Appreciation of Martin Brodeur

Being well aware of the fact that today was Masters Sunday, if you appreciate the NHL at all, I'm hoping you flipped over to the Bruins-Devils game at some point. Not necessarily for the whole game, but for a few minutes here and there, and certainly the final minutes.

It very well may have been Martin Brodeur's final game in the NHL.

Nothing is official yet, but Brodeur's contract expires at the end of the league year, and the Devils' trade for Cory Schneider last summer made it clear that New Jersey was done operating under the assumption Brodeur would last forever. The Devils even floated the idea of trading him at this year's trade deadline, to give him another shot at a Stanley Cup, but after that came and went, it's become even more clear Brodeur's end game is in sight.

If today was indeed it, Brodeur went out with a bit of symmetry: a win over the Bruins. Back on March 26, 1992, Brodeur made the first start of his career for the Devils, who drafted him with the second-to-last pick in the 1st round of the 1990 NHL draft, and tallied a win over the Bruins. He gained the full-time starting gig for NJ in the 1994-95 season, and has appeared in more games (1,258) than any other goaltender in the history of the NHL since.

Along the way, Brodeur has amassed a resume that has put him in the discussion for the "greatest goalie of all-time." Three Stanley Cup wins, four Vezina trophies for the league's best netminder, and the all-time record for both wins by a goalie (687) and shutouts (124). In the 1995 episode of Seinfeld, "The Facepainter," David Puddy dons a Martin Brodeur jersey with his face painted in the Devils' theme of red and black. It's pretty remarkable that in 2014, that jersey is still of an active player.

Perhaps my favorite quality of Brodeur has been his lack of a concrete retirement announcement. Only he knows the answer for sure, but rather than make himself a spectacle, he's kept his intentions to himself. No prolonged farewell tours, "look at me!" media whore tendencies. Simply going about his business, doing what he could to keep the Devils in contention for a playoff spot until the season's final week in a new role as a backup. New Jersey president/GM Lou Lamoriello wasn't afraid to reduce the role of a franchise icon as he neared his potential end, which could be in stark contrast to the role of a certain shortstop for a baseball team based out of the Bronx. To be continued there. 

But this is about Brodeur. Watching his final moments this afternoon, there's no active player in hockey who's meant as much to one franchise as Brodeur has to the Devils. Sure, Jaromir Jagr and Teemu Selanne have been just as good at what they do for just as long, but they haven't spent their entire careers in one organization. It's almost a blessing ESPN neglects hockey in this case, because with all the coverage you're about to see that shortstop from the Bronx get, or the coverage that quarterback from Hattiesburg, Miss. got not too long ago, you may have suffered some Brodeur fatigue these last several months.

If you do want to compare Brodeur to a player from another sport, then yeah Derek Jeter would be a fantastic contemporary. So would Tom Brady, as well as Tim Duncan. Those other three have spent similarly long careers with their respective teams, and just those teams, winning multiple championships and cementing legacies of their own as all-time greats. It's some fantastic company.

Until Brodeur says for sure that he's hanging up the skates, hockey fans can hold out hope he returns for a 22nd season in the Garden State. But the guess here is we've seen the last of Marty after today. And anytime one of the greatest players of all-time moves on, you tend to wonder who the "next" one is, who could assume the part of "greatest active goalie" in the NHL. The short answer: no one's even close.

An NBA Game in person: Celtics vs. 76ers Report Card

Everyone has guilty pleasures that they feel compelled to share with people. Others tend to bury those pleasures deep within their conscience, never to be revealed to the public. For example, I'm a pretty big Survivor fan. You know, that show that's been on since 2000 and is in its 28th season on CBS. But not everyone is so open about these pleasures, various things they've done. But I feel the need to share this one with people, and I'm not even remotely proud of it, but it needs to be said:

I went to an NBA game last night. 

If you've been reading this blog or listening to the Sports Power Half Hour for awhile, you'd know the NBA ranks fourth in terms of my professional sports interests by a fairly large margin. But this season in particular, with the latest Tankapalooza, has been a bigger turnoff than girls who chew tobacco. 

And last night's Celtics-76ers game just might have been the lowest point. The Celtics entered the game 29 games below .500, at a not-so-robust 23-52. And to the Sixers' credit, they came in scorching hot, winners of two of their last three games following a 25-game losing streak. Anyways they were 16-59 heading into the contest, 43 games below .500. You do the math: the teams were a combined 72 games below .500. 

Self-inflicted wounds, mind you, with each team doing their best Miami Marlins firesale impression to improve their respective positions in the draft lottery, but that's another story for another time. For the here and now, a brief report card about my travels to the TD Garden last night:

Affordability: A-

Me and three of my buddies spent $22 a ticket for section 306, way up in the nosebleeds. To call it a "professional" sporting event might be simplifying things in terms of last night, but I guess since Michael Carter-Williams and Rajon Rondo played, we'll let it slide. It would be a solid "A" if not for the fact that, you know, I still spent $22 to see Kelly Olynyk and Kris Humphries play big minutes for the once-proud Celtics.

Atmosphere: C-

I'll say this much: not many other cities would have filled an arena like Celtics fans did last night. Definitely not a sellout, but I'd say at least 90% full. The Miami Heat could only dream of crowds like last nights. But I saw lots of families there last night, unusual for a Friday night game. I think parents were just taking their kids to the game because it was "cool," not because it was a good game. The low point had to be people in section 300 attempting about 15 times to start "the wave," which is a grave offense anyways, but under last night's circumstances? Shameful. Plus no one really seemed to care that the Celtics lost.

Gameplay: D

I couldn't put it any better than Ice Cube: Rondo f***ed around and got a triple double. To say he looked disengaged would be an understatement. For Philly, Michael Carter-Williams is the real deal, with a quality 24 points, 6 boards and 6 assists. How he fell to no. 11 in last June's abysmal draft could have its own "Brady 6" type special some day. Other than those two? Uh....I noticed Brandon Davies, the dude who got kicked out of BYU for yada yada yada, was on the Sixers. I attempted to convince people that Jerryd Bayless was Skip's son. Not much else to see here.

Intangibles: B+

I was at the Barclays in Brooklyn for the A-10 Tournament a few weeks ago, and beer was $10.25. But it was 24 ounces. Last night at the Garden, it was also $10.25, but for just 20 ounces. Pre-game, we went to Hurricane O'Reilly's, a place I started going when the Bruins were in the Celtics position, not vise versa. Great food, and I can't recommend the "Bruin Burger" enough. 32 oz. pitchers of Molson Canadian for just $6 too....sign me up. A guy in the bathroom, a Celtics fan, saw PT wearing his Sixers jersey. The guy said "we can't make fun of many teams this year, but we can make fun of yours!" Funny moment but honestly neither fan base has anything to "make fun" of. It was possibly the least hostile environment I've ever been to. The T was very punctual last night too. So we had that going for us, which was nice.

Overall: C

Look it's always fun going to a game with your buddies, no matter the sport. It's a little league adage I believe, "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game." And when neither team has any interest of actually winning, and most Celtics fans were actually happy with a loss because of the extra ping-pong balls they'll get in the lottery....I don't get the attraction. There's a flaw in the system when teams are encouraged to lose on purpose for the sake of a lottery pick. Thank God the Bruins are on right now.

Channel Flip Season

Lots of talk lately about March being "the best time of the year" if you're a sports fan. The NCAA Tournament at the forefront of the notion, obviously, but Spring Training and the idea that baseball is right around the corner helping, too.

I won't disagree that the NCAA Tournament might be the single-greatest sporting event on the planet, but pound for pound I'll take April over March, and it has nothing to do with college hoops (despite the Final Four generally occurring in the month): Channel Flip Season, or flipping between baseball and hockey.

REAL baseball games, that is, combined with hockey season winding down towards the playoffs. Not to mention it's a sure sign summer's right around the corner, but the fact that both the Bruins and Red Sox are on tonight, and they'll be overlapping quite frequently for at least the next month...what's better than that? This year especially it's gonna be unreal, with the Bruins vying for the President's Trophy and the Sox defending their World Series title. Working the NESN/NESN Plus/NBC Sports Network rotation is always one of my favorite times of year, and it starts tonight.