Brodeur worries about family business
Former goalie’s move away from hockey ops should give him more time with his children
The assumption by most had been that Martin Brodeur was on a rocket ship to NHL upper management, destined to join the likes of Brendan Shanahan, Steve Yzerman, Luc Robitaille, Rob Blake, Ron Hextall, Doug Wilson, Al MacInnis, Cam Neely and Joe Sakic as former star players who are senior executives with NHL teams.
Brodeur worked as an assistant GM with the St. Louis Blues last season, and did work on the side for Hockey Canada, honing his hockey operations skills and seemingly ticking off all the necessary areas on his résumé.
“I was 60 days in Europe with Team Canada last year,” he said. Maybe Brodeur would be the next GM of the Blues, a talented team that has found the formula to winning it all elusive. His name always came up in connection with his hometown Montreal Canadiens. It seemed just a matter of time until he became a hockey boss. Whenever the next big job in the game opened up, Brodeur, set to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this fall, was surely going to be a leading candidate.
Except that wasn’t what Brodeur was planning at all. Not for now, at least.
He turned down a chance to expand his portfolio with the Blues and opted to rejoin the New Jersey Devils in a business capacity — nothing to do with the hockey front office at all. Brodeur got the job after contacting team president Hugh Weber, not Devils GM Ray Shero, who has been busy hiring other people, like Chuck Fletcher, to join his front office.
So Brodeur is out of hockey operations entirely, no longer on a straight line to the next available GM job.
“When you go a whole year and see your son play hockey twice, there’s a problem,” Brodeur said in an interview with The Star. “It’s not like I wanted to leave. (Blues GM) Doug (Armstrong) just said he needed more from me.
“But I was working way too much, and it was very demanding as far as travelling. They wanted me to work more, and I wanted to work less. I just think I’ve got to enjoy my retirement a little more than this.”
The son Brodeur was referring to was eight-year-old Max, who is thriving in the St. Louis hockey system, which is now producing elite NHL-level talent. Brodeur’s oldest son Anthony is attending the University of Ottawa, playing hockey and golf. His twin sons, Jeremy and William, are headed in very different directions. Jeremy is playing in the ECHL but was invited to participate in the Travers City rookie tournament with the — horrors — New York Rangers, Brodeur’s key rivals during his years with the Devils. “That’s going to be weird,” he laughed. William, meanwhile, is attending Providence College. His daughter, Annabelle, is in high school but has committed to Columbia on a field hockey scholarship.
That’s a lot of variety on the home front, and a big-time requirement. Instead of moving back to Jersey, Brodeur and his wife, Jen, will stay in St. Louis while he commutes east a dozen times per season.
“It’s a nice little step back. I can enjoy a little bit of my free time,” he said. “I’m not ready to manage a team yet, and I’m definitely not ready to commit to it yet.”
In recent times, even though star players are retiring incredibly wealthy, many find the tug of competition and the game irresistible, and end up doing demanding jobs that require long days at the office and on the road. Brodeur, apparently, has been able to resist that tug, looking to other priorities.
“The nice thing is now winning or losing has no bearing on how you do your job,” he said. “Other people are responsible for winning or losing.”
Devils owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer also own the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and Crystal Palace of the English Premier League, so Brodeur anticipates learning about the business of pro sports from a number of vantage points.
“I’ve tried so far to learn as much as possible,” he said. “I think I’ve got a good grasp of what a hockey GM needs to do. I’ve got the knowledge of going through four drafts, of setting up an AHL team. The business part is new to me, and I can do this at my own pace.”
Returning to New Jersey, of course, is like going home.
“It was always in the back of my mind,” he said. “Every time I went back there, whether is was for the jersey retirement or the statue, they made me feel part of organization even though I was working for the Blues.
“I just spent a few days in Jersey. It’s like I never left.”
The Devils accumulated 97 points last year with shifty rookie Nico Hischier and league MVP Taylor Hall, snaring the last playoff position in the Eastern Conference before losing to Tampa Bay in the first round. “Kevin McDonald worked with me when I was with the Blues, and for years he said he hated having to go to New Jersey,” Brodeur said. “Last year, he called me to tell me that the Devils were so fun to watch. So that’s what’s nice. There’s a feeling it’s good product, it’s going in right direction and the business in growing. We’ve got something to sell on the ice.”
And the Devils have their Hall of Fame goalie back to help sell it.