CBC-Sports

Brodeur's return impressive

March 2, 2009 01:43 PM | Posted by   Craig Simpson  

Last Thursday on Hockey Night in Canada Radio on Sirius, Jeff Marek and I were talking about the return of Martin Brodeur to the New Jersey Devils’ lineup.

Brodeur had been on the shelf since Nov. 1 when he tore his bicep muscle on his catching arm and was forced to have surgery. It had been four months and 50 games away from the ice for the NHL veteran, a long stretch of time that is difficult for any player to return from, but even more so for a goalie who is a few months away from his 37th birthday.

Jeff’s question of “What can we expect from Brodeur in his return?” was a difficult one to answer.

Not an ordinary player

Conventional wisdom would say that any normal player who has been out that long would be rusty, and would probably struggle to regain his form.

Martin Brodeur, however, is no ordinary player. My response was as simple as that. I have played with and against great players who seem to always be able to rise to the occasion no matter how much time they've been away. Think of Mario Lemieux’s first game back from two years of retirement. He scored a point on his first shift and had a three-point night.

Despite such a long stretch between starts, Brodeur was able to create some magic of his own. A 4-0 shutout in his first game back was impressive enough, but to follow it up with a 7-2 win and then another shutout - his 100th of his career - is truly amazing.

Brodeur has been a workhorse his entire career, and despite playing over 70 games a year for 10 straight seasons, he has been immune to the injury bug until this year. You would think that he might struggle having never been injured before and never having so much time away from the game.

It appears that just the opposite is true.

With a four-month rest to heal his body and get refreshed, the early-season injury that many thought would signal the demise of the Devils may end up being the best thing that could have happened to them.

Devils even tougher to beat

In his three games back, Brodeur is 3-0-0 with a 0.67 goals-against average and a lofty .970 save percentage. With his 99th and 100th shutouts he becomes just the second goalie in NHL history to reach the century mark and with three more he will tie Terry Sawchuck for tops all-time. With his 547 wins, he is now just four wins away from tying Patrick Roy for the all-time lead.

With no sign of slowing down and three more years on his contract, the NHL record books are his to rewrite.

Brodeur is fresh, in shape, re-energized and motivated for another Stanley Cup run. With a 9-2-2 record, a 1.81 GAA and .928 save percentage and four shutouts, he has never looked better, and with a team in front of him that is scoring plenty of goals, the Devils are going to be tough to beat.

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