HOCKEY ROYALTY IN THE MAKING
J.J. Adams explains how goalie Brodeur went from Kermit to a King to a folk-art Picasso
As the Canucks celebrate their 50th season, we’re looking back at the moments that stand out as the biggest in franchise history on the ice and off, good and a few bad. We will highlight the top moments from the 1970s through November, the ’80s in December, the ’90s in January, the ’00s in February and the ’10s in March.
His beginning was inauspicious — perhaps even a bit undignified. “Canucks find a spot for a fat man” crowed the headline in the Oct. 20, 1980 edition of The Province, possibly the most demeaning headline Richard Brodeur would suffer in his NHL career.
Former Province columnist Tony Gallagher went on to describe him as the “impish little man from Quebec City” and a lumpy-bodied “Inspector Clouseau look-alike.” Again, unflattering terms befitting a man who would go on to earn the nickname “King Richard” as one of the greatest clutch goaltenders in team history.
Brodeur arrived in Vancouver before the 1980-81 season, acquired by Canucks general manager Jake Milford for depth in the crease behind incumbents Glen Hanlon and Gary Bromley.
What did it cost Vancouver to acquire an elite goaltender that year?
Nothing.
In fact, you could argue the New York Islanders paid the Canucks. It wasn’t quite on the level of landing Markus Naslund for Alek Stojanov — what is, really? — but it was one of the most lopsided deals in team history.
The Canucks picked up the then-28-year-old by exchanging fifth-round picks — the 94th overall for the 105th — with New York. Vancouver turned that fifth-rounder into Moe Lemay, who played six years for the Canucks, compiling 70 goals and 92 assists over a 279-game span.
New York selected Jacques Sylvestre, who never played in the NHL, his playing career ending after 22 games with the Indianapolis Checkers of the CHL.
In Brodeur — the goalie formerly known as Kermit because of his elfin stature and squeaky voice — the Canucks found a player who went on to play seven years for the team, finishing his tenure behind Roberto Luongo and Kirk McLean in games played (377) and wins (126).
Brodeur was the Cyclone Taylor award-winner as team MVP in back-to-back seasons (1981 and 1982) and again in 1985, and was included in the three-star selections more times than any of his teammates during his career.
The five-foot-six Brodeur had been drafted by the Isles in 1972, but played for the WHA’s Quebec Nordiques for the next five years, winning the Avco Cup in 1976-77, making the move to New York only after the WHA folded.
He played only two games for the Isles, spending most of his time with the Checkers, their farm team, as Billy Smith and Chico Resch had the top two spots locked down.
After an all-star season in
Indy, Brodeur grew frustrated, issuing an ultimatum to the organization: trade me or I’ll quit.
“Half an hour later, they called me back,” he told the New York Times. “They said I was traded to Vancouver. … What else could I say? I thanked them.”
Acquired four days before the season began, Brodeur arrived in Vancouver in the same situation — third on the depth chart — but the situation soon changed as injuries felled both Hanlon and Bromley.
His first start came on Oct. 18, 1980, in a 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at the fabled Forum.
He went on to play 52 games that season, then backstopped the Canucks to the Stanley Cup final in 1982, where they faced his former team: the Islanders.
With the Canucks down 3-0 in the series, the New York
Times’ George Vecsey likened Brodeur’s rise to a fairy tale, a frog (Kermit) turned into a monarch (King Richard) with a kiss (or a trade).
Smith, his former teammate, called him the MVP, even if he did surrender 14 goals in the series, where the Canucks were overmatched by a team soon to have won its third of four straight Cups.
Before Brodeur, the Canucks’ goaltending carousel was a circle of mediocrity.
Gary Smith, Cesare Maniago, Hanlon and Bromley all put forth tepid performances.
Bromley is best known for having the “scariest mask in NHL history,” while Hanlon’s claim to fame is giving up Wayne Gretzky’s first career goal, causing him to later quip: “I created a monster.”
Brodeur was named to the 1983 NHL all-star game, but an injury held him out of the contest, adding to the team’s trivia folklore by being replaced by his backup John Garrett (now a Sportsnet commentator).
On Feb. 28, 1986, Brodeur became the first Canucks goalie to crack triple digits in wins, recording victory No. 100 in a 3-1 triumph over the Philadelphia Flyers.
But he played only 11 games the next season before being traded to the Hartford Whalers for Steve Weeks, who is best known as not being the “other” Weekes (goalie Kevin Weekes, he of the infamous carjacking). Weeks was unremarkable during his time in Vancouver before being traded to Buffalo.
The reason behind Brodeur’s exit was the rise of their next great goaltender: “Captain” Kirk McLean. Arriving in Vancouver in 1987, he took over the duties from Brodeur, making him expendable.
After six games with Hartford, Brodeur retired, first to Quebec to work for Labatt’s, then back to Vancouver to work as a hotel executive. He retired from working soon after, focusing on his folksy hockey paintings, a pastime he kept secret during his playing days.
“Painting has always been a passion of mine,” he told Canucks.com in 2010.
“When I was playing with the Canucks, I was painting at home and brought a sketch pad with me on the road. But it’s not something I mentioned to my teammates. You’re always considered a flake as a goalie anyways, and then if you walk in to the locker-room and tell them you’re an artist, they’re going to laugh.”