Martin Brodeur saluting the crowd after his last game…or not?

Two months into the season, finally there is some news on the Martin Brodeur front.  Not the retirement announcement some might have expected by now, but in fact a post-Thanksgiving tryout with a Blues team that lost starting goaltender Brian Elliott to a week-to-week injury looking for a vet with experience to fill in.  St. Louis’s current #1 is rookie Jake Allen and their #2 is green AHL goalie Jordan Binnington.  I’m kind of loath to give thoughts on this until and if Brodeur actually signs with the Blues, though the one immediate plus of Marty going there is that the Blues don’t play the Devils the rest of the season.  And quite honestly if any team’s going to make Marty appear better than he is at this point in his career it’s a strong Blues team with Ken Hitchcock’s great defensive system.

However I’ll say this…anyone that’s going to begrudge him going to St. Louis and not finishing his career as a Devil, honestly at this point it really doesn’t matter.  It’s not as if Marty didn’t give us his best hockey while he was here, or that he’s going to a rival to stick it to us a la Brett Favre in Minnesota.  Would it be more asthetically pleasing if his win last April and the crowd applause was his last moment in an NHL uniform?  Sure, but it’s not like we didn’t know in the back of our minds there was the possibility Marty might show up again in an NHL rink this season.  It wasn’t the true sendoff he’ll inevitably get anyway when his number gets raised to the rafters.  Plus, we don’t have the right to tell Marty he can’t play anymore.  If he wants to get every ounce out of his career and let the league tell him he can’t play anymore that’s fine.

In that vein I wouldn’t want to see him getting racked either.  That would be senseless but ultimately forgotten over time.  Who even remembers Joe Namath playing for the Rams, or Bobby Orr’s forgettable time in Chicago?  Everyone associates Namath with the football Jets, Orr with the Bruins and will forever associate Marty with the Devils, however his career ends.  Now if Marty’s career has an unexpected second act and he plays well (assuming he does wind up getting a contract from the Blues) then I admit I’d have mixed feelings about it.  On a personal level I’d be happy for him and I certainly have nothing against the Blues but Marty having a reinassance against the odds would also re-ignite the ridiculous goalie debate among Devil fans, many blind Marty loyalists who begrudge Cory Schnieder taking his spot – thankfully Cory had a good road trip or the boos for him would approach the boos coach Pete DeBoer will no doubt get Friday night – and others who couldn’t wait to kick Marty out the door.

Ultimately however, that’s a long way away from happening.  And even if Marty does sign with the Blues, how long will his stay really be?  Elliott’s signed for three years at $2.5 million per while Allen’s the Blues goalie of the future and St. Louis can no longer send him to the AHL without exposing Allen to waivers.  When Elliott comes back there’ll be no room for Marty and having him be placed on waivers/cut would be a bad way to go out.  But again, that’s also a long way away as evidenced by the mere fact the Blues have reached out to Marty.