An anonymously-sourced Pat Leonard story put up on the Daily News web site Tuesday morning said Marty Brodeur was about to be traded to Minnesota and would get one last start as a Devil to say goodbye to the franchise he’s been with since 1990.
The piece set off a multi-front frenzy. Most of the game’s available seats were quickly snatched up by fans hoping to see Marty put on the red, white and black sweater one last time. Hockey writers from competing news organizations voiced pessimism about the Daily News report via Twitter. Devils GM Lou Lamoriello blasted the item as blatantly false.
It turns out the story was indeed inaccurate. Not only was there no deal with Minnie but it’s impossible to fathom either party in a pro sports trade allowing a player on the brink of getting moved to suit up one last time for the team that was trading him. The Daily News scrubbed the story from its web site well before Marty stepped on the ice for what would become his 684th career victory in 1250 regular season games as Devil. Both numbers are NHL records that likely will never be broken.
Since Marty has a no-trade clause in his contract – and diplomatically projected dissatisfaction over his season-long status as New Jersey’s backup goalie behind Corey Schneider – it was Brodeur himself who had some measure of control over an exit from the franchise he‘s the face of. Marty reportedly (as described by reporters more reliable than Leonard) asked Lamoriello to send him to a squad that would use him more. Problem is, Marty’s form slipped this year perhaps because he’s not starting consistently. In the end, Lou held onto Marty because the return he’d garner didn’t come anywhere close to his value staying put. While Lou is the kind of guy who handled this delicate situation with Brodeur’s best interests in mind, it’s impossible not to believe Lamoriello shared the fans’ believe that Marty should retire a Devil without an intermediate stop elsewhere.
The near capacity crowd that gathered at the Rock in downtown Newark Tuesday night made clear it deeply admires #30. Fans chanted Marty’s name throughout the game just in case it indeed was his going away party. As I stepped around mounds of unmelted snow while approaching the arena, scalpers announced the night’s significance if you didn’t already know it. As hordes of fans walked down Mulberry donning Brodeur jerseys, guys selling ducats made their pitch. “See Marty’s last game as a Devil!”
After the 4-3 Devs win over Detroit, fans stuck around instead of bolting to Newark Penn to make the 10:08 to Raritan. Stephen Gionta recovered the puck left on the ice as the clock hit zero. Just in case. And just in case, fans asked Marty to come out for an encore by again chanting his name. He didn’t come out. He wasn’t among the three stars of the game despite the pretty routine effort to manipulate the results of that ritual.
On Wednesday at 3 PM, we found out that Marty will stay in Jersey. A red jersey.