Product Description

Martin Brodeur is a giant in the world of hockey. He is the number-one goalie in the game today, and one of the greatest goaltenders of the modern age. He has been netminder for the New Jersey Devils for 13 years, leading them to three Stanley Cup victories and winning numerous individual awards in the process, including two Vezina trophies. A three-time Olympian for Canada, Brodeur was part of the gold-medal winning team at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He was in goal when Team Canada captured the 2004 World Cup and has been a part of every major Canadian team since he broke into the NHL in 1992. He is rated as the fourth most popular and recognizable hockey player of all time (after Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, and Mario Lemieux).

In Brodeur: Beyond the Crease, the game's best netminder takes a candid, personal look at his career, his sport, the business of hockey, the evolution of the sport, and his journey to the apex of the modern game. It is one man's detailed, unique view of the kaleidoscope of intrigue and competitive chaos that defines today's NHL, a rare opportunity to understand the sport through the eyes of one of the game's most insightful athletes at the height of his abilities.

Brodeur: Beyond the Crease traces Brodeur's career, revealing how he became the best, from minor hockey through junior to the NHL and Team Canada. It examines his rich national and personal hockey heritage, and the pivotal role his father and others played in his career, as well as his thoughts and insights on: being part of the effort that turned the New Jersey Devils around from being what Wayne Gretzky called "a Mickey Mouse organization" into one of the game's most powerful and successful franchises; being in the crease in 2002 when Canada ended a 50-year gold medal drought at the Olympics; being a Canadian and a Quebecer playing and living in the US; life as a husband and father of four, his love of motorcycles, and the lifestyle of the modern athlete; pursuing greatness and sporting records; the best goalies he’s ever seen and the best NHL shooters; how he prepares for game day; what it's like to be the wealthiest man ever to play his position, and what it was like to watch $8 million in salary fly out the window during the NHL lockout of 2004-2005.

In association with award-winning sports journalist Damien Cox, the top goalie in the game takes us inside the game and beyond, to reveal the man behind the mask.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #296674 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Review
Perhaps more than any other NHL player, Martin Brodeur takes cares of business - his own.
The Devils' three-time Stanley Cup champion goaltender severed ties with his agent, Gilles Lupien, in 1998 and has since negotiated his own deals, presumably including the one for his book: "Brodeur: Beyond the Crease."
Sprinkled throughout the 278 pages are details about salaries, contracts, the marketing of the league, his relationship with Devils front-office guru Lou Lamoriello and even his assessment of the Devils' new arena in Newark, due to open next season.
Brodeur writes that the new facility will have "two rinks, a gym, pool, luxury suites, basically everything we don't have now. You buy a ticket for $95 and still have to walk up 40 steps to get a drink."
Surely the Meadowlands execs will love to read that. But Brodeur, never shy on opinions, offers plenty of others.
Among them:
In the 1990 entry draft, Owen Nolan was selected first, then Petr Nedved, Keith Primeau, Mike Ricci and "some guy named Jagr. If the teams could do that draft all over, Jagr would have undoubtedly been the first pick and I'd like to think I would have gone a little higher [than 20th]."
On former Islander Ziggy Palffy: "Seems he had more breakaways against me than any other player. He often beat me with a low shot to the blocker. Once on a breakaway, I guessed right and stopped that shot. Then he put in the rebound."
On his technological savvy: During the lockout, he was contacted by the Russian teams Omsk and Ak Bars Kazan. So he checked out the cities on a Web site's live camera. His assessment: "They looked miserable." (Newsday, October 29, 2006)

From the Inside Flap
Martin Brodeur is a giant in the world of hockey. Every time he steps on the ice as the goaltender of the New Jersey devils, he either sets a new record or edges ever closer to some of the most prestigious netminding records in the history of the sport. Since the day in March 1992 when he was summoned from junior hockey to make his NHL debut, he has been about winning and defining how the position is played.

A three-time Stanley cup champion, he is the only goalie in NHL history with 10 seasons of 30 wins or more, and in 2006 he set a new mark for consecutive playoff starts by an NHL goalie.

The numbers speak for themselves, but what they cannot express is that Martin Brodeur is at the very heart and soul of the devils, and one of the team's greatest leaders. On the world stage, Brodeur traced his father's steps to the Olympics, and, when Canada finally ended a 50-year gold medal drought at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, it was Brodeur who stood tall in the crease.

In Brodeur: beyond the Crease, the game's best netminder takes a candid, personal look at his career, his sport and his journey to the apex of the modern game. He shares the rich hockey heritage of his family, and reveals what it's like to be a goalie in the 'new' NHL that emerged from the nearly disastrous lockout of 2004-05. He talks about being an integral part of the evolution of the New Jersey devils, once mocked as "a Mickey Mouse organization," into one of the game's most successful franchises, and about his unique relationship with Lou Lamoriello, the architect of the Devils' championship teams.

Brodeur also traces the highs and lows of Olympic competition; how he prepares for game day; the best NHL shooters he's ever faced and what it was like to score a goal himself in a Staley Cup playoff game. He reveals his thoughts and insights on being a Canadian and a Quebecer playing and living in the US; life as a father of four under the harsh spotlight of celebrity; his love of motorcycles and why, in the complicated and high-stakes world of pro sports dominated by accountants and agents, he chooses to stand alone and represent himself at contract time.

Brodeur: Beyond the Crease is a rare opportunity to understand the sport of hockey through the eyes of one of the game's most insightful athletes at the height of his abilities. With award-winning sports journalist Damien Cox, the top goalie in hockey takes us inside the game and beyond.

About the Author
Martin Brodeur is one of the most successful and decorated goalies in the National Hockey League and in international hockey, and among the greatest goalies of the modern era. He has been netminder for the New Jersey Devils for 13 years, leading them to three Stanley Cup victories and winning numerous individual awards in the process, including two Vezina trophies. A three-time Olympian for Canada, Brodeur was part of the gold-medal winning team at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He was in goal when Team Canada captured the 2004 World Cup and has been a part of every major Canadian team since he broke into the NHL in 1992. Brodeur lives in New Jersey with his partner and four children (three boys, one girl, and two goalies).

Damien Cox is an award-winning sports columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest newspaper. He has covered hockey for over 18 years, including the NHL, three Winter Olympics, and other international hockey events. Cox has also worked extensively in radio and television and has been a frequent contributor to The Hockey News and ESPN.com, among other publications and media outlets. He is co-author of ’67: The Maple Leafs, Their Sensational Victory and the End of an Empire. For three years he was co-host of Prime Time Sports, heard daily on the FAN590 in Toronto, and on the Rogers radio network across Canada. He appears weekly on TSN's The Reporters and regularly as an analyst on TSN NHL broadcasts. Cox has been named three times to The Hockey News' "100 People of Power and Influence in Hockey." Cox lives in Toronto with his wife Vicki and four children.

Customer Reviews

Great Book
This book is a behind the scenes look into the life of one of the best netminders ever... Brodeur.
He is pretty funny at times, serious at others but has a great attitude about the best game ever: hockey, and he has tips for other players to survive happily in his world. Overall, this book is entertaining and factual. The pictures are great, also.
If you are looking for a great piece of literature, look elsewhere. This is a biography by one of the best goaltenders ever to grace a net.
A very good read and worth every cent. I would recommend this book to anyone with team management in their life (home, work, etc.)

Better then I expected.
I wanted to read this book since it came out and wasn't able to find it anywhere but online. Anyways, being a huge Hockey fan, I wanted to read about one of the all time best goalies in the NHL. I could not put it down, I read the thing in two days. It was well written, interesting and insightful. Great mix of personal tidbits, Devil's history, and hockey info all in one. But not so much of any one thing to cause me to loose interest. I have always admired Brodeur, but after reading this book, I am now a Brodeur fan, (but still not a Devils fan.) Well worth the time and money on this book.

No more or less than what one would expect out of this type of book.
Although Brodeur does raise up some interesting points about players roles in the new NHL (not just on the ice, but as partners in the league, marketing, salaries, etc), this book mostly just hovers in the "Why was this necessary?" realm.

Numerous stories and anecdotes are repeated throughout the book, and it also goes through extensive recaps of of the 2005-06 season. Not in a candid, behind the scenes kind of way either. Reads more like a newspaper recap (in turn because Toronto Sun beat writer Damien Cox did the actual writing of the book) than an insider's view of the NHL. There are a few interesting factoids about the life of an elite NHLer, but for the most part it's just standard fair. Also stumbles into "Martin Brodeur reviews the movies of Spring 2006" for a chapter.

This book is also poorly editted as numerous sentences are missing words and even a few typos.

All and all, I would recommend this book for a Devils/NHL fan with the precaution that it's a quick, easy read. Don't expect any inside dirt other than the occassional "When Roy said that it upset me" type of fair, and don't expect an indepth discussion about his divorce either. Not that it is necessarily our busniess, but I felt that it should be somewhat expected if someone is plunking down $25 to read his autobiography.

That's trivial. I know. Sorry. I'll stop being a hen now.