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The Overlooked Legend


smelly

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The best part about Marty, is that he's overlooked. I don't think Marty has done anything flashy in his entire life, and the lack of familiarity with the outside sports world formed a deeper connection with the real Devils fans (pretty much true about all of our stars, Patty,Dano,Stevens etc). Kovy sort of adopted this too, either a conscious or subconscious decision, I don't know, but he seems less like a super star NHLer since his time in NJ.

For opposite effect, see Rick Nash, NYR, Marian Gaborik, NYR (Gaby actually came full circle with this sort of thing which is even funnier)

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You know... I think that Marty's fame almost coincides with that of the NHL. Hockey (in America at least) is a smaller market, tight-knit and devoted fans. We all know who Marty is. Great article. I know that in New Jersey we'll never see anything like him again. Call me biased if you want but I will always regard him as the greatest to ever do what he does, and we have all been extremely privileged to watch this guy play night in, night out, all while bearing an NJ on his chest. 

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The article nailed it.  

 

Marty's peak greatness was in a lull of superstar talent.   His climb up the ladder was largely disregarded because of his defense, and his decline now, at 40+ is expected, and most of the league can't wait to bury him.   

 

I think personally, he'll see a resurgence in regard when he does retire.    I won't call him the most skilled goaltender (maybe top 5/10); but I think his skill mixed with longevity and demeanor puts him in the running as greatest of all time.

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I thought the article was average at best. Why even bring up his marital issues? Was it an embarrassing mess? Absolutely. But that situation has exactly 0% reason how people view his career or overrate, or overlook or underrate. And to give it two paragraphs about it?

 

Agree, for as scandalous as that whole situation was, it really didn't have that big an impact on how he was viewed.  I don't remember it getting anywhere near the attention that Tiger Woods' situation did (for obvious reasons), but let's face it, fans look past this kind of stuff very quickly.  For one, plenty of "regular folk" get themselves in similar situations...it's not like star athletes have the market cornered on adultery...the act is simply not that shocking, in the grand scheme of it all.  And fans are willing to forgive and forget and look the other way when players make mistakes.  I haven't heard anyone bring up Brodeur's situation in years (until this article), and even when it was relevant, I don't remember hearing that much about it, among hockey fans.  Clearly it was a huge deal for him, but for fans looking back on his career, it's barely a footnote. 

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Nice article for the most part.. anyone ever read martys book?

 

I did, and the author of this article was not fair...Marty addressed his situation re: his affair as much as should have been expected.  He didn't gloss over it nearly as much as the author would lead one to believe, and the book was supposed to be about Marty's career, how he approaches his craft, and whatever else he felt like revealing...it was never billed as some "tell-all, let me let you in on every last skeleton in my closet".  Not only that, but the author should be aware that post-divorce agreements often stipulate that both parties have to be VERY careful how many details they reveal in public.   

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I believe his marital issues are far more important to his his detractors than his supporters.

It's still one of the first things I hear from my Philly and NY friends and coworkers. 

 

Yeah, I can see that.

 

If Lundqvist had done the same thing, Devils fans would let Ranger fans know about it. 

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