Fans and teammates alike are grieving at the announcement of St. Louis Blues goalie Martin Brodeur’s retirement after 24 seasons in the NHL. At 42 years old, Brodeur has decided to hang up his skates and take up a position in the Blues front office.
While many are stunned at the renowned goaltender’s abrupt decision to end his career mid-season, I believe that Brodeur’s retirement is long overdue.
By no means do I mean to diminish or undermine Brodeur’s career in its entirety, but rather it seems that the Canadian native really should have announced his retirement about five years ago.
Brodeur had a very successful run in which he broke countless records, received numerous awards, clinched three Stanley Cup titles and even got a NHL rule change named after him. Yet Brodeur truly proved his prowess and earned rightful notoriety towards the beginning of his career, while his later years in net were characterized by injury and second-string status.
As in most professional sports, age is often the root cause of retirement. Brodeur was one of the oldest players in the NHL. And with players entering the league at 18 years old, Brodeur was at a disadvantage in terms of agility and speed.
Another major aspect of Brodeur’s demise during the latter part of his career was the emergence of promising goalie prospects that harnessed attention as they surpassed Brodeur’s coveted records.
Take Henrik Lundqvist, for example. The Swedish goaltender has earned a reputable name for himself on the New York Rangers, leading the NHL in all-time shootout wins and even impressing the world by finishing with top rankings at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Lundqvist has rightfully captured the hearts and minds of New York fans (and not just because of his swooning good looks).
Similarly, Jonathan Quick is another goaltender on the rise and continues to wow the world of hockey. Quick joined the Los Angeles Kings in 2007 as a 72nd overall draft pick. During his blossoming career, much of which is still underway, Quick has won two Stanley Cup titles and even scored a silver medal in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
With stars like Lundqvist and Quick stealing the spotlight, Brodeur became old news rather quickly. Looking back, Brodeur really should have retired during the years directly following the peak in his career.
While his last Stanley Cup win was in 2003 with the New Jersey Devils, Brodeur still proved prolific in goal during a few subsequent seasons as he appeared in playoff games and maintained impressive save percentages.
However, if I had to pick a cutoff season in which Brodeur should have called it quits, it would’ve been after the 2009-10 season, in which he led the NHL in wins, shutouts, games and minutes played.
At this point, Brodeur could have left the NHL on a high note, but instead he continued to trudge on in his career even after his contract exhausted with the Devils in 2013. Entering the market as a free agent,
Brodeur signed with the St. Louis Blues for the 2014-2015 season. Yet his time playing with the Blues was ephemeral; it was finally in the middle of this 2014-15 season, on Jan. 29, after playing only seven games with the Blues, that Brodeur decided to end his career on a sour note.
Growing up as a hockey player and Devils fan, I idolized Brodeur. I had the opportunity to meet him at a local rink where I remember literally looking up to the massive 6-foot 2-inch, 216-pound man and thinking it was such an honor to be in the presence of a hockey phenomenon. Seeing Brodeur at the zenith of his career, it’s disheartening to witness him exit at a trough.
-By Zoe Elfenbein, Staff Writer
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