There's nothing inherently alarming about goalie Martin Brodeur getting pulled in the first period of New Jersey's eventual victory over Atlanta Saturday night.
Brodeur gave up three goals on six shots and was obviously having a tough time of it. The smart, humane thing to do was to pull Brodeur, who was starting his 13th consecutive game.
But Brodeur's getting pulled does bring up the issue of his workload, which has been considerable.
Brodeur, 37, has played in 32 games this year, having started 31 of them. The Devils have played just 34 games this season.
Now, factor in that Brodeur is projected to be the starting goalie for Team Canada in the Olympics.
Now, factor in that prior to last season, when Brodeur missed months with a freak elbow injury, he hadn't started less than 70 games since the 1997-98 season. And prior to the freak injury, he hadn't started less than 50 games since the 1994-95 season.
Then, factor in Brodeur's playoff games. He's played 176 of them. But don't forget the unlimited overtime in the playoffs. So Brodeur's 10,947 playoff minutes translate to over 182 post-season 60-minute games.< ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Steven Ovadia
Someone Give Goalie Martin Brodeur a Break!
December 20th, 2009 by Steven Ovadia Leave a reply »
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