Why Brodeur bothers me right now

[Indian Chief]

First of all, I have to say that I have always been a huge Brodeur guy. My white #30 jersey is the only Devils jersey I've ever owned in 20 years of being a Devils fan (although I am looking to get a new one, so suggestions are welcome).

Having said that, I could not be more disappointed in Brodeur the last couple of years. At some point your body fails you, it is inevitable. His obviously slow glove hand this year could be a result of that. But in my opinion, there is no excuse for the completely lackadasical approach he takes at times. Maybe he no longer has the ability to snap that glove to snag those one-timer 95mph slap shots, but he sure as hell can stop letting floaters in between his arm and body. And he seems to be unable or unwilling to use his experience to his advantage. It seems like he is counting on superior physical tools to save him and they are not. Brodeur has to change his approach or this is going to get very, very ugly.

Sorry for the rant, but I just keep coming back to Brodeur as one reason why this team is falling on its face right now. Hockey is all about momentum and letting in bad goals in almost every game this year has to be hurting this team.

 

[SDevils]

Brodeur has let in soft goals for a long time now. Still with that said this team has more flaws than just Marty not being on every single night like he was for the early part of his career. We need offensive defencemen and Lou just hasn't gotten it done. He knew it was going to be a hard task to get what we really needed for this team and should have went into a rebuilding mode long ago. As for Marty well he should be held accountable when he doesn't play well but this organization doesn't have it in them to do that. Marty should not have played the next game after the Caps game as he let in a real soft goal to make it 4-2. I thought it was a moment where John could have said I am running this team and I hold people accountable for poor play but honestly any fan who is in the know should know that John was brought in to run this team as a "yes man". John should be coaching a growing, rebuilding team and not this team.

Bottom line Marty will be Marty and this team will continue to head towards mediocrity due to choices made by Lou. I say just enjoy what good we see with the team cuz Lou isn't really trying to do what is best for this team in the long run. He is trying to give the fans a team that will keep 17k in the arena for 40+ home dates and he hopes to get revenue for a 1 and done playoff round. He knows the fan base is poor so he is forced to do this.

 

[nj_cup]

to the OP this is one reason why i still think roy is the greatest alltime he was hungry every single game...he had a fire and got mad after a loss

 

[SDevils]

to the OP this is one reason why i still think roy is the greatest alltime he was hungry every single game...he had a fire and got mad after a loss

Roy won head to head and didn't let in super soft goals ....

Roy was better

 

[TiLoBrown]

I dont get some arguments against Marty. It's mostly he won alot of games because of the defensemen. OK, but that could go he lost alot of games because of the lack of offense...which he still has. I dont know who was better, but I dont think it's clear cut that Marty was a distant #2

 

[DevFan60]

SDevils, you maybe right at some points but all sounds pessimistic. Let's wait for what is going to happen within next a couple of weeks that we can make some assumption of what is wrong. There were a lot of changes in the lineup and it takes time to put pieces together. If it will not, then in my opinion Johny MacLean should go back to AHL. But do you know if there are any good ones available on the market?

 

[MCDevils]

First of all, SDevils is Devillzzzzz, so ignore whatever he says. he was trying to convince people last year that Marty has sucked for 5 years. Yes, the span where he had the no name defense won 40 games a year and won 3 vezinas.

Second, the fact that Roy was mentally unbalanced doesn't make him better IMO. Comparing the best ever based on a 7 game series is also ridiculous.

 

[DevilsMadeMeDoEET]

Why would people ignore what he said ? He made valid points of which some people agree. Amazing eh ?

 

[Indian Chief]

Well so much for a legit thread about this. Thanks Devilzzzzzzzzzz. And you wonder why no one takes you seriously. 3 screen names now? Try to be a little less of a psycho.

 

[TheRobotDevil]

Looks like someone has multiple personalities.like mc says weed out devilzzzz and let him continue to talk to himself.

 

[DevilsMadeMeDoEET]

It seems people might just want to talk Devils hockey. Wouldn't be a good idea on a New Jersey Devils hockey board ?

 

[DevFan60]

DevilsMadeMeDoEET/Devilzzzzz/SDevils why you've been banned? But in any case you should get lost when being asked by many valid members of this board

 

[SJ20]

This devilzzz clown is a STALKER!

 

[nj_cup]

listen whoever is posting it doesnt change what he is saying. beyond just the 7 game series there are other things to consider.

1. marty just isnt the same since the nieds and stevens left
2. isnt the same playing in the new nhl
3. when he went out for those 50 games clemmer came in and posted almost the same numbers as if marty was in net.
4. he never won mvp

 

[MCDevils]

Statistically speaking, Marty had some of the best years of his career post lockout. Not just wins, but Sv% especially.

I know you consider any non stanley cup winning year a failure, but I still keep in mind that when 16 teams make the playoffs, your chances of winning are very small.

 

[MCDevils]

Also, I'm not saying who is better, because there isn't an answer. It's difficult to compare the two since they each played in two of three distinct eras. Frankly, there's no answer to who's better just like there isn't an answer to Mario or Gretzky.

However, when I judge Roy, I don't look down on his career because of some of his abysmal seasons where the high powered "oiler's style offense" was king. I also don't look down on Marty for not winning a cup since the lockout when in any give year a team can go from horrible to Stanley cup favorite (IE the Flyers). The Hurricanes have won the cop, made the eastern finals, and missed the playoffs twice in the last 4 seasons. The fact of the matter is that the league is more balanced than it has ever been. It takes a lot more than just being the best team to win the cup. Ask the caps and pens what happens when a goalie starts playing like he's made of bricks and mortar. OR ask last years Devils team and all the other guys that the no name Goaltending tandem of Leighton and Boucher stymied last year.

Also, both goaltenders were very fortunate to have some of the best defensemen of the era play in front of them. Neids, Stevens, Blake, Foote, Larry Robinson, who is easily one of the best all time and is better than anyone else previously listed.

You can praise Patrick Roy for his fiery play and rage at losing, but at the same time just as everyone does that, the same people praise Marty for his level head. They marvel at his ability to put a loss behind himself and get ready for the next game.

I understand that everyone is annoyed at the start we have had so far, but none of us has any idea what goes on in Marty's head, so I'm not even going to comment on how upset he is.

Some people want to bench him to embarrass him or motivate him into playing better. Guess what, the season is a week old. He hasn't played well enough to win games for the team when they needed him. He's not stupid. He knows he's not at top form. He also doesn't need motivation. The man has a lot of records to his name that proves that simple fact. Maybe he wants to play so much and that's his major fault. But he obviously believes that he gives the team the best chance to win on any given night.

Until this year, the Devils haven't had anyone that could even be remotely considered a 1b backup.

I just don't get how some people are getting on Marty for not being angry or panicking. The entire team is a mess right now. We're scoring 1.6 Goals per game and this season everyone envisaged the Devils running away with the Atlantic with their new high octane, second to none top 6. It hasn't happened.

I know one thing. Marty will take care of himself, but so do all the players on the team. Parise needs to score. Kovy needs to play defense. Elias needs to not disappear. Langenbrunner needs to prove he wears the c for a reason. Tallinder needs to earn his contract. The rookies need to step up. Clarkson needs to do something other than plot ways to try and fight Sean Avery. The list goes on.

 

[nj_cup]

marty easily gets rattled by sean avery his "casual" attitude is great but it gets him in trouble too! those post lockout regular seasons just prove my point i've been saying for years on espn. the nhl regular season means squat how else can you offer those stats and then look at his playoff record? cant handle the pressure is my guess.....saw it last year too with the olympics.

all im saying if its a game 7 cup is on the line going on the road to win it...give me roy every single day of the year!

i'm not saying marty wont turn this around but he is one of the major factors in why we are where we are this season so far. thats all im saying.....that and the fact that he is 100% a product of the devils system.

 

[SJ20]

marty easily gets rattled by sean avery his "casual" attitude is great but it gets him in trouble too! those post lockout regular seasons just prove my point i've been saying for years on espn. the nhl regular season means squat how else can you offer those stats and then look at his playoff record? cant handle the pressure is my guess.....saw it last year too with the olympics.

all im saying if its a game 7 cup is on the line going on the road to win it...give me roy every single day of the year!

i'm not saying marty wont turn this around but he is one of the major factors in why we are where we are this season so far. thats all im saying.....that and the fact that he is 100% a product of the devils system.

Patty Wah's never won a road game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals!

 

[TheRobotDevil]

I was a fan of Roy since I was little and ill be the first to tell you Roy has blown his share of game 7s.Minnesota series before he retired I believe he blew 6 and 7.

 

[MCDevils]

I just don't understand how you want to compare the two players based on one's performance in an era that you acknowledge was drastically different than the one previous, but one of (Roy) never played a game in that era.

The only way to compare is look at their performance from when Brodeur entered the league until Roy left. I think you'll notice they look pretty darn similar. Also, the trophy argument, although heavily in Roy's favor, isn't a be all end all. Based on your own reasoning Marty should have beaten Giguere for the Smythe, but didn't for many reasons I suspect but have no evidence of.

If you want to call Roy the best clutch performer ever, then that's your right, and simply based off facts, he has had more success than Marty. However, I certainly don't agree with you that one head to head series, where Roy definitely outplayed Marty, has such an incredible bearing on the conversation that it settles the debate.

Furthermore, I think that quite a few people, myself included might begrudgingly claim that Hasek, never got enough credit, and if he was on a good team his whole career would be right in the middle of this conversation.

Marty didn't have a great Olympics, but neither did Patrick Roy in Nagano.

I really do believe that if you want to start trying to pin down a best ever you need to look at a career as a whole.

Also, the Devils were not the better team in 2001, by any means. That team was the best I ever remember watching. The 2003 senators are a close second, I still have flashbacks about that series after I watch the 2003 cup DVD.