty and the reason that was often given for the lack of accolades through the years was that many thought that he was an above average goalie that was helped by the clamp down "Devils Trap" and tended face fewer shots than other goalies.
The lack of shots may hold a little water,but most of that is a myth-The Devils trap was successful in keeping shot totals down,but when a mistake was made,there was always number 30 waiting in the wings to erase that mistake.
Marty's stickhandling won't be seen for a while either-Think of the players that had a rule changed just because of their skills?
The infamous trapezoid was enacted just to control the puckhandling of Martin Brodeur and try to take away the "third defenseman" that the Devils so often played with.
The trapezoid did take away a little of Marty's "deep game" as he used to literally go into the corners to pass the puck up ice,but even with that eliminated-Brodeur was still the top passing goalie in the game.
Brodeur turned the position into not just a third defenseman,but as an additional part of the offensive unit with his passing skills.
Add to that his three career goals and you had a goaltender that could be considered a bonus part of the offense....
When you consider the players that play in the sport and consider the small number of players that reach the Hall of Fame or get a number retired by a franchise-that's a huge accomplishment.
Take that and look at how few get a statue and that shows the impact that Martin Brodeur had on this franchise.
The greatest goaltender of all time and we had him for his entire career with the exception of a few games at the end of his career (a cameo with the St.Louis Blues).
I often tell Rachel,how fortunate Devils fans were for years-we had the greatest goaltender ever,one of the hardest hitters ever (Scott Stevens),one of the best all around defensemen ever (Scott Niedermayer),a borderline genius for a long run (Lou Lamoriello) and one of the greatest announcers in the booth (Doc Emrick) calling all of our games.
It truly was a Camelot-like era and I'm not sure we can ever have that again.
Now with the official honoring of Marty,combined with the new (er) front office,coach and yes, goaltender.The era of glory is truly over and I hope to see a new generation of winning in the red and black,but last night was one final goodbye to our goalie-The best ever.
Thanks,Marty......
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