Martin Brodeur Enjoying Return to NHL With St. Louis Blues
UNIONDALE, N.Y. - Martin Brodeur looked odd in a St. Louis Blues sweater, and he still felt a little strange to be wearing it after almost a quarter century in Devils red.
But there he was, jumping into the net at the start of the second period Saturday at Nassau Coliseum with the Blues trailing the Islanders, 3-0. He stopped 14 of 15 shots, calmly holding the fort as St. Louis rallied for a 6-4 victory.
'It's definitely a change - not just playing hockey, but being part of a different organization,' Brodeur said Saturday morning, his fifth day with St. Louis. 'That's what makes you feel a little younger and kind of excited about everything.'
Brodeur, the goalie with the most victories in N.H.L. history, is 42 years old and delighted to be in the league again. The months of waiting for a team to contact him - a tough period, he said, because 'you expect to get something and you're not getting it' - were behind him.
During the pregame warm-up, he waved to a small group of fans in Devils sweaters standing behind the St. Louis net.
Jed Latkin, a Devils season-ticket holder since 1982, was wearing a Brodeur Devils sweater. He was accompanied by his 6-year-old son, Brody, who is named for Brodeur.
'It's weird to see him in another uniform, but the Blues have a chance to win the Stanley Cup and Marty wants to win,' Latkin said.
After the Blues fell behind in the first period and Jake Allen was pulled from their net, they seemed galvanized by the mere presence of Brodeur, who had won more games in his career against the Islanders, 51, than against any other team. They rallied to tie the game, 3-3, in the second period and 4-4 in the third, on a power-play goal by T. J. Oshie.
Paul Stastny scored the go-ahead goal with 6 minutes 37 seconds left in regulation, and Steve Ott added another with 2:28 to go.
Two nights earlier, Brodeur performed passably, stopping 20 of 24 shots in a 4-3 loss at Nashville, his first game since hearing ovation after ovation in his swan song with the Devils on April 13. That was a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins in Newark, victory No. 688 for Brodeur, who was drafted by the Devils in 1990. A lot of players would like to go out that way, but not Brodeur.
'Just to be comfortable about leaving the game, that's what I'm looking for, and I didn't feel I had that last year,' he said. 'When I played that last game, I really appreciated how the fans responded toward me. But in the back of my head, this is not the last time I was going to be on the ice.'
Where will his St. Louis adventure take him? 'Well, the future will tell us,' he said. 'I'm at peace with where I am right now.'
Brodeur may be in the twilight of his career, and he may not even have a viable job with the Blues when their No. 1 goalie, Brian Elliott, returns from a sprained knee. But whatever Brodeur's limitations, he is a prize to have on the roster. He was drafted more than a year before the birth of the Blues' top scorer, Vladimir Tarasenko. He has won more games than nine current N.H.L. franchises.
Blues Coach Ken Hitchcock said: 'When you're sitting in the locker room and you need someone to say something, he has the confidence in himself, even though he's new to the team, to say the things that have to be said.
'It's a win-win for both Marty and our team,' added Hitchcock, who won two Olympic gold medals and one World Cup alongside Brodeur with Team Canada.
Brodeur said that what he is doing now has nothing to do with putting the Devils behind him, or anything else.
'It's about me wanting to do something to finish my career with a big smile on my face,' he said.
He was wearing that smile all day Saturday.
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