Devils goalie Martin Brodeur
The void was glaring. Until last week, the league’s competition committee included executives, plus four high-profile skaters and no goaltenders. The NHL filled the “vacancy,” announcing Martin Brodeur had joined the group. It was a wise choice for a lot of reasons. Brodeur is thoughtful and eloquent and will take the job seriously. Even in the league release announcing the selection, he said he was looking forward to “representing the goalie fraternity.” Also, he was the best puck-handling goalie, hands down, in the league before the NHL made that less of an issue. Now, goalies can handle the puck behind the goal line only in the trapezoid that measures 28 feet at the end boards. It was the one rule change I had doubts about. For one thing, Patrick Roy’s overrating of his own puckhandling ability led to some misadventures that could be as fun to watch as his great saves. For another, the athleticism involved in playing the puck should be rewarded. Though some partisans want us to believe the New Jersey Devils haven’t played the trap since about 1995, the reality is that at least some clogging elements remained crucial to their game. It would be pigheaded not to admit the style contributed to Brodeur’s impressively stingy numbers the past decade. So while all NHL goalies had adjustments to make in the wake of the new standards and rules, Brodeur might have been facing the most drastic changes of all. And it didn’t help that Brodeur was out for more than two weeks with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee before returning to the crease nine days ago. Going into Saturday’s game, his .881 saves percentage was what jumped out as a problem – even more so than his pedestrian goals-against average (3.42).
Tentatively: When you were the best in the league at a craft that has become less relevant, it can drain some of the assertiveness and confidence from your game. And that seemed to be the case with Brodeur in the early going. He also seemed to be among those most affected by the perception the crease was becoming a high-traffic zone because of the obstruction crackdown and because defensemen still were trying to get a handle on what they could and couldn’t get away with in attempting to work in front of the net.
Definitely: At 33, Brodeur still is capable of being the best in the league, night in and night out. If his voice on the competition committee will lead the panel to consider watering down the puck-handling restrictions for future seasons, that will help Brodeur in the long run. But maybe even feeling as if he has a voice (not to mention a healthy knee) could help him regain his confidence, because the mind is a fragile thing.
