Martin Brodeur's Legacy Is Safe Even If Stint with St. Louis Blues Is a Disaster

It's going to be jarring. Your eyes will need a minute to adjust the way they would when emerging from a dark bar on a sunny day after a late-morning brunch went on too long.

At some point in the coming days, you will see 42-year-old Martin Brodeur in a St. Louis Blues uniform. The team announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to terms with the netminder:

"

Done deal. #stlblues #OurBlues pic.twitter.com/P3ugHR3Fux

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) December 2, 2014"

After two decades with the New Jersey Devils, Brodeur will don royal blue and yellow in the coming days. 

And not long after—perhaps it's even happening now—the ever-popular discussion about a legendary player's "legacy" will begin.

There are a lot of bad discussions and narratives in sports, but few, if any, are worse than sports writers talking about a great player tarnishing his legacy at the end of his career.

Imagine being 25 years old and returning home for Thanksgiving. Only instead of visiting your mom and dad, you are sitting down for dinner with your 58-year-old dad...and his new girlfriend. Are you uncomfortable? You sure are.

After 25 years of things being one way, they are now completely different. Your dad being overly affectionate with his girlfriend—ugh, just saying "girlfriend" makes you cringe—isn't helping you, either.

But once you get past the initial awkwardness, you begin to accept the situation. Why? Because there's nothing wrong with it and your dad is happy.

That's Brodeur. He's happy.

And that's all that matters.

Is Brodeur still great? Absolutely not. Is he even good? Nope. Average? Not in the past four years.

Season	Record	GAA	Save percentage
2010-11	23-26-3	2.45	.903
2011-12	31-21-4	2.41	.908
2013	13-9-7	2.22	.901
2013-14	19-14-6	2.51	.901

Is Brodeur a college freshman showing up at high school parties because all the attendees are aware of how legendary he was in high school even though some of the kids there aren't sure why he hasn't moved on? You bet.

But an NHL team—a very good one, mind you—still thinks he's good enough to help it win right now.

Whether Brodeur is just that is another argument, but him going 25-0-0 or 1-5-1 with an .856 save percentage before being released doesn't change the fact he will be in the Hall of Fame three years after he retires.

If Brodeur doesn't care about his perceived legacy, why should I? Or you? Or anyone other than Brodeur?

Sports writers tend to attach a romantic quality to a player going out on top, like John Elway winning a Super Bowl and retiring or Barry Sanders calling it quits at the age of 31 after rushing for nearly 1,500 yards in his final season.

The same people also love a good joke about Michael Jordan in a Washington Wizards jersey or Brett Hull in a Phoenix Coyotes jersey.

Or Brodeur in a Blues jersey, for that matter.

If Brodeur, Roenick or whoever still have a desire to play the game, who are you to tell them they shouldn't just because it challenges your fragile and special memories of them as younger men?

It doesn't matter if Brodeur's motivation is fun, ego, financial or a fear of a life without hockey—someone is going to pay him a lot of money to play a game.

Why would anyone give that up before they have to?

Brodeur is the career wins leader, shutouts leader, has three Stanley Cups, four Vezina Trophies, two Olympic gold medals for Canada and has scored two goals.

You know that trapezoid behind the net that prevents goaltenders from playing the puck? It's there largely because Brodeur acted as a puck-moving defenseman for a large part of his career and teams had no answer for it.

If your first inclination upon hearing the Brodeur news is how four months in a Blues uniform will tear that down or make any of that less meaningful, grow up.

All statistics via NHL.com.

Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @DaveLozo.