Martin Brodeur to Retire at Age 42
The National Hockey League’s winningest goaltender Martin Brodeur has decided to retire.
St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced that Brodeur, who has three Stanley Cups, will announce his retirement on Thursday. Brodeur will stay in St. Louis in a management position with the team. A press conference will be held at 10:30 a.m.
The long-time New Jersey Devil finishes his 22-year NHL career in St. Louis after joining the Blues as a free agent on Dec. 2. He accumulated a 3-3-0 record, which included his final NHL win, a 3-0 shutout against Colorado on Dec. 29.
Before finishing his career with the Blues, Brodeur spent 21 seasons in New Jersey.
The Devils drafted him with first pick in 1990 (20th overall). He spent the majority of his first two seasons with the Devils’ AHL team, The Utica Devils. During his NHL debut, he got his first win against the Boston Bruins by a score of 4-2.
For the 1993-1994 season, Brodeur returned to the NHL permanently and won the Calder Trophy for best rookie of the year.
Brodeur spent 21 of his 22 seasons in New Jersey before deciding to test the market. He became a free agent at the end of the 2013-2014 season and the Devils turned to Cory Schneider as their starting goalie.
Since entering the league, Brodeur has broken multiple records and won numerous awards. Most notably, he is currently the league’s winningest goalie.
The future Hall-of-Famer has compiled a 691-397-176 record. He has also notched a 2.24 goals against average and a .912 save percentage.
He holds regular season NHL goaltending records for shutouts (125), games played (1,266) and minutes played (74,438). As far as the postseason goes, he ranks first in starts (204) and shutouts (24) and second in wins (113).
Brodeur appeared in 10 All-Star Games and has a long list of awards won. After winning the Calder Trophy his rookie year, he then went on to win the Vezina Trophy four times: 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008.
Brodeur won all three of his Stanley Cups with the New Jersey Devils in 1995, 2000 and 2003.
On top of Marty’s NHL success, he is also a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist with Team Canada, which he won in 2002 and 2010.
His success is also not limited to goaltending. Brodeur has scored three goals in his NHL career (the only goalie to do so).
Devils’ General Manager Lou Lamoriello told NJ.com that he expects Brodeur to end up back in New Jersey eventually.
“Marty and I have been in constant contact,” Lamoriello said. “I certainly understand what he is doing…I support this and understand it.”
“He could have come here if he wanted,” Lamoriello said. “I don’t think this is a case of him choosing (between the two organizations). He’s been there with the players. The (Blues) players and administration asked him to stay. He had an impact in that dressing room…He’s doing this because he made that commitment there this year. There is no disrespect (to the Devils) whatsoever.”
Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/cubesbyamanda/
