Customer Reviews

Brodeur: Beyond the Crease

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is a behind the scenes look into the life of one of the best netminders ever... Brodeur.
He is pretty funny at times, serious at others but has a great attitude about the best game ever: hockey, and he has tips for other players to survive happily in his world. Overall, this book is entertaining and factual. The pictures are great, also.
If you are looking for a great piece of literature, look elsewhere. This is a biography by one of the best goaltenders ever to grace a net.
A very good read and worth every cent. I would recommend this book to anyone with team management in their life (home, work, etc.)

Although Brodeur does raise up some interesting points about players roles in the new NHL (not just on the ice, but as partners in the league, marketing, salaries, etc), this book mostly just hovers in the "Why was this necessary?" realm.

Numerous stories and anecdotes are repeated throughout the book, and it also goes through extensive recaps of of the 2005-06 season. Not in a candid, behind the scenes kind of way either. Reads more like a newspaper recap (in turn because Toronto Sun beat writer Damien Cox did the actual writing of the book) than an insider's view of the NHL. There are a few interesting factoids about the life of an elite NHLer, but for the most part it's just standard fair. Also stumbles into "Martin Brodeur reviews the movies of Spring 2006" for a chapter.

This book is also poorly editted as numerous sentences are missing words and even a few typos.

All and all, I would recommend this book for a Devils/NHL fan with the precaution that it's a quick, easy read. Don't expect any inside dirt other than the occassional "When Roy said that it upset me" type of fair, and don't expect an indepth discussion about his divorce either. Not that it is necessarily our busniess, but I felt that it should be somewhat expected if someone is plunking down $25 to read his autobiography.

That's trivial. I know. Sorry. I'll stop being a hen now.

I wanted to read this book since it came out and wasn't able to find it anywhere but online. Anyways, being a huge Hockey fan, I wanted to read about one of the all time best goalies in the NHL. I could not put it down, I read the thing in two days. It was well written, interesting and insightful. Great mix of personal tidbits, Devil's history, and hockey info all in one. But not so much of any one thing to cause me to loose interest. I have always admired Brodeur, but after reading this book, I am now a Brodeur fan, (but still not a Devils fan.) Well worth the time and money on this book.

good account of current NHL goaltenders, teammates, contract status and game history...

If you had to take one hockey goalie in a best-of-one, winner-take-all game between Earth and Mars for the right to survive, you might take Dominik Hasek or Patrick Roy or Terry Sawchuk.

If you had to take a goalie for a career, you might just take Martin Brodeur.

The New Jersey Devils goalie usually is good for at least 70 good games a season. He rarely gets hurt, and rarely has a bad game. Brodeur recently went past Roy's record for career NHL wins, and he'll probably have most of the other records for goalies by the time he is through.

Damien Cox, a very good Toronto journalist, got to know Brodeur a little bit and the two of them decided to write a book on what life is like for an active NHL star. It's an interesting approach, as most autobiographies come out after retirement. Does it work? Somewhat.

Brodeur comes across a thoughtful, intelligent person. He's made some interesting decisions over the years, one of which has been to stay with the Devils even though he might have made more money elsewhere. He's found a comfort zone, likes life in New Jersey, and thinks he can win more by staying right where he is. Hard to argue with that.

The book is structured around various points in his career for the most part, in no particular order. He reviews his childhood, the Olympics, Game Sevens of Stanley Cup Finals, the lockout, etc. The 2005-06 season gets the most coverage, as you'd expect, but not overwhelmingly so. There is a little redundancy to the chapters about that season, probably due to interviews at separate times.

There are a couple of problems here that are difficult to overcome. Brodeur may be a good observer, but there aren't a great many laughs, or even interesting personality traits about others, to be found here. It's somewhat on the dry side. While you don't expect much dirt on active teammates in a book like this, some clues into character (and characters) would be appreciated.

Second, Brodeur and Cox didn't get a particularly dramatic playoff run in 2006. It would have been nice for the Devils to reach the Finals, journalistically speaking. New Jersey started the regular season slowly and caught fire, winning the division, but lost to Carolina. That's somewhat out of Brodeur's control, of course, but the book ends with a bit of a whimper.

"Brodeur" works better for fans of the goalie or Devils' boosters, of course, who will gain some insight into the organization through this book. The rest of us may be left thinking that waiting until retirement before writing an autobiography might have been a better idea.

Fascinating insight into the NHL and international game today from a real thinker and innovator in goal. Brodeur is also not afraid to talk about his salary in an honest way and it's fascinating to learn how it plays such a part in team building. The team cult created by NJ GM Lou Lamoriello is explained far more fully here than anywhere else I've read about it (yes, there is a reason a lot of ex-Habs end up coaches there).

I loved the stuff on the Nagano, Salt Lake and Torino Olympics and I have even more respect for the way Brodeur developed his goaltending (and puck handling) style away from the Allaire/Roy acolytes in Quebec.

This is a far far better read than the Crosby book out now and is probably due to the fact the best hockey writer around, Damien Cox, was involved.

Absolute must-read for any hockey fan.

I bought this book as a present for a family member and ended up reading it myself. What a terrible book. I expected it to be an autobiography of Brodeur, stretching his entire life. Instead, it focused mostly on the 2005-06 seaon, and talked mostly about events relating to hockey, with little personal information. Nearly everything written could have easily been found online or in newspapers. I was also disgusted by several factual errors (I counted at least 3 glaring errors, and that was without looking for them; I'm sure there were more). I'm sorry I wasted money on this book, and feel sorry for the person I bought it for.

A really great book about the hockey career of the best goalie ever to play in the NHL and perhaps the world. Along with introspective looks at the NHL over the last 17 years, this book goes into some very personal and trying times in Martin Brodeur's life, including his ugly and very public divorce and current relationship. A great read and a must have for Devils fans everywhere.

Bought this for my son in law and he couldn't put it down, fast friendly service.

Thank you
Ellen

A must read for any Devils or Brodeur fan. A good read for any hockey fan in general. Gives an interesting inside view of the team and league through the eyes of a player over the last few years.