Brodeur Breaks Parent’s Record…..Gets Booed
Marty breaks the record in the city of Brotherly Love last nite….amazing!
As I sat there watching the TV at 2am last night….bleary eyed from a long night at work….I saw a moment of history. Martin Brodeur, mobbed by his teammates at the buzzer, won his 48th as the team won its 49th….both records in their own right. Brodeur had a great 34 save performance as again, he likely stole two points from the Flyers. Then, they announced the three stars, normal yada yada yada. However, when they announced Brodeur as first star, the crowd erupted in seemingly total unison as a long boo cascaded thru the crowd. At first, I was stunned…I couldn’t believe it.
The audio wasn’t that great…but if you listened close enough, there were a lof of Flyer fans actually standing and clapping. The booing was just so much louder….probably by a couple thousand ticked off fans, frustrated with a season gone so wrong. So in that way, I couldn’t blame them. In the same token, taking a moment to respect one of the greatest goalies of all time didn’t occur to them perhaps…would have been nice….but not expected either. When Parent gave Brodeur a personalized note before the game….it makes me think…what did it say?
Parent was a man of class in a town where class gets significantly blurred. An amazing goalie who led the Flyers to two cups in the mid 1970’s. He set the record originally….losing only 13 times…while winning 47. That kind of winning percentage is rare now in the new NHL. Not too many goalies start over 70 games…and even less can win 40 constantly. Goalies like Parent and Dryden changed the game much like Luongo and Brodeur have today. You can ride a goalie even in the new NHL…but only if he is conditioned for it. It is that work ethic and conditioning that made this record tumble. Parent acknowledged that in his interview with WIP yesterday…and felt that Brodeur is the best….period.
Brodeur was interviewed by Doc Emrick after the game…and he thought the booing was not surprising. However, he opined, that most of the fans were actually standing and cheering….out of respect for the achievement. So sometimes a few give an unfair reputation to the many. In this case, the love was there for Brodeur but no one in Philly or the NHL could hear it…but if they looked hard enough, they could see it. Congrats Marty….next milestone….win 500.
