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.