Pardon My Bias

All Star games aren’t what they used to be, if they were ever anything at all. The games venture so far from what the regular season games are like that it is hard to watch sometimes. Sure Baseball has the all important home field advantage at stake, and the NBA is just am entertaining street ball game with names we know. The two that really miss in terms of fun and excitement are the two physical sports that we love in this country. The Pro Bowl is the worst of the all-star games and the NHL is not far behind.

Courtesy of www.thefastertimes.com

Leaving the discussion of the Pro Bowl behind, I am intrigued by the NHL’s idea of a fantasy draft for their All Star game. The draft has already happened and by all accounts has been a success so far. I have always wondered what it would look like if a player played GM and this gives me the chance. We get to watch the Sedin brothers play against each other, and Zdeno Chara rip slap shots at Tim Thomas, the man he normally protects. Even the last pick in the draft Phil Kessel was celebrated by getting 20,000 dollars to donate to a charity of his choice and a new car.

The NHL deserves a lot of credit for their new marketing strategy. They are really trying to appeal to the younger crowd by bringing in super heroes for each of the teams and now by doing a fantasy draft. Fantasy sports are the most popular trend in sports these days and they are using that to their advantage. The NFL could take a page out of the NHL’s book here and try and make the Pro Bowl more interesting. I’m not saying they should have a fantasy draft because football takes way more preparation than hockey does, but something needs to be done because I look at Pro Bowl selections as if they were All-American selections in College Football. There is no need to play the game it is just an honor to be named first team All-American.

So last week Skip Bayless argued his point that the Green Bay Packers made a huge mistake by letting go of Brett Favre in order to let Aaron Rodgers finally being his reign in Green Bay. He stated that the Packers let 2 years go to waste while they waited for Rodgers to come to his own; two years in which Favre could of help lead the Packers to the Super Bowl. Although this point may be true, I am here to argue the other side of this debate: Green Bay made the correct decision to replace Favre with Rodgers!

Although the Packers had a team that could make the Super Bowl, I am not sure if Brett Favre would have been the answer to get them there. His year on the New York Jets started off strong but began sinking near the end of the year. Last year he had an exceptional season with the Minnesota Vikings and got back to the NFC Championship Game, but once again threw a last second interception to throw away the game. I am not saying the Favre had no chance of leading the Packers to the Super Bowl, but even with his magic, I believe he had no more or no little chance than Rodgers.

Aaron Rodgers Knew He Was The Right Choice! Photo courtesy of www.espnmilwaukee.com.

In his first year as the Green Bay starter, Aaron Rodgers threw for 4,038 yard with 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions and had a passer rating of 93.8. These numbers are very similar to the regular season that he just had besides his ability to take care of the ball better when it comes to fumbling. Even with those stats, the Packers followed up their NFC Championship Game showing with a 6-10 record and did not make the playoffs. They then bounced back in 2009 season and got back to the playoffs with a 11-5 records and with Rodgers throwing for 4434 yards, 30 touchdowns, 7 interceptions and a QB rating of 103.2. They then went on to get knocked out of the wild-card game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Those first two years without Favre were by no means easy, but Rodgers stood his ground and put up great numbers and this is while he wasn’t truly standing his ground due to all the sacks he was taking. He just put together another great regular season effort and now the Packers and he are headed to face the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl. No one can really say what would have happened if the Packers had kept Favre but Aaron Rodgers in the real deal and it would of been a shame to lose such a great talent. The Packers made the correct choice in letting their young, talented quarterback finally show what he was made of and now he has helped lead them to the Super Bowl game. Favre also could of done the same the past few years but the biggest difference, Rodgers can help this team get there for many more years to come!

We now know that the New Jersey Nets are out of the running for Carmelo Anthony, or so they say. So many believe it is now up to the New York Knicks to finalize a deal but why are the Golden State Warriors not making a bigger splash in the Carmelo sweepstakes? Although I am not considering salaries and such, I do believe the Warriors have a great chance to land Carmelo.

The Warriors are 19-25 after starting the season pretty strong but they do have a vast amount of young talent. So, like I said, I am not considering how salaries and such can match up, but here are some players that could be used to get this trade done: Monta Ellis, Dorell Wright, Reggie Williams and Vladimir Radmanovic. I did not include Stephen Curry because I personally would rather keep him on the roster and trade off Monta Ellis.

Could the Warriors trade Monta Ellis to the Nuggets for Carmelo Anthony? Photo courtesy of www.bothteamsplayedhard.net

Monta is averaging about 25.8 points,  3.4 rebounds and 5.6 assists. You think the Nuggets would like having him in return for their all-star player? Of course they would love to get him! He would be a close replacement for the scoring that Carmelo provides the Nuggets and his youth is another upside. Monta can flat out score. Another player who is having a good season is Dorell Wright. He is averaging 16.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and is scoring 2.5 3-pointers a game.

Now let us explore the lineup that the Warriors could potentially have if they are able to land Carmelo:

PG: Stephen Curry

SG: Reggie Williams (If they trade him then this position will be filled by somebody else)

SF: Carmelo Anthony

PF: David Lee

C: Andris Biedrins

Seems like a pretty strong lineup to me! They would have a young, talented point guard in Curry, the superstar in Carmelo Anthony and a very good power forward in David Lee. I am not sure how large of an impact this team can make but they could potentially be a huge threat. It would be a very talented team that has the ability to really make a run. The biggest issue would be whether or not Carmelo even wants to go to Golden State. He has made it known that he would like to go to New York but the Knicks do not seem to have the right pieces to make this trade.

The chances of the Warriors landing Carmelo are most likely very slim, but it wouldn’t hurt them to try to get involved. Monta Ellis is good but Carmelo is better!

There are few marketing campaigns the NHL can really call successful. If you remember my last ranting about the use of Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin to the point of over-saturation, it was at least still currently effective, though with plenty of potential to stall the league in the long run. But then there is this case.

He will give you a nasty splinter. Photo courtesy of nhl.com

The “Guardian Project” featuring comic super heroes for each of the league’s thirty teams. Now it wasn’t going to be a surprise that some of the teams were inevitably going to have some rather lame looking ones (i.e. the Maple Leafs) but that this was geared at attracting kids, which of course is a good idea to attract a new fan base for the league and maybe pull itself into relevance once and for all in the United States. Truth be told, I don’t know of any kid that would be really into this idea.

Comic books have been bombarding the public to the point of where they are made into movies, movies are made into comic books, and comic book movies are subsequently made into comic books again. Same thing applies to television, webisodes, podcasts, radio dramas, whatever. What I’m saying is it’s a bit much. While typically Batman and Spiderman reigned over the media this has expanded to the lower rings. Comic book movies have grown less interesting to the public because there is so much of the damn product, and really to have lasting power the comic book series/movie/TV show/PowerPoint presentation really needs to be good.

If I recall, this idea sucked. It still does. Photo courtesy of sports.yahoo.com

The Guardian Project, as much as I like Stan Lee as an imaginative genius, is hokey and shallow and really just god awful. It really has the feel of a tacked on corporate entity akin to that of getting the toy in a Happy Meal. Except instead of coming with a burger and fries costing you about four bucks (and heart failure) it’s something kids are still likely going to have to be interested in the NHL to actually care about the project. The character unveiling and overall idea has been met with a pretty unenthusiastic hockey fan base that are willing to just let the plan ride, albeit there aren’t any tacky in-game promos like with the FOX robots.

I’m the first person to admit they are into comic books (being a huge dweeb and Batman nerd) but the further the idea goes the more I cringe. The designs are pretty blatant recycled ideas ranging from Thor to Iron Man, and the descriptions can be pretty laughable. Except for the Flyers one, that one has some nice subtleties…“isn’t blind to the inequities of the system” you say?

Less we forget, this was a bad idea. Anaheim has been trying to distance themselves ever since. Photo courtesy of md-tascollector.50megs.com

Trying to reach kids is a good approach but by essentially saying, “Hey kids look! Comic book heroes! From hockey!” the majority of kids are probably more likely to pick up anything else. Maybe the NHL overlooked Disney’s ultra-horrible venture of “The Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series”. Crazy as it sounds, most kids realize when they are being sold a product extension because they aren’t mentally defunct buying machines. They are all willing to overlook it, as long as they like the product originally. This of course goes back to what the NHL was trying to do in the first place of trying to attract kids and connect them to the game. Kids that like hockey already may get into the idea, but kids who aren’t already won’t give a damn whether or not Stan Lee’s name is slapped on it or not. I mean, he was the guy who gave us Stripperella also.

The idea has also been stated that it is a way for parents to connect with their kids. Admirable yes, but I think as the league pointed out in the same press release that sports perform the same function. It just doesn’t make sense with the plan where it isn’t likely to draw in new fans, and does the same function as the game itself. Why subject the entire fan base of the game, who wholly don’t seem onboard, to a redundant ineffective ploy? It is borderline close to isolating the fan base that has numerously gone up in arms about “disrespecting the tradition” of hockey every time the NHL has tried to tweak the game from moving teams south, adding a shootout, and using a glowing puck.

Hockey fans are diehard about the game, and while trying to make the game more appealing to the masses is important for everyone, fans are more willing to complain to keep the game the same than to change it. It’s pretty obvious why the NHL hasn’t taken the step to remove fighting even though it seems apparent the NHL would benefit from it if you think about it in that perspective. The NHL is trying, I will give them that but they aren’t making headway. The thinking outside the box shouldn’t be deterred but this idea needs to get boxed, hopefully soon.

Just two more games until the big one. The winners of Sunday’s games will advance to the Super Bowls on February 6th. Now here are my picks for the AFC and NFC Championship games:

Rodgers and Cutler. Who will emerge victorious? Picture courtesy of CBC Sports.

Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears

This is one of the oldest and most bitter rivalries in all of sports, and we get to experience in a playoff atmosphere. That means it will be even more intense, there will be more hard hits, and this rivalry will take the game up a notch. This is the 3rd time the Packers and Bears will face off this season and they already know what to expect from each other. The season series is split 1-1; with each team winning at their respective homes. The Bears know the Packers defense will be blitzing as often as they can and the Bears will need to protect Jay Cutler and give him some time to look down the field. The Bears also know that Aaron Rodgers is more than capable of putting the Packers on his back and carrying them to victory since he’s been doing it virtually the entire season (because of Ryan Grant’s season ending injury). The Packers know the Bears have one of the stingiest defenses in the league as they only allowed 17.9 points per game in the regular season.  The Bears have one of the best linebacking corps in the league and Brian Urlacher will control the middle of the field. The Packers also know that Matt Forte can get loose at any time and they need to keep him in check at all times. If Forte gets a good run or a screen play for a long gain, then it becomes easier on Jay Cutler. The Packers need to shut down Forte early and put the weight of the game on Jay Cutler and force him to turn the ball over. Their first two meetings were decided by a 10 points total and I expect another close outcome here. The Bears have been impressive this year and really shocked many around the league.  The Bears are at home and their defense has been really good at controlling the game all season long. I hate to pick against Aaron Rodgers but I have to pick the Bears at home to win 23-17.

New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers

I have to admit two things. I absolutely hate Rex Ryan and the New York Jets. I’ve never been a fan of trash talkers and these guys take it to the next level. I prefer to play the game and let my game speak for itself. But now onto my second admission; the Jets have backed up all their trash talk. They took down the two best quarterbacks in the league (not to mention on the road) in back to back weeks. While the loud mouthed Jets defense has taken notice around the league there is another defense that has been even better than the Jets this season. There is a defense that is 1st in points allowed, 1st in rushing yards allowed,  and 2nd in yards allowed per game. This defense has been more impressive than the Jets all year long and they have been rather quiet about what they do.  This defense belongs to none other than the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers have been lights out on defense and also have one of the most efficient offenses in the NFL. Ben Rothlisberger has quietly had a very good season (despite missing 4 games) and Rashard Mendenhall has established himself as one of the most solid running backs this season. And we can’t forget about the Steelers well-rounded receiving corps. Mike Wallace is now the go-to-guy after Santonio Holmes was traded to the Jets, and Hines ward is just as effective as ever, and Heath Miller is always a solid option for Rothlisberger as well. The Steelers have been here before and they are better than the Jets in every aspect of the game. I pick the Steelers to win 30-17.

Last week: 2-2

Playoffs: 4-4

There are four teams left in the NFL playoffs, with the AFC hosting a defensive match-up between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets and the NFC having the divisional match-up of the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. These are four very solid teams left and every Super Bowl match-up has its appeal but for me personally, there is just one that I hope to see.

I am crossing my fingers and hoping to get a Jets vs. Packers Super Bowl. The simple and sweet reason is because the Jets have been in the news so much this year and are just a very crazy and fun team and the Packers were my NFC Super Bowl team prediction and Aaron Rodgers is just sensational. That was the quick reason behind my though but now let us dig a little deeper into my mind.

We will start with the Pittsburgh Steelers. This is a very well rounded team, with an exceptional defense, a good running game and a proven quarterback. They have won two Super Bowls in the past 5 years and are setup to win another. They have Troy Polamalu back, who I believe should be in the running for the defensive player of the year. Well if they are such a great team, why do I not want to see them in the Super Bowl? For some reason, I just find them to be boring. This is a personal opinion of course but I just do not get hyped up to see the Steelers play in the Super Bowl. I did not care to see them play the Seattle Seahawks in 2006 nor did I care to see them face off against the Arizona Cardinals in 2009, although the Cardinal game did end up being a good one. This is a very well build team that has shown that it can have very exciting games but for some reason, deep down inside of me, I just can’t get myself to believe that the Steelers will be an exciting watch.

As for the Chicago Bears, they have another great defense and Julius Peppers has been a beast for them but who, besides Bear fans, wants to see them in the playoffs? As a Charger fan, I already dislike Jay Cutler and on top of that, he is very mistake prone. Although the offense has finally started to get things going, it just isn’t at the level you would expect your Super Bowl team to be at.

Tomlinson Deserves A Ring. Photo courtesy of www.sbnation.com.

Now to my two hopeful teams. The New York Jets started the season off by staring in HBO’s Hard Knocks and have had headline after headline with the Darrelle Revis contract situation, the sexual harassment incidents to Rex Ryan and his crazy, comical behavior. They are a fun team to watch and although they do not boast the best quarterback, Mark Sanchez is definitely holding his own and learning as each game goes on. But the biggest factor to my decision is none other than LaDainian Tomlinson. He was a god here in San Diego and it was sad to see him go. Now that he has a chance to win a ring, I would like to see him accomplish that because he is fully deserving of a championship.

As for the Packers, that defense led my Clay Matthews is scary but that offense is just so much fun to watch. Run game or no run game, Rodgers can make that offense go and it is just amazing to see him orchestrate it all. I have mentioned earlier in August that I believe Aaron Rodgers and Philip Rivers are the next big thing when it comes to the quarterback position. They have many big play wide receivers and it is alway fun to see Matthews rush the quarterback.

This is why I am hoping for a Jets vs. Packers match-up. This is a game that I believe could live up to all the hype that it will receive and will give us many, many exciting story lines.

There are many MVP candidates as of right now in the NBA for example Derrik Rose, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade Amar’e Stoudemire and Kevin Durant but the two that have made a biggest case, while doing absolutely nothing, are Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James.

Nowitzki’s Mavericks lost 7 of 9 while he was out with injury. They had only lost 5 before Nowitzki’s injury and the record without him speaks for itself. The fact that I am even pushing Nowitzki for MVP is shocking because I have never been a big fan of his nor a fan of the Maverick team. He is only averaging 23.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game but his team is nothing without him. They do also have the injury to Caron Butler to worry about but Dirk is the heart and soul of that team.

Nowitzki's Injury Helps His Case For MVP. Photo courtesy of www.underw.com.

LeBron James on the other hand is the guy who said that he nor Dwayne Wade had any chance at winning the MVP award this season. He is averaging 25.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists…not too shabby for a guy on a team with two other all-stars. His scoring is a little down but the rest of the numbers are still keeping up with his previous years, so he can obviously still perform no matter what situation he is put in. The two games that James sat out, the Heat lost both and one was a thrashing by the Denver Nuggets. Although unfortunately for James, they lost the game that has was injured in and the game that he returned. Now with Bosh out, we will see if it was really a LeBron effect, or if this Heat team is back to their struggling ways.

Either way, both players have made somewhat of a case for the MVP while just sitting there on the bench. It is amazing what can come of being injured but I’m sure both players would of rather have been healthy and helping their team win games.

Now that 49ers got their #1 guy, Jim Harbaugh, what’s next for this once storied franchise? While they have some bright spots, they definitely need to shore up a few areas and make this team a true contender. They have a good running back, decent receivers, a young and promising offensive line, and an awesome middle linebacker to anchor their defense. So what are their weak spots? First and foremost is the quarterback position. Alex Smith and Troy Smith will just not cut it, the 49ers need to upgrade this position if they want to ever make it back to the playoffs. The other two weaknesses are the defensive line and corner back positions. The 49ers don’t generate enough of a pass rush on a consistent basis and this hurts them against the pass. And this lack of pass rush is even more evident when the corner backs are sub par. The 49rs have a high pick (7th overall), and they need to be ready to make a big move this off season. If I was the GM and money wasn’t a issue, the following is what I would do:

Will Jim Harbaugh lead the 49ers back to greatness? It depends on the roster moves that he and GM Trent Baalke make. Pciture courtesy of ninersnation.com

There are some pretty enticing players on the free agent market that could come in and instantly help the 49ers. The three I have in mind are Donovan McNabb (assuming he is released by the Redskins), Richard Seymour, and Nnamdi Asomugha. McNabb is for obvious reasons; the 49ers need a quarterback and Mcnabb will help fill that void while they groom a young one they acquire via the draft. Seymour is a defensive tackle stud that can anchor a whole front line and generate a consistent pass rush that helps out his secondary. And Asomugha is the best one on one corner in the NFL today. Opposing quarterbacks threw Asomugha’s way only 27 times all year long. Of these 27 attempts, only 10 were complete and none went for a touchdown. Asomugha is an absolute stud and could be the cornerback they wished Nate Clements could be. If the 49ers are serious about becoming a contender, these three veteran players can take them there.

The other opportunity for the 49ers to improve is through the draft. They will need to use their picks wisely and select a quarterback for their future. The last draft pick used on quarterback turned out to be a complete bust while they passed on one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL today (Aaron Rodgers). They have a good variety of quarterbacks to choose from: Ryan Mallet, Blaine Gabbert, Jake Locker, Cam Newton, and even Andy Dalton. While some of these seem appealing I feel that most are going to need a year or two to develop into starting quarterbacks. The 49ers could use their 7th pick on a Mallet, Gabbert, or Locker. Or they could wait until the 2nd or 3rd round to take Dalton who is a hardworking quarterback that has the intangibles to win. If they decide to not take a quarterback with their 7th pick, they can then look at a defensive end if they can’t get Seymour (like Nick Fairley or Marcell Dareus), or a cornerback (like Prince Amukamara) if they don’t get Asomugha. Or they can completely trade down and garner more draft picks while they deal their 2nd round pick for Kevin Kolb (since the Eagles seem committed to Michael Vick). The 49ers have many roads they can take from here on out, but which will lead them back to experience the success of the Bill Walsh-Joe Montana-Steve Young-Jerry Rice days that seem like ancient history now?

Here are my picks for the Divisional Playoffs this weekend:

Bill Belichick (left) and Rex Ryan (right) face off this weekend. Who has the edge? Picture courtesy of the latimes.com

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

Baltimore had a pretty convincing win last week against the Cheifs, but I’m sure that didn’t surprise many around the league. They have to go on the road again this week and face the always tough Pittsburgh Steelers. On the offensive side of the ball both teams have a good quarterback, good running backs, and very good wide receivers. And on the defensive side, you can’t get much better than the Ravens and Steelers defense. They are two well coached teams and it should be a great game to watch. It’s really hard to pick one over the other since they are so evenly matched. But if I were have to pick one key point that might affect the outcome of the game it would be the physical health of Troy Polamalu and the mental health of Ed Reed. These are the two best safeties in the game and both have a huge impact on how successful their defense can be. Troy Polamalu has missed some practice this past week because of an Achilles injury that he has battled with for much of the season. Polamalu has done an amazing job throughout the season, so he should be fine to anchor that Steelers’ secondary. Ed Reed has had to deal with the disappearance of his younger last weekend. While Reed was able to put the distraction aside and play a good game last week against the Chiefs, who knows how much of a toll it has taken on him this week. If either of these big play safeties is bogged down, then looking for the opposition’s passing attack to take off. I’ll go with my gut and pick the Ravens to win 23-21.

Green Bay Packers at Atlanta Falcons

This should be a great game to watch as well. It’ll be interesting to see how Matt Ryan handles the Packers’ blitzing schemes and how the Falcons’ defense plans to contain Aaron Rodgers. These are two of the best young quarterbacks in the league and they both have some valuable receiving weapons. But Matt Ryan does have a couple of advantages: (1) Home field, and (2) a legitimate running back in Michael Turner. Matt Ryan is 20-2 as a starter at the Georgia Dome in his career and that could play a huge role in this game. Also, having Turner to take off some of the pressure will go a long way to help the Falcons keep the Packers defense off guard. Having said that, Rodgers is a top 5 quarterback in this league while Matt Ryan is not; the Packers defense is more than good enough to contain the Falcons. I pick the Packers to win 27-17.

New York Jets at New England Patriots

This game has probably been the most talked about game all week. It’s no secret that these two teams probably don’t like each other. That last line might actually be an understatement; these two teams despise each other. They are polar opposites both on the player front and the coaching front as well. Belichick sticks to business and instructs his players to not give the opposition any extra motivation, instead he welcomes whatever his opponents say and uses that as motivation for his own team. Rex Ryan on the other hand is a loudmouthed coach that says what he wants and lets his players do the same — Antonio Cromartie was a great example of this. Cromartie called out Tom Brady, but what did Brady do? He shrugged it off saying Cromartie is a great player along with Darelle Revis, and they make it tough on Brady and his receivers. Now onto the game, Sanchez led a pretty good drive to win the game last week. But let’s face it he was terrible in the early parts of the game, and if it wasn’t for that big kick return then I doubt Sanchez would have been able to make that drive. I have to go with the experience that Belichick and Brady exude. I pick the Patriots to win 31-17.

Seattle Seahawks at Chicago Bears

I have to give it up for the Seahawks, they played a damn good game last week and that TD run by Marshawn Lynch was simply amazing. It’s always great to see the whole team block for the running back, so when I saw Matt Hasselback down the field blocking I was impressed. With that said, I can’t see the Seahawks dream run continuing in cold Chicago this weekend. First of all, Seattle was 2-6 on the road this past season. And although one of those wins was against the Bears in Chicago (23-20 on October 17th) the Bears were a different team back then. The Bears have gone 7-2 since their bye week with their only 2 losses coming against the Patriots and in Green Bay. The Bears defense looks quite strong once again and Jay Cutler will look to impress in his first playoff game of his career. And I definitely expect Julius Peppers to have an impact, as I don’t think Russell Okung will hold him sackless this time around. Cutler, Forte, Knox, Olsen, Urlacher, Peppers, the cold Chicago weather, and the rowdy Chicago fans are gonna force me to pick the Bears over the Seahawks 38-24.

Last Week: 2-2

Being blunt the New Jersey Devils are as dead as disco and didn’t even get KISS to do an album. With that being said the Devils finally unloaded captain Jamie Langenbrunner to Dallas, a move they were trying to do back when the season started in October to free up cap space. Now they have more cap space. Zero cap space for that matter, which is a good indicator for how bad the cap situation was, fittingly putting the Devils in cap hell. And barring an unimaginable run of success the Devils will be missing the playoffs for the first time since the mid nineties, which still has Atlanta and Los Angeles laughing at New Jersey and Ilya Kovalchuk.

The season is lost for NJ. Time to start over? Photo courtesy of dobberhockey.com

So the Devils have players to unload. Most of which are old. Really old. Few of which have any real value. This is why there is a case to deal New Jersey’s senior citizen hall of fame goaltender, Martin Brodeur. Now it doesn’t seem possible seeing the Jersey netminder in a jersey that wasn’t red and black (or occasionally green) but with cap hit of 5.2 million losing Brodeur would free up a lot of space, financially and with weight.

Brodeur has been a far cry of the netminder from the past 18 seasons. Marty is shaping up to post his worst numbers since he played four games when he first was called up for the Devils back in the 1991-1992 season. Brodeur is also almost 39 years old so the obvious question is if this is the year the four time Vezina winning, five time Jennings winning, three time Cup winning, and ten time all-star goalie has hit the wall. Now last season his numbers were largely consistent to his years prior: 91.6 save percentage, 2.24 goals against average, 77 games played in, and was a Vezina candidate. This year, as mentioned earlier, is Brodeur with horrendous numbers: 88.7 percent, 3.05 GAA, and on pace for 58 games. This wasn’t a general decline. This was probably the most consistent goalie in the league becoming mediocre in a blink. The biggest difference being that this year is the worst the Devils have looked in over twenty seasons.

So for other teams, the question is this a Martin Brodeur that has little left to offer or is the defense in front of him so bad it can make even the best goalie look bad. Objectively, I am inclined to say the Devils are in fact that bad of a team. My instinct though is that Brodeur is toast. In any case this is likely to be his last season I believe, despite the contract of his running for another season. The biggest obstacle would be making sure Brodeur would waive his no trade clause, which he has stated he would be willing to think about waiving if it was beneficial for the Devils. And Brodeur could really help some other teams big time if he is capable of playing like how he used to.

The worst season for Brodeur since he broke into the league. Age or bad defense? Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Teams like San Jose, where if they are in the bubble picture in a few weeks from now, still can really use a hot shot goalie. They certainly have a few young centers and a goalie they can throw back the other way. Or possibly the Lightning and the Thrashers with all their cap space may make a move to bring on Brodeur as an extra push to make the playoffs and have an extended run. In any case the returns the Devils can get back for Brodeur goes beyond just freeing up cap space which they do need desperately. Marty, with all his accolades, raises his asking price in a trade drastically, which of course means that New Jersey could get a sweet bundle of prospects and possibly a few NHL ready players in return.

Simply though, Brodeur just doesn’t have anything to offer New Jersey this year. Even if his play picks up to a 95 save percentage the Devils are too sunk in the standings with not enough talent present on the roster at this point to make the post-season. Their roster is loaded with underwhelming veterans and their excessive cap hits for a few more seasons like Brian Rolston, Patrick Elias, Dainius Zubrus, Bryce Salvador, Colin White, and Henrik Tallinder. The prime roster talent is limited to Travis Zajac, Zach Parise, Kovalchuk (whose contract is another issue), Anton Volchenkov, Andy Greene, and David Clarkson (there just to piss off opponents). The farm system is basically playing already at the NHL level and essentially are proving how depleted the Devils are. The Devils need to clear out more space also to make sure they can re-sign Greene and Parise for next season. Cleaning house is the best step the Devils can do and the guy that can bring the most back while also freeing up a lot of money is Martin Brodeur. They certainly are hurt a bit more in the draft with the whole NHL punishing them for working illegal contracts. Getting prospects or other teams’ draft picks is absolutely vital for the Devils in making any turn around for the future.

Hard to say goodbye Marty, but the Devils need to trade ya old butt. Photo courtesy of nj.com

While it is understandable for Devil fans to clamor against trading away their long time hero and star between the pipes the franchise is better off doing so at this stage. Brodeur isn’t leading New Jersey to the playoffs this season, and likely not next season since it only makes sense for New Jersey to rebuild a bit. He doesn’t have much left in him, if anything at all, so getting something back for him makes sense objectively though it clashes against emotion and sentiment. It is a tough call, and making a deal work with Brodeur’s no trade clause and salary hit is tricky but there is always at least a few teams in the market for a goalie, and some of them are certainly going to have the means of taking on salary for the remainder of the season. It certainly works to help the Devils, so about that no trade clause being waived Marty…