Brodeur’s mental strength endures
Marty Brodeur was talking at the Hockey Hall of Fame, in the churchlike Great Hall, practically glowing. He was in, and he was asked: how did he keep going for so long? Over two decades, and a cumulative performance that made him seem like furniture in our lives. Brodeur was such a fixture that he still does as many national TV ads as pretty much any hockey player alive.
“I just loved it,” said Brodeur. “I think I was was just really comfortable in my goalie equipment, and just being in the net, and being by myself for 60 minutes, and talking to myself sometimes.” Like home? “Exactly. This is where I was comfortable. And I just loved the challenge of just being a goalie, make it or break it every game. You know? I don’t care what you say, if your goalie doesn’t stop the puck, you ain’t winning the game.”
Down the street, a few hours before, Frederik Andersen was talking about Brodeur who, in a way, he understood.
“I haven’t met him very much, seen him around rinks when he was in St. Louis, and watched him play in New Jersey in the finals against L.A., it was Game 5,” said the 29year-old Andersen, before making 38 saves in an easy 6-1 win in the Hall of Fame game against the New Jersey Devils. “Pretty incredible to see: that was probably one of his last great games when he was in the finals there, and it was incredible to see the way he was appreciated by the fans in Jersey. That was something I thought was very cool.”
He said it was the best goaltending performance he has ever seen in person.
Asked what kind of mental determination it required for Brodeur to play so much and so well for so long, Andersen said, “I mean, you can make arguments both ways. He’s had some quiet nights behind a good D, but the mental strength of that, it’s not something that’s easy either. Defi- nitely impressive career.”
There’s a subtle distinction in there, and one Brodeur agrees with. Brodeur’s career was an accumulation, built day by day; the most games played by any goalie in history, the most wins (and losses), the most shutouts, the most goals allowed, and the most saves. Andersen’s career is a speck by comparison, a flash, and he’s not going to have Brodeur’s career unless he plays until he’s 50.
But in some ways the big Dane is working on a case to be a modern Brodeur, in a smaller span. Brodeur finished in the top five in shots against three times in those 21 years in New Jersey; Andersen is on pace to match that mark in his third year with the Leafs. Brodeur led the league in saves once; Andersen has, too. Brodeur never faced the most shots of any goalie in a season, but Freddie did it last year.
And while Brodeur played more than 70 games 12 times and at least 77 four times, Andersen is doing the modern equivalent, more or less: 66 twice, and 14 of the first 16 this season, with a .929 save percentage entering Friday night, eighth in the league. Only Edmonton’s Cam Talbot has played in more games in the last two seasons plus this one, 152 to 146, with more uneven results.
“I know for a fact it’s more demanding now than it used to be,” said Brodeur. “I think the game is a lot faster, goalies are getting run over more than ever, and the style of goaltending also, tough on the hips, the way the butterfly, the way they slide across, they play most of the game on their knees, they don’t really stand up anymore.
“So I think I was able to save my energy at times during games, played on teams that were really defensive. Played a couple games where I got 15, 16 shots. I got one with six shots against the Leafs, in the playoffs. So the next game I was pretty fresh, you know?
“This was my home. Regardless if it was a game or a prac- tice, the locker room, being with the guys, travelling with them, this is what I wanted to do. I was really fortunate to be able to do it for so long, stay healthy for so long. And in the middle of my career guys were starting to retire on my teams, or guys that I played with, and I was always asking — because at 35 I don’t know how long I’m gonna play — how’s retirement going? ‘Not really good, buddy. Keep going, play as long as you can.’ That kind of stayed with me, and I said, you know what, I’m going to try to stretch this thing regardless of whether they want me, until they kick me out. And obviously that’s what happened.”
Asked about the idea of matching Brodeur’s careerbest 78 starts, Andersen smiles and says, “I don’t think we want to do that experiment.”
Marty had to be told to stop. With the Leafs, Andersen is told to go. It’s make it or break it almost every game, and Andersen approaches it stolidly, with quiet feeling. He has talked a lot about how hard he has worked to be ready for this, to not bend under the strain.
We’ll see how much he does, almost every night. They share that, too. The crease is home.