Valentine’s Day 2016. A day where in Newark, New Jersey, many couples made their way to the Prudential Center, to witness the New Jersey Devils battle the Los Angeles Kings. It was a rematch of the 2012 Stanley Cup finals, where the Kings claimed the Stanley Cup in six games. The Devils escaped Sunday’s hockey game on the winning side, 1-0, as New Jersey goaltender Keith Kinkaid celebrated his first career shutout.

This all came an appropriate five days after the career of Martin Brodeur was celebrated by the hockey universe. Brodeur holds the NHL record for 125 career shutouts.

On Tuesday, Feb. 9, the New Jersey Devils hosted the Edmonton Oilers in a celebration of hockey’s past, present and future. The future was appropriately represented by Connor McDavid, the NHL’s most recent first overall pick, adding a first period assist. McDavid continues his pursuit for the Calder Memorial Trophy for NHL’s Rookie of the Year.

But nearly 16,000 fans, dressed in red, packed the arena to witness a 45-minute pregame ceremony commemorating Martin Brodeur. A first round pick by the New Jersey Devils in 1990, Brodeur ended his Devils career following the 2013-14 season and his NHL career after seven games played the following season with the St. Louis Blues.

In 21 seasons with the Devils, Brodeur received the Calder Trophy in 1994, the Vezina Trophy for NHL goaltender of the year on four occasions and won three Stanley Cups. Mike “Doc” Emrick, long time NHL play-by-play voice on NBC, hosted the pregame ceremony for Brodeur. Emrick noted that when Brodeur joined the league in 1992, NHL records of regular season wins, wins in a season, career games played, regular season shutouts, playoff shutouts, playoff shutouts in one year, 30 win seasons and 40 wins season were held by five different goaltenders. Currently, those eight records are held by one man in Martin Brodeur. Emrick went on to mention all five of those goaltenders rightfully hold a seat in the Hockey Hall of Fame, where Brodeur will become eligible in 2018.

Speeches continued throughout the ceremony from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, longtime and former Devils’ General Manager Lou Lamoriello, as well as former coaches and teammates of Brodeur. After much anticipation, near the end of the ceremony, Brodeur took his place at the podium to address the New Jersey Devils’ fans. When Brodeur first began speaking, the chants from the crowd were deafening. The major league sound system at Prudential Center was losing a one-on-one battle against 16,000 fans. 30 seconds into his speech, Emrick generously rushed back on to the stage, and whispered a message into Brodeur’s ear.

Martin Brodeur then took a step back from the podium, turned to each section of the sold out arena and raised his arm to salute his fans. Chants of “Thank You Marty” continued to rain down from the crowd.

Following the speech, Brodeur and his family made their way to the ice, behind the net Brodeur defended for nearly a quarter of a century. 16,000 fans were on their feet as a banner with the number 30 and Brodeur’s name was slowly lifted to the rafters of Prudential Center. A historic night. An emotional night. A night with one final memory of Martin Brodeur’s career added to a book of countless events. 

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