News and Views: Brodeur's latest feat stokes all-time debate
Martin Brodeur said one of the best things about setting a new career shutout record was being able to put the subject behind him.
Not that it's been particularly troublesome for the affable New Jersey Devils goalie. Brodeur has spent his entire 16-year career in an extension of the country's biggest media market and he has won three Stanley Cups, four Vezinas and now holds nine all-time records. Attention isn't new to him.
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| Workhorse Martin Brodeur is relieved after knocking off another goalie mark. (AP) |
"People bring (the shutout record) to my attention all the time because it is a big deal, so it's understandable that reporters and T.V. people will ask me," said Brodeur, who set two ironman career records earlier this season. "But I'm definitely happy that it's passed and I won't have to answer that question again.
Instead Brodeur will leave the bigger question, the one regarding his place in history, for others to ponder.
Going strictly by the numbers, it would be hard to make a case that anyone was better, the different eras notwithstanding. Brodeur wasn't yet born when greats like Sawchuk, Jacques Plante and Glenn Hall were playing and he was still a kid when Ken Dryden hung up his skates. Still Brodeur's generation did include Patrick Roy and Dominik Hasek, and yet the Devils lifer has his name next to all the important records. Think about it. Most career wins. Most games played. Most 40-win seasons. Most consecutive 30-win seasons in a row. Most wins in one season. There are a couple of others, but you get the picture.
To cynics, Brodeur has been the beneficiary of a superb defensive system that has been the hallmark of the organization since he arrived and won the 1994 Rookie of the Year Award. And he readily concedes to benefitting from the "fruits of his teammates' efforts." But the reality is Brodeur has been the one constant for an organization that has remained among the league's elite despite numerous key personnel changes during the course of his career.
"He's been our backbone," said Devils GM and architect Lou Lamoriello.
Brodeur's coach, Hall of Famer Jacques Lemaire, doesn't like to compare players from different eras. But he said what sets Brodeur apart in any equation is his ability to perform at an elite level with workhorse loads of 70-plus games every season. Most starters max out around 60.
"It demands a lot," Lemaire said. "He's getting older and the game is a lot tougher now with guys bigger and faster and shooting harder, but he's still in the net mostly every game."
Good thing too for the Devils, the league's most overlooked surprise team this season. New Jersey is supposed to be in a transitional phase, but instead is off to the best start in franchise history in large part because Brodeur is playing like he's a decade younger than 37. The Devils have led the Atlantic Division for most of the season and now sit atop the overall league standings, while Brodeur is No. 1 in wins with a 2.10 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.
Now he has the record for what truly defines what goaltending is all about: the ability to keep pucks out of the net. With that, Brodeur has made clear once again he is still the gold standard among goaltenders today. And in our view, the best of all time.
News: Former player suffered brain damage from concussions
Views: The real question is how much impact the revelations about Reggie Fleming will have on the general managers when they meet in March. Headshots and the potential they have for dangerous concussions are a front-burner issue again this season, with several key players around the league having been victimized. In their last meeting earlier this month, several GMs talked in politically correct terms about doing more to protect their assets, but there was little consensus on how to do so. The subject is on the agenda for a fuller discussion in March, but the urgency will not necessarily be there.
Concussions have become a hot button topic because the NFL recently identified it an area of concern for the first time, but the Fleming report may be the biggest wakeup call the NHL has ever had about it. Fleming, who died last summer at age 73, was a physical forward who played 13 seasons ending in 1971 and suffered nearly two dozen concussions during his career. His brain was studied by the Boston university School of Medicine and diagnosed as having suffered degenerative disease as a result of his repeated traumas. It was the first time such a correlation has been made and it adds ammunition to those who believe the league has to do more to protect players. But four months is a long time to keep the momentum for change going.
News: Rangers make Wade Redden a healthy scratch
Views: Actually New York had Ales Kotalik in the press box too for a couple of games, which meant Rangers coach John Tortorella felt he had no good use for more than $9 million of payroll space. It was the last card for a coach who been saddled with too many overpaid and underperforming skaters who can't play the kind of game he likes. Blame that on GM Glen Sather, who has given out enough bad contracts over the last few seasons to make any significant changes all but impossible now. But Tortorella has to deal with it, and since the worst offenders are all but unmovable in the cap era because of their salaries, scratching high-priced players is really the only hammer he has. It still works too. The Rangers responded by winning their next three games, stopping at least temporarily the rapid downward spiral they have been in since a great start.
Views: News: Payback for Panthers
Views: Florida got its revenge against the Philadelphia Flyers physically and on the score board. The teams met Monday in Philadelphia for the first time since Flyers captain Mike Richards knocked David Booth out of commission with a devastating blind-side hit in October, and the Panthers ended up making their biggest statement of the season as result. Florida took a lot of heat for not retaliating after the incident which to many served to reinforce its reputation as a team that could be pushed around.
But the Panthers have been a much-improved team of late, and this was the kind of game that tends to serve as momentum boosts for teams. Florida wasted little time getting even for the still sidelined Booth, fighting three times in the first period, with captain Bryan McCabe taking on Richards less than five minutes in. But more important, the Panthers skated away with a 4-1 decision, their fourth win in five starts.
News: Goalie helps his boss out
Views: Jaroslav Halak wants to go someplace where he'll get more playing time and Montreal Canadiens GM Bob Gainey wants to accommodate him. In fact, Gainey contacted the goaltending-challenged Philadelphia Flyers among a few other teams last week to offer the young netminder in a deal. No one bit, but good goalies are always in demand and chances are they'll be even more so after the Olympics when the schedules will be most compressed. Meanwhile, Halak hasn't hurt his value in his last couple of starts, winning both while stopping 97 of 100 shots he faced.
