Tonight, the greatest goaltender of them all goes for number 552.
It’s amazing what a difference eight miles makes. I’ve said this many times before, but if Marty and his three championships had played in the Garden, there would be a statue of him in front of Penn Station much like the Rocky statue.
Marty would be Derek Jeter on skates. Mark Messier summer of 1994, before he decided he wanted to be a Canuck.
Instead, the good Lord made him a Devil, so he toils in relative obscurity. Not as obscure as he’d be if he were a Blue Jacket, but at least if he were Mr. Blue Jacket he’d own the town.
Instead Marty has his parades in the parking lot.
As amazing as #552 will be, with years left in his career, it’s easy to forget that his numbers are diminished in the same way that World War Two cost Ted Williams and Joe D some big numbers.
Mike Battaglino broke it down in the Post the other day. What if there had been a full season in 1994-95? What if there would been a season in 2003-04 at all? Mike makes a good case that Brodeur would have 611 wins by now.
Hopefully A-Rod won’t fall down a flight of stairs, or Jeter won’t catch a cold so that Marty can have the back page to himself tomorrow.
Congratulations Marty! Some day #30 will hang in the rafters. Hopefully the rafters will still be in New Jersey.
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