Cake and candles were last night. That cleared the table so Martin Brodeur can try to celebrate his Big 4-0 today by going up 3-1 tonight.
The NHL’s all-time goaltender turns 40 today, still setting records, still the Devils’ playoff starter for the NHL record 181th straight game. He has outplayed Flyers counterpart Ilya Bryzgalov for a 2-1 lead in their best-of-7 second-round series, and almost all 25-year-olds would love to be as good as he is now.
Brodeur stands 6-3 in these playoffs with one shutout, his record 24th of the postseason. The Flyers have tried tricks that might have worked other years — the sharp-angle shots, the crease-crowding and crashing, But he still is standing, and victory tonight would give the Devils the 3-1 series lead, an advantage they never have blown.
Brodeur admitted making concession to age, and doesn’t care for the outcome.
“I probably changed five years ago, taking care of myself a little better, working out, stuff like that,” he said. “And I got hurt more since I’ve been doing that, so I don’t know if that really works.
“I haven’t really changed much. You go out at practice time, try to be the best and work really hard at it and hope my talent and knowledge of the game will bring me to the level I need to be.”
His contract expires after these playoffs, and he is leaning strongly toward returning next season, if the Devils offer him a proper deal. A lengthy lockout might wreck those hopes, but he is unwilling to bow to age.
He was asked if 40 years old still is young.
“In regular life, it is. Hockey is just a game. I don’t know why they associate age with it all the time,” Brodeur said.
“You should all feel for me a little bit,” he said to the even older-timers.
Coach Pete DeBoer, 43, made it clear early Brodeur would remain the Devils goalie, even while Johan Hedberg, who turned 39 yesterday, went 15-12-2, while Brodeur was 23-26-3. Brodeur finished the season with five straight victories, and his record 14th 30-win season. He reached 100 playoff triumphs in Game 1 of the first round and has 105, trailing only Patrick Roy’s 151.
“From a guy in his 40s, he looks a lot better than I do,” DeBoer said. “It’s amazing the level he’s at, especially considering the number of games (191 playoffs, 1191 regular season) he’s played.
“There are a lot of games on that body but he looks like he has a lot of games left in him.”
Brodeur’s records are legion: 656 regular season victories, 1,191 games, 119 shutouts. Besides skill, those numbers require longevity.
Unlike Jack Benny, he can’t stay 39 forever.
“I don’t pay much attention to these things. People around me do a lot more than I do,” Brodeur said. “I’ve got my mom calling me every single birthday so I won’t forget.”
“I know they are milestones, like in hockey, but I don’t pay much attention to that.”
If the Devils had finished with two more points in the regular season, this birthday celebration would have been in Philadelphia. The abuse might have been boggling.
“I hope they’re going to be Jersey signs. In Philly? I might still get them anyway in warm-ups,” Brodeur said.
He can’t ignore the calendar, but he doesn’t have to. Brodeur already is one of hockey’s immortals.
In a bid to avoid a third straight loss, the Flyers shuffled lines with rookie Sean Couturier likely out with a leg injury. Claude Giroux and Daniel Briere swapped lines, Briere between Scott Hartnell and Jakob Voracek, Giroux between James van Riemsdyk and Wayne Simmonds. … The Devils went 13-12 during the regular season after having more than one day between games, while the Flyers were 13-4. The Devils are 1-2 in these playoffs, Flyers 2-0 in that situation. … The Devils are 12-3 all-time in series they led 2-1 and 7-1 in those series that opened on the road, losing only to the 1992 Rangers.