There will be one more emotional sendoff, though even the grand goodbye that awaits Derek Jeter might not carry the emotional weight of Mariano Rivera's remarkable Bronx farewell.
But we have another special athlete who may very well be on his final tour and who deserves the love as much as his legendary brothers in pinstripes.
Nobody has been here longer than Martin Brodeur, who first showed up in New Jersey in the spring of 1992 before returning to stay in the autumn of 1993, almost two years before Jeter and Rivera (and Andy Pettitte) became Yankees.
Nobody has had a more distinguished career than Brodeur, who has played to a level of excellence over the past two decades achieved by few for even a single season, and nobody ever has been more identifiable with his team than this Devils' goaltender.
He is a Devil the way Mantle was a Yankee, the way Reed was a Knick, the way Gifford was a Giant and Seaver a Met, Namath a Jet, Potvin an Islander, Gilbert a Ranger.
If he played in Manhattan, he would have a candy bar named after him. Across the Hudson, he has his name on the Stanley Cup three times and scrawled all over the NHL record book.
You've got to be pretty darn special for a league's governing body to create a rule in order to negate a strength. The NCAA instituted a no-dunk rule (later, of course, dunked itself) in the '60s in order to cut the then-named Lew Alcindor down to size. The trapezoid on NHL rinks is an invention first contemplated in order to neutralize Brodeur's puck-moving skills.
This is a time of sadness for Brodeur, his family and friends as they mourn the passing of his father, Denis Brodeur. It was always a pleasure to interact with the elder Brodeur, the great sports photographer and goaltender on Canada's 1952 Silver Medal winning Olympic Team, and it always was impossible to tell who was more proud of the other, the father or the son.
Martin Brodeur, the French Canadian who became Marty Brodeur along the Turnpike to immortality, has not said this will be his final season. He may not know and he may not divulge his decision even when he makes it.
And so we don't know. We don't know how many more chances we're going to get to watch him, enjoy him and revel in this singular athlete who has played more years for the Devils than anyone else ever has played for any one of our teams.
There will be no appreciation tour across the NHL's landscape to mimic baseball's unprecedented six-month recognition of Rivera. But it will be your loss if you fail to appreciate Brodeur, who plays as a 41-year-old with the same zeal and joy he did at half that age.
We have become accustomed to having legends in our midst. Now we are becoming accustomed to bidding them farewell.
Icons: They come and they go.
We don't know if this will be it for Brodeur, but we do know time is growing short and growing near, and there is no time like the present to pay homage to the kind of a sports landmark you get once in a lifetime.
***
Mark the NHLPA as a co-conspirator in last week's Sabres-Maple Leafs gong show in Toronto for its continued support of the small segment of sluggos in the population at the expense of the more skilled athletes whose roster spots they are claiming.
What code?
And how about the NHL fining Buffalo coach Ron Rolston for "team conduct and player selection" for sending John Scott onto the ice before the slow-footed enforcer jumped Phil Kessel?
Honestly, where was the league on the issue of player selection when John Tortorella had Derek Dorsett, Kris Newbury, Micheal Haley, Steve Eminger and Roman Hamrlik on the ice as a five-man unit with the score tied 1-1 — but not for long — in last year's elimination Game 5 in Boston?
We only kid the ones we love.
***
The Stampede's second annual Kenny Cup will be played at 4:30 on Oct. 5 in Bridgeport prior to the AHL Sound Tigers' opener against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Proceeds from the charity event go to research at the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in the memory of Ken Dressler.
***
Cory Schneider, meanwhile, who will be the Devils' co-No. 1 with Brodeur, is the most important offseason acquisition in the NHL, and yes, that includes the Panthers' signing of free agent Scott Gomez.
PA executive director Don Fehr — you all remember him? — informed membership last week "to expect little or no return" on last season's 16.26-percent escrow deduction.
This means the players wound up with approximately 49 cents on the dollar for their work last season, already having lost a large chunk of dough to the 48-game season.
So we received a press release about Proskauer-Rose's role in the sale of the Panthers, and we can all rest easy knowing the new ownership will be the first to know the details of the next lockout.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Time to marvel at Brodeur, while we can
Dengan url
http://makananrasaenak.blogspot.com/2013/09/time-to-marvel-at-brodeur-while-we-can_30.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Time to marvel at Brodeur, while we can
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Time to marvel at Brodeur, while we can
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar