The end wasn’t pretty for Martin Brodeur. Seven more games with the St. Louis Blues. Three more wins, three more losses. One last shutout. An .899 save percentage. A two-week leave of absence. And finally Tuesday, the decision to retire and join the Blues’ front office for the rest of the season.



But at least now Brodeur knows what most everyone else did already: He’s done. Hopefully this helps him accept it and ease into the next phase of his life, and hopefully others keep this in perspective.



This was nothing more than a footnote to 1,464 games with the New Jersey Devils in the regular season and playoffs. Brodeur won the Calder Trophy, four Vezina trophies and three Stanley Cups with the Devils. He set the NHL records for wins and shutouts with the Devils. In short, he will go down as one of the greatest goaltenders of all time and enter the Hockey Hall of Fame on the first ballot because of what he did with the Devils.



This job with the Blues is expected to lead to one with the Devils, too.



“There are a lot of things going through his mind right now,” Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello told the Newark Star-Ledger. “He’ll be back with the Devils.”



Of course it would have been special had Brodeur retired as a Devil and transitioned seamlessly into the Devils’ front office. A good time would have been after the Devils’ run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2012. He wouldn’t have gone out on top, but he would have been damn close.



Brodeur posted a .901 save percentage in 2012-13. He matched it last season. He just wasn’t what he once was. Yet he talked often last season about being open to a trade because he didn’t like his reduced role, and when the Devils declined to re-sign him and handed the No. 1 job to Cory Schneider, he tried to find work elsewhere.



In a sense it was sad when Brodeur came to the Hockey Hall of Fame induction Nov. 17 and said: “I’m here if somebody needs me.” He was 42 years old. He should have been scouting out the stage and preparing his speech.



But great athletes often are the last to know when they’re done. Part of what made them great was a stubborn belief in themselves, a refusal to listen to naysayers and a love of the game. And it’s easy to tell someone else what he should do with his life.



Brodeur wasn’t afraid of hanging on too long; he was afraid of not hanging on long enough. He wasn’t worried he would regret leaving the Devils; he was worried he would regret leaving the game. In March, he said he didn’t want to sit there and say to himself someday: “I should have done something.”



“That’s what I’m scared of the most – not living to the fullest in the NHL,” Brodeur said then. “If they let you play, you might as well play.”



Brodeur doesn’t have to be scared now. Someone finally gave him a chance to play, and he gave it everything he had. He just wasn’t good enough. He ended up a healthy scratch. It’s okay. It’s time. It happens to everyone.



This didn’t hurt the Blues. People in and around the NHL wondered what they were doing signing Brodeur, not just because of his ability at this stage of his career, but because of the potential effect on Brian Elliott and Jake Allen.



Well, Elliott had a knee injury, Allen was inexperienced and the Blues didn’t trust their depth in the minors. General manager Doug Armstrong made it clear to Elliott and Allen they were still the Blues’ goaltenders, and when Elliott came back, they were.



Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said Friday “the Martin Brodeur thing” pushed Elliott but Elliott handled it the right way. Elliott ended up going to the All-Star Game as an injury replacement and didn’t seem irked by the Brodeur thing at all Saturday. “When you get a guy like that that’s been around the league that has those stories, those stats, those records, you just try to soak it in as much as possible,” he said.



Now Brodeur will be traveling with the team. He can be a mentor to Elliott and Allen without anyone worrying he’s trying to take someone’s job.



This didn’t hurt the Devils, either. Remember when the Dallas Stars declined to bring back Mike Modano and he spent one last fateful season with the Detroit Red Wings, marred by a skate cut in the regular season and a healthy scratch in the playoffs? Remember when the Ottawa Senators had an ugly divorce with Daniel Alfredsson and he spent a final season in Detroit?



Remember what happened after that? The Stars gave Modano a job in the front office and retired his No. 9. The Senators held a retirement celebration for Alfredsson, who even warmed up in an Ottawa uniform one last time. Owner Eugene Melnyk said the door was open for him to join the front office in the future. Eventually, they will retire his No. 11.



Based on what Lamoriello has said publicly, Armstrong and Brodeur have reached out to him. It sounds like Brodeur feels an obligation to finish the season with the Blues even if he isn’t playing – after all, they were the ones who gave him a shot this season, and he signed a contract with them – but he will return to the Devils in some capacity someday.



If that happens, the Blues will have gotten their stopgap goaltender. Brodeur will have gotten a reality check and some closure, and he will have gotten some experience in the front office – and another perspective with another team – before he takes a job with the Devils. One day his No. 30 will be raised to the rafters at the Prudential Center, and the cheers will be like he never left.













































































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