At the age of 36 Martin Brodeur has become the steel horse and what most people would call, the backbone of the New Jersey Devils. With three Stanley Cups on his resume along with four Vezina trophies, Brodeur is a bound future Hall-of-Famer.
But is this 36 year old going to be able to handle the likes of young, competitive goalies in the Atlantic Division? Names like DiPietro, Fleury, and Lundqvist are enough to make some hockey fans say its Brodeurs time to pack his bag and go home.
However, age is only a number when it comes to this New Jersey Devil.
After being defeated by the New York Rangers in a disappointing playoff run, fingers point to Brodeur and his lack of ability to stop the puck. Some say his time is up and he is too old. But after glancing at Brodeurs stats, it seems that some people aren't seeing the full picture.
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In the 2007-2008 season, Martin finished with 168 GA and a .914 save percentage in 77 games. Now everyone, yes, all together now "But Lundqvist had less goals against!" CORRECT! Someone like Henrik did in fact have 160 GA but played in 8 fewer games.
Now maybe 168 GA isn't impressing you. Lets go back a couple of years. In 05-06 Brodeur had 187 GA in 73 games, and 171 GA in 78 games in 06-07.
I know, it's a lot of numbers. My point is, Martin Brodeur this past season had the lowest goals against since the 2003-2004 season before the lockout.
Martin Brodeur is not going to crawl into his net and die anytime soon. All he is showing is that he is human and humans do in fact make mistakes. Although his awards and records might lead someone to believe he is a brick wall that nothing gets by, he is not perfect.
What I'm trying to say in a nutshell is, Martin Brodeur may be old but he is not done. People seem to think that the Devils being eliminated is solely his fault, when in fact it comes down to their lack of goal scoring.
Old man or human? I say human.
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about 1 month ago
As a devils fan I can honestly say that last season with out Brodeur the Devils would have been as good as the Columbus Blue jackets. Their defense has never been so bad. Paul Martin (who?) is their best dman. Brodeur showed weakness in the playoffs because they don't play their backup Kevin Weekes enough. Marty is arguably the hardest working goaltender in the league. There plenty of reasons why he won the Vezina again. So far this offseason the Devils have just helped their faceoffs with Holik and their powerplay and lack of offense with Rolston. It's still not enough in my opinion. They still need an all star defenseman. Until then the Devils can enjoy 1st and 2nd round exits in the playoffs.
about 1 month ago
I really disagree with all the comments about Brodeur showing his weakness in the Playoffs.
We played the Rangers who plays a very similar style to the Devils. They thrive on transitions from mistakes made by our forwards. The more we are behind, the more desperate we become and try to go offensive, the more mistakes they can exploit on. The Ranger's defensive core was similar to the devils except they had a couple of exceptional puck movers. This led to the Rangers being able to break into our zone more easily.
We didn't lose because of Brodeur, we lost because the team played poorly as a whole.
about 1 month ago
Marty is arguably the best goaltender in the history of the NHL.
Without him last season the Devils would have been in position to draft Stamkos in June's draft.
Marty was on top of his game and is in fantastic condition.
about 1 month ago
I am so tired of hearing unknowledgable fans talk about the "demise" of Martin Broadeur, This is the BEST goalie in hockey. Nobody knows the opposition better. Nobody anticipates the play faster and no goalie can make the amazing sucessive saves to give his team a chance to stay in the game. Without his brilliance and iron man ability our team never would have made the playoffs. This year I think Marty will have more support because the Devils puck possession will improve greatly with the face-off acumen of Rollie and Herf. Lou has grabbed a terrific player in Rolston. Offense, defense, face-offs and controlling the PP and PK. We all know what Holik can bring.Great in the corners, punishing hits, outstanding in the face off circle and driving the opponent nuts. Marty is not the one who had to change anything, it was the team around him. Just give Holik and Rolston a chance to renew their hatred of the blueskirts. They'll teach the youngsters what it means to be a Devil.
about 1 month ago
We should of never trade Rolston away in the first place, just to bring back Claude Lemieux. Don't get me wrong I loved Lemieux but to give up a talent like Rolston was just plain stupid.
17 days ago
I liked the article. I think Marty has at least three more years in him. I think his health might be an issue if he continues to put on the pounds. He did look tired and being overweight can add to that. Look at Hasek. The guys like a stick and that has to be seen as a reason why he could probably still play for any team if he truly wanted to. I love Marty and hope he recovers from lst yrs disappointment..... I would appreciate it if some Devil fans would read an article I've just written....see what u think. I'd be interested in what any Devil fan would have to say about what Ive written. Maybe Ranger fans wont understand the sentimentality of what Ive written but if there are any Blue Shirt fans who'd like to see what it feels like to be in a Devil's fans shoes for a moment please take a look as well. Its more a human interest story. Havrent finished it but wanted to see if people were interested in what type of probs a dev fan has had following his team in europe...
Thanks, Jack
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/49438-leaving-east-rutherford-never-easy
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