New Jersey Devils Team Report 7/13, Concerns of Brodeur?
Another week has past and still more free agents were on the move, and more signings took place. And very characteristically the Devils sat on their hands and watched other clubs shell out the big bucks.This might be a problem for other clubs,(Rangers, Panthers) but not for the Devils. New Jersey has very few worries in the current off-season. And why should they? Their current plans have lead them to the Stanley Cup finals the past year, the Stanley Cup the previous year, and an overall strong decade on the books. However there are a few small problems currently within the roster that need to be addressed before the Devils start this season on October 6th against Jagr and his new team. The most pressing of these questions is who will back up Martin Brodeur this season? Currently in Albany there are 2 capable back ups in J.F. Damphousse, and Fredrik Henry, and still another waiting in the wings in Ari Ahonen. All three would be great potential backups, and maybe even starters down the road. The likely choice will be Henry for the simple reason that he has the most experience out of the three. The interesting side bar to this is a lot of Devils fans and even some experts are starting to question Brodeur’s heart. Brodeur had some outstanding performances in this past years playoffs. But when the Devils really needed him to stand up he was average at best. Who can blame him really he had no one to really push him. Make him think, even for a second, that he could lose his starting job. Don’t get me wrong i am not saying that Brodeur is not capable anymore, not by any means. I am saying though that fresh blood behind him may help push him to work harder to keep his starting status. The man for that job is definitely Henry. Most feel that Ari Ahonen would be the better choice with the amazing reviews he received at the juniors this past year, but he lacks experience in Albany which would be key to Robinson’s decision. Either way someone new will be on the bench waiting to play their 20 games of the season. And may i add if the unthinkable should happen, and Brodeur should become injured a changing of the guard could occur. After all it is a long season ahead of us.