You looked down at the ice for one final time watching to see if there would be anything different about the way Martin Brodeur would respond to this victory, watched to see if the goaltender would do anything special on his way to the locker room after being congratulated at the Rock by teammates named Mark Fayne, Jaromir Jagr and Stephen Gionta the way he was so many times at the Meadowlands by Devils named Scott Stevens, John MacLean and Brian Gionta.
Watched to see if he would do anything following this 4-3 victory over the Red Wings that could be remotely as special as what he has done in a New Jersey uniform for two decades.
But there was nothing different about this 684th victory celebration of Brodeur’s career, nothing that would have told a visitor from another planet this night might have been the most different of all of them.
And why was this night different from all other nights?
Because it might well have been Brodeur’s last night as a Devil.
The all-time goaltender kept his intentions as hidden as if he were still behind a mask when asked after the game if he had sought or would accept a trade before Wednesday’s deadline. Brodeur said he has had a series of conversations with general manager Lou Lamoriello, the contents of which he would not reveal.
We do know this, however: Brodeur wants to play and he wants to play a lot more than he has this calendar year, having started only three of 16 games immediately preceding last Saturday’s match against the Islanders.
“Lou knows exactly where I stand,” Brodeur said.
League sources have told The Post Lamoriello is reluctant to trade Brodeur, and why wouldn’t he be? The fact is, locked in a life-and-death battle to make the playoffs after missing twice in the last three seasons and going against a Red Wings team the Devils trailed by three points for a wild-card spot, coach Peter DeBoer chose Brodeur rather than Cory Schneider to start in nets.
DeBoer’s wasn’t a choice based on sentiment, goodness gracious not that, or were you not paying attention that afternoon in the Bronx in late January, the last time the coach went with Brodeur out of a sense of duty and romance?
The Devils went with Brodeur against Detroit because they felt he gave them the best chance to win the game. There are 19 games to go and four teams for the Devils to leapfrog in order to squeeze into the postseason, and they are going to need the best from their two goaltenders.
Here’s the thing, perhaps to which Brodeur alluded when he said, “It’s all about winning, not about stats,” and that is, despite somewhat inferior numbers to his partner, Brodeur has won 15 of his 30 starts (15-11-4) while Schneider has won 12 of 33 (12-12-9).
Which is to say what is best for Brodeur might not be what is best at the moment for the Devils, and Lamoriello’s first responsibility is to do what is best for the logo on the front of the uniform and not the name on the back of one of his player’s uniforms, even if that player is the franchise’s favorite son.
But maybe this was one last hurrah as a Devil for Brodeur. Maybe there is a team that will both give the Devils a fair price for Brodeur and give Brodeur a fair chance to play in meaningful games the rest of the way and maybe Lamoriello and DeBoer have faith Schneider can carry the team the rest of the way.
Understand this. If that’s the case, if Brodeur, who has been here to stay since October 1993, does go somewhere else, it won’t be Joe Namath as an L.A. Ram or Johnny Unitas as a San Diego Charger or Willie Mays as a Met; no, not at all.
It will be different all right if that 685th victory celebration comes in another uniform, but it will be nothing to mourn. Sometimes endings are beginnings.