Could Poor Performance By Brodeur in Olympics Affect the Devils?

By: Tim Brennan

There is no doubt in any one's mind that the 2010 Winter Olympics were in fact the most exciting and nail biting in recent memory. The gold medal game between the United States and Canada was unbelievable and showed just how the game should be played, with grit and determination.

Canada were the favorites before the tournament even started and had been since the announcement of Vancouver acquiring the rights to hold the 2010 Olympics. The goaltenders came up big in the gold medal game, time and time again. Ryan Miller was, hands down, the best goalie of the tournament, helping the U.S. get as far as the gold medal game and Martin Brodeur... no wait that wasn't him in the net... that was Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo. Sorry about that, Brodeur was supposed to the starter for the Canadians.

What was supposed to be a done deal with Brodeur in the net turned into an absolute disaster for the Canadians. They played Norway first so Team Canada's head coach Mike Babcock put adopted Vancouver son Luongo in the net, which ended in a 8-0 drubbing.

The next game was against Switzerland, who upset the Canadians in 2006 at the Winter Olympics in Turin. Brodeur got the nod and almost everyone was expecting the Canadians to steam roll the Swiss. Someone spoke too soon. With his team up 2-0, Brodeur was in good shape to secure the win. However, the momentum went in Switzerland's direction after two second period goals by Ivo Ruthemann and Patrick von Gunten. Those two goals came on only 9 shots in that period, a period that the Canadians dominated up until then. Although the Canadians came out on top in the end, a 3-2 shootout win, it was Brodeur's lackluster play that kept Switzerland in the game.

After Switzerland almost upset the host country, coach Babcock felt it was a good idea to give Brodeur the nod (again) against the United States. After all, Martin Brodeur is considered one of the best goalies of all time, this should have been an easy game for him, right? Wrong again.

The United States pounced on Brodeur early, getting two first period goals from Brian Rafalski on plays that Brodeur most certainly would want back. Rafalski's first went off of a stick out in front and Brodeur was out of position, leading to a 1-0 lead. Canada would tie it up but just 22 seconds after Eric Staal made it 1-1, Brodeur decided it was smart to come out and bat the puck out of the air but wasn't expecting it to go on the stick of Brian Rafalski, who added his second of the game to make it 2-1.

Throughout the game Brodeur showed flashes of shaky play, he gave up too many rebounds and also wandered out of his net a few too many times. His best moments were during a stretch in the 2nd period when he had to make back to back breakaway stops on Dustin Brown and then Bobby Ryan. He had to sit on the sidelines as Roberto Luongo made up for his bad performance and got the Canadians the gold medal. If his play during the Olympics continues into the season for the Devils, that most certainly will mean another first round exit.

The Devils play him far too much in the season as he has averaged 62 games a season over the course of his career, playing 70 games or more 11 times. Last season was an exception to that as he suffered a serious injury and missed 51 games. During that time, bench rider Scott Clemmensen proved his worth and helped propel the Devils into the playoffs but was immediately replaced by Brodeur for the first round matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes. And we all know how that turned out for the Devils last year.

Brodeur is on pace for 78 games this year and it's no wonder why he struggles in the playoffs. Maybe it's because he doesn't get enough rest or maybe it's because of the fact he's 37 years old and can't do all the things that he used to do? Yes, he had a great first half but has tailed off lately and was ice cold before the Olympics started. The Devils can't afford to have a bad second half and really need to start giving Yann Danis some games.

The combination of playing too much and not playing well enough has been nagging Marty and for the Devils sake, they better hope that he picks up his game or else they won't get far in the playoffs, even if they picked up the best player on the trade market in Ilya Kovalchuk. In order to win a championship, you need a good effort from everyone which includes the goaltender.