Bye Bye Brodeur

According to a press release from New Jersey Devils President, CEO and GM Lou Lamarillo, veteran netminder Martin Brodeur will undergo surgery to repair the distal bicep in his left elbow.

Those in the medical know say this means that Martin Brodeur will be out 3-4 months.

Brodeur suffered the injury during the second period of Saturday's Devils victory over the Atlanta Thrashers with what was described as a "bruised elbow." He left the arena without talking to the media and was listed as day-to-day by the team.

"When you have a Marty Brodeur as a goaltender and he's out for a significant amount of time sure it certainly gives you a knot in your stomach, but you have move forward," Devils coach Brent Sutter told the Bergen Record. "I'm confident and I trust the players here that they will do what needs to be done to move forward."

Did it just get really windy all of a sudden or was that from all of the Devils fans waving their playoff chances goodbye.

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Brodeur Debuts New Mask

With a new season comes a new look, as when Martin Brodeur of the Devils takes the ice on Friday to start the regular season he will be sporting a brand new mask.

The four-time Vezina winner unveiled his new mask design at Devils practice on Wednesday, and is expected to wear it for the Devils' 2008-09 regular season opener on Friday.

The new MB30 logo combines Brodeur's initials with the number he has worn since his first full season in New Jersey, and incorporates the horns and curled tail that are familiar to any Devils fan.

This marks just the third different mask that Brodeur has worn in a Devils uniform since being called up from the minors during the 1991-92 season. That year, the last in which the Devils wore red and green, Brodeur made four appearances for a 2-1-0 record, donning a simple red mask with a white stripe on the side.

When Brodeur returned to New Jersey for the 1993-94 season, he brought with him the Michel Lefebvre design that has become such an identifying part of his goaltending legacy. Emblazoned with a Devils-inspired "J" on the forehead and red flames on either side, the signature look had been with Brodeur through 536 wins and 96 shutouts, as well as Stanley Cup championships in 1995, 2000 and 2003.

Brodeur believes it's a modest revision that some observers might not even pick up on right away.

"It's going to be hard to notice, I think," Brodeur said. "It's the same color scheme. For people facing me, there really won't be a difference. It's really more for TV or even for people looking up from top. I don't think it should be a big difference for people."

You think? When I saw the picture of the new mask I thought the Devils website made a mistake and posted the old one. I took me a few minutes to notice the difference! I even tried to think of any excuse in the book to make myself feel better for not noticing. Like, hey you just woke up. Nope I've been awake for hours. Or, oh you're just not wearing your glasses. I don't even wear glasses! Way to trick me Martin Brodeur, you win this round!



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Milestone Mania

The 2008-09 season should be a special one for many reasons. Not only will the Montreal Canadiens be celebrating their 100th anniversary, but many players are set to break records as well.

Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils has a lot on his plate this season as by the time it's all said and done, he could break six total records.

"Hopefully, breaking the records will happen more sooner than later, so we can put it to rest, move on and raise the bar for the next guy," Brodeur said. "But I'm just happy that I'm able to play at the level that I like to play. I realize the records I'm approaching are something to be recognized, that's for sure, but I don't play for these things, I play to help my team win a Stanley Cup."

After becoming just the second goaltender in NHL history to reach the 500-victory mark following his 44 triumphs in 2007-08, the four-time Vezina Trophy winner enters 2008-09 needing 14 wins to surpass all-time leader Patrick Roy's record of 551, and eight shutouts to overtake the legendary Terry Sawchuk's standard of 103.

He also can join Roy as the only goalies to play 1,000 games if he suits up 32 times, and he can pass Roy's mark of 1,029 games if he plays 62 games, though Brodeur hasn't played fewer than 62 games in a full season since he was a rookie in 1993-94.

Brodeur also could break records for most shots faced, he's 2,156 shy of Curtis Joseph's record of 26,412, and minutes played as he's 3,018 away from Roy's mark of 60,225.

Though Brodeur won't completely be hogging up the milestone spotlight. Here are some of the other records that could be broken in 2008-09...

Ilya Kovalchuck, Atlanta Thrashers - The left wing is within reach of three milestones, including games played (needs 34 to reach 500), goals (46 from 300) and points (34 from 500).

Curtis Joseph, Toronto Maple Leafs - The next victory by the 41-year-old goalie will be No. 450 of his 18-season career.

Lindy Ruff, Buffalo Sabres - The longest-tenured coach in the NHL needs just three victories to reach 400 for his career. Ruff's 397 triumphs in 10 seasons rank first among all current NHL coaches.

Sergei Federov, Washington Capitals - With 472 career goals, Fedorov is just two shy of surpassing fellow countryman Alexander Mogilny for most career goals by a Russian-born player. The 38-year-old Fedorov, who will be starting season No. 18, has played 1,196 games. Mogilny posted 473 career goals in 990 games.

Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins - Expect the center to score goal No. 100 not long after the season begins -- he needs just one to reach the century mark. Crosby also is five assists short of 200 and six points shy of 300.

Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning - Entering his 10th season, Lecavalier is just 27 goals shy of 300 for his career. He has scored at least 25 goals in six times, including the last five consecutive.

Martin Biron, Philadelphia Flyers -- The veteran goalie is two shutouts away from 25 for his career.

Jamie Langenbrunner, New Jersey Devils - The Devils captain is 24 points shy of 500 for his career.

Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames - The veteran of 12 NHL seasons needs 61 points to overtake Al MacInnis (822 points in 803 games) for second place on the Flames' all-time scoring list, and he's 68 shy of franchise leader Theo Fleury (830 points in 791 games). He already owns franchise records with 374 goals and 860 games played.

Terry Murray, Los Angeles Kings - Hired as the Kings' coach in July, Murray is 63 games short of 800 as a head coach in the League. Murray, who replaced Marc Crawford, also has coached the Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers and Philadelphia Flyers.

Marty Turco, Dallas Stars - Entering his eighth season, Turco (382 games, 21,650 minutes), likely will supplant Cesare Maniago (420 games, 24,228 minutes) for the most games and minutes played in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history. He already owns the records for wins (207), shutouts (33) and assists (13).

Minnesota Wild - The club currently boasts the longest sellout streak in the NHL at 321 games. The Wild have sold out every home game played in club history, including 287 regular-season contests, 21 preseason games and 13 playoff matches in its first seven NHL seasons. The Colorado Avalanche own the longest sellout streak in NHL history at 487 games, from Nov. 9, 1995 to Oct. 14, 2006.

Shane Doan, Phoenix Coyotes - The right wing needs to play in 17 games to become the third player in Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets franchise history with 900 games played and, with 68 appearances, will supplant Thomas Steen (950) for second place. Doan also needs just one more game-winning goal to become the all-time leader with 41. Doan currently is even with Keith Tkachuck with 40 game winners.

Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings - The six-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman is 62 points shy of 1,000 for his career.

Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche -- The veteran center needs just 27 assists to match Mario Lemieux (1,033) for 10th on the all-time list.

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