Brodeur's Officially a Blue
In the mercenary world of pro sports, it's still tough to see franchise fixtures move on.
For the entirety of his career, Martin Brodeur was the face of New Jersey's Devils.
As of today, the Hall of Fame lock has a new team, handling the move with as much class as he did when he the writing was on the Devils' wall.
Brodeur is past his prime. He knew the Devils had to upgrade to a netminder in his prime to have any shot at a playoff spot. He stayed in New Jersey long enough to be part of the ceremony when they drafted his son.
No matter how much of a salary-&-personnel genius Lou Lamoriello may be, the Devils would never have hefted the hardware without Brodeur between the pipes.
Brian Elliott had to see the writing on the Blues' own wall when his injury status was classified as week-to-week instead of day-to-day. He knows Jake Allen is the future of goaltending in St Louis. He surely knew he was only a placeholder when the club let Ryan Miller walk after last spring's blockbuster trade didn't get them to the promised land.
If Brodeur's guile can cover for diminished reflexes sufficiently to keep the Blues in Stanley Cup contention this season, Elliott's agent has some work to do. His contract is easily movable, so the research is probably already getting under way, just in case.
So, for now and who-knows-how-long in the future, one of the game's best goalies ever will be wearing what will surely look like foreign colors to longtime fans. But Brodeur did it the right way.
It remains to be seen how right he is about what's left in his tank.