Martin Brodeur will practice with Blues on Friday
The St. Louis Blues lost starting goaltender Brian Elliott to a lower-body injury Tuesday night, and on Wednesday got creative in addressing their depleted depth between the pipes.
The club has announced that future Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur will be joining the team for practice Friday. Brodeur will address the media then and elaborate on the nature of the agreement between himself and the Blues, though Sportsnet's Chris Johnston is calling it a tryout.
So it would seem that the Blues weren't happy to roll with Jordan Binnington, who they recalled on an emergency basis from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League on Wednesday, as Jake Allen's backup.
"Marty has agreed to come in and practice through early next week," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. "We will address the media at Friday’s practice at Scottrade."
Brodeur's form has atrophied significantly in recent seasons. Among the 43 NHL goaltenders who played at least 500 five-on-five minutes from 2009-10 through the 2013-14 season, Brodeur's .916 even-strength save percentage ranks 36th.
Martin Brodeur:" it's going to be strange to be in another jersey, even if I had a different one with Team Canada. I'll always be a Devil."
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) November 27, 2014
On the bright side, Brian Elliott's even-strength save percentage ranks 37th out of 43 over that same time frame. He's done pretty well playing behind Ken Hitchcock's parsimonious defensive schemes.
If you're not excited about the prospect of Brodeur sending sick outlet passes to the likes of quick skating defensemen Alex Pietrangelo, Kevin Shattenkirk and Jay Bouwmeester, you just don't like hockey.