The New Jersey Devils' future HOF-er has a new goalie mask, and naturally, people aren't at all digging it because it ties in with his soon-to-be-launched website, martinbrodeur30.com.
Come on Marty, why? You have given me much joy over the years, and nothing can undo the three Stanley Cups of which you were the Devils backbone, but to alter your iconic goalie mask after 15 years to pimp out your website is simply upsetting. There was always something unique about the simple J with the Devils’ tail. For the non-fan, the tail stuck around 1993, when Brodeur didn’t know if he was going back to the Devils minor league affiliate in Utica or sticking with the big club in scenic East Rutherford. (If he went to Utica, he’d add the vertical left-side bar to make it a “U,” and if he stayed up he’d complete the interlocking NJ logo).
But the J stuck, and in a time of chaotically busy, overdone masks (Sup, Rick DiPietro), Brodeur’s stood out for its simplicity and winning pedigree.
But now here he is, pimping his website by throwing its logo on his forehead, and this after getting school-whipped by the Rags last spring. It doesn’t look good. I’m praying there’s no Tom Brady-injury jinx on the horizon, or if this marks the decline of the great Brodeur.
It’s also unsettling that he’s on pace to break the goaltender records for Wins and Shutouts this season, and this will forever be linked to these games (he's 14 wins away). But hey, that much more exposure means that many more hits, right? During the Cup runs from 1995-2003, the only hits this team was concerned with were the ones Scott Stevens leveled against opponents. In addition to the four Vezina trophies, that mask carried him through 536 wins and 96 shutouts. Yes, the man has earned the right to do what he wants. But on a team where GM Lou Lamoriello doesn’t allow uniform numbers over 35 because its screams individualism, this new media marketing scheme just reeks of stale swampland.
In Marty We Trust, but not when he’s shilling product. Lou, step in, please.
