Review
Perhaps more than any other NHL player, Martin Brodeur takes cares of business - his own.
The Devils' three-time Stanley Cup champion goaltender severed ties with his agent, Gilles Lupien, in 1998 and has since negotiated his own deals, presumably including the one for his book: "Brodeur: Beyond the Crease."
Sprinkled throughout the 278 pages are details about salaries, contracts, the marketing of the league, his relationship with Devils front-office guru Lou Lamoriello and even his assessment of the Devils' new arena in Newark, due to open next season.
Brodeur writes that the new facility will have "two rinks, a gym, pool, luxury suites, basically everything we don't have now. You buy a ticket for $95 and still have to walk up 40 steps to get a drink."
Surely the Meadowlands execs will love to read that. But Brodeur, never shy on opinions, offers plenty of others.
Among them:
In the 1990 entry draft, Owen Nolan was selected first, then Petr Nedved, Keith Primeau, Mike Ricci and "some guy named Jagr. If the teams could do that draft all over, Jagr would have undoubtedly been the first pick and I'd like to think I would have gone a little higher [than 20th]."
On former Islander Ziggy Palffy: "Seems he had more breakaways against me than any other player. He often beat me with a low shot to the blocker. Once on a breakaway, I guessed right and stopped that shot. Then he put in the rebound."
On his technological savvy: During the lockout, he was contacted by the Russian teams Omsk and Ak Bars Kazan. So he checked out the cities on a Web site's live camera. His assessment: "They looked miserable." (
Newsday, October 29, 2006)
From the Inside Flap
Martin Brodeur is a giant in the world of hockey. Every time he steps on the ice as the goaltender of the New Jersey devils, he either sets a new record or edges ever closer to some of the most prestigious netminding records in the history of the sport. Since the day in March 1992 when he was summoned from junior hockey to make his NHL debut, he has been about winning and defining how the position is played.
A three-time Stanley cup champion, he is the only goalie in NHL history with 10 seasons of 30 wins or more, and in 2006 he set a new mark for consecutive playoff starts by an NHL goalie.
The numbers speak for themselves, but what they cannot express is that Martin Brodeur is at the very heart and soul of the devils, and one of the team's greatest leaders. On the world stage, Brodeur traced his father's steps to the Olympics, and, when Canada finally ended a 50-year gold medal drought at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, it was Brodeur who stood tall in the crease.
In Brodeur: beyond the Crease, the game's best netminder takes a candid, personal look at his career, his sport and his journey to the apex of the modern game. He shares the rich hockey heritage of his family, and reveals what it's like to be a goalie in the 'new' NHL that emerged from the nearly disastrous lockout of 2004-05. He talks about being an integral part of the evolution of the New Jersey devils, once mocked as "a Mickey Mouse organization," into one of the game's most successful franchises, and about his unique relationship with Lou Lamoriello, the architect of the Devils' championship teams.
Brodeur also traces the highs and lows of Olympic competition; how he prepares for game day; the best NHL shooters he's ever faced and what it was like to score a goal himself in a Staley Cup playoff game. He reveals his thoughts and insights on being a Canadian and a Quebecer playing and living in the US; life as a father of four under the harsh spotlight of celebrity; his love of motorcycles and why, in the complicated and high-stakes world of pro sports dominated by accountants and agents, he chooses to stand alone and represent himself at contract time.
Brodeur: Beyond the Crease is a rare opportunity to understand the sport of hockey through the eyes of one of the game's most insightful athletes at the height of his abilities. With award-winning sports journalist Damien Cox, the top goalie in hockey takes us inside the game and beyond.
