Devils goalie Martin Brodeur reached an astounding milestone on Sunday, reaching his 100th shutout in a 3-0 New Jersey win over Philadelphia. To put that in perspective, only one other goalie has logged 100 shutouts in his career, and Terry Sawchuck is living a happy retired existence in hockey’s hall of fame.
(He’s Tiger Woods, and people are treating him like Stewart Cink.)
Yet those milestones don’t seem to be setting off alarm bells around sports, with the media treating 100 shutouts like 100 wins in baseball. Or 100 homers. Sure, it’s a milestone, but no one really seems to realize how big it is.
Let’s make it clear: This is a huge deal, the kind we may see only once or twice more for the rest of our life … if we’re lucky. We’re watching the Tiger Woods of hockey, yet no one seems to realize or celebrate just how great he is. If you’re looking for a reason why, it might just be because of his tabloid affair with his sister-in-law.
Take a look at Brodeur’s career accomplishments, and they can almost take your breath away. He’s won three Stanley Cups and four Vezina trophies as the league’s best goalie. He has more career 40-win seasons than anyone, more single-season wins (48) than anyone and has the most single postseason shutouts (an incredible 7). Even what seem like lesser accomplishments for Brodeur qualify as career-makers for others: An Olympic gold medal in 2002, a Calder Trophy as rookie of the year and a whopping 10 All-Star selections.
A recent Yahoo! poll showed that 73 percent of readers felt Brodeur was the best goalie in NHL history. Yet that gets much less attention than what Brodeur has done off the ice, namely the affair that wrecked his marriage … with his now ex-wife’s sister-in-law. Brodeur’s former wife, Melanie Dubois, eventually sued him for $9 million in alimony to help support their four children — yes, he slept with the sister of the mother of his four children — and the entire scandal was exposed belatedly by an obscure French-language tabloid in Montreal.
Yet all of the legalese and heresay was secondary to a single sign that Brodeur had to face during a playoff series: “Tickets to a Stanley Cup playoff game: $95. Alimony demanded from your wife: $9 million. Sex with your sister-in-law: Priceless.”
So, have the moral police kept Brodeur’s subsequent accomplishments under wraps? Maybe. Or maybe Americans just don’t care about hockey anymore. It’s hard to tell. Either way, Brodeur’s mark is being celebrated the way it should, and the way he deserves it to be.
10:07 pm on March 1st, 2009
I believe the reasons why Martin Brodeur's records aren't setting the hockey world on fire are due to the system he plays in. You can't take anything away from Marty - he did his job, he did what was asked of him - but the system the Devils play is defensive minded and he hasn't faced as many shots as the other hall of fame goalies. The Devils did pretty well in his absence this season. Was that because of Scott Clemmensen's excellent play? or was it because the Devils system takes the pressure off goalies by decreasing the amount of shots on goal to defend. Marty deserves to be in the Hall of Fame - and will be - but his records most likely would not have been accomplished if he played for another team.
10:35 pm on March 1st, 2009
Brodeur plays for a team that can barley fill its buidling with its fans,
Only 17,000 people care about him….
If he was a flyer he would of been traded a long time ago because they dont know anything about goalies,,,But if
he would of lasted that long with the flyers we would be saying ,"bernie who" ??
10:36 pm on March 1st, 2009
The Devils haven't played trap hockey in a few seasons. Their defense is fierce this season, and even their 3rd line is scoring.
10:38 pm on March 1st, 2009
The Devils "barley fill its building"? Yes, Prudential Center is reasonable close to the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Newark, but they've got lots of fans in the seats for every game.
3:39 am on March 2nd, 2009
Terry Sawchuck has been dead for over 30 years, so he is not living a happily retired existence anywhere….
4:12 am on March 2nd, 2009
Hey Brodeur had an affair with his sister's brother's wife, not with his sister's sister.
8:04 am on March 2nd, 2009
the devils play a defensive system which is boring to watch.
they have no fan base, hence, when they won the cup, no parade, just a little get together in the parking lot.
scott clemenson, a 31 year old career minor league goalie led the devils to the division lead when when brodeur was out injured. this helps prove that brodeur is good, but more a product of the devils defense first system.
in general, hockey sucks. at least most sports fans think it does. arena football got better ratings and that sport canceled its season. espn dumped hockey because the ratings sucked. so they have poker and womens basketball on.
i love the game, but this is a sport that resorts to a freak show(outdoor hockey at wrigley) for ratings. yeah it was fun. but an act of desperation.
hockey has a cult-following. loyal fans, but after them, there is a major drop off in interest in the sport. casual fans just not into the sport. golf, nascar, tennis, etc get better ratings.
8:09 am on March 2nd, 2009
oh yeah, brodeur is a piece of trash, sleeping with his wife's sister.
his wife(ex) is the mother of his 4 kids. haha. how do you say….LOSER!
11:40 am on March 2nd, 2009
If Brodeur trumpeted up the sex with the sister-in-law thing more, more people would definitely be interested.
11:47 am on March 2nd, 2009
Terry Sawchuk was a pretty troubled guy, dead at 40. Nice headline though…