Sitting in the Saddledome stands in which Calgarians watched Trevor Kidd for parts of five seasons, Martin Brodeur shrugs off the comparison.
Taken 20th overall – nine spots behind Kidd – in the 1990 NHL Draft, Brodeur retired last year with 540 more wins, three more Stanley Cups and two more Olympic gold medals than the Flames’ first round pick.
While it may seem patently unfair to compare a man who is arguably the greatest goalie of all time with a mere mortal, the point is a simple one: at one point Kidd was thought of as the better netminder.
It’s not the first or last time the hockey community got it wrong with goalies, which partially explains why the St. Louis Blues coveted Brodeur enough to make him an assistant GM.
Who better to help find the game’s next great goalies than the NHL’s winningest netminder?
The Calgary Flames, for example, could sure use a man of Brodeur’s expertise to help figure out if collegiate hotshot Jon Gillies is truly capable of being the Flames goalie of the future.
However, even Brodeur admits he struggles at times, trying to determine which young goalies inside and outside his organization and the league will eventually blossom.
"It’s very hard now that I’m on this side of the business," said the 43-year-old Devils legend of trying to peg future masked marvels.
"With goalies you don’t know when they’re going to mature. Most of the goalies are similar and they all play the same style. They’re all 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4 so it becomes hard to figure out who is the best.
"If they play on a good team do they have enough work? If they play on bad teams are they just getting peppered? When it’s on the line is he able to win it? It’s a tough one. The window to grab that kid is short."
Case in point, more than a quarter century after the fact Brodeur has no qualms with Calgary’s decision to make Kidd the NHL’s first goalie selected that year.
"I wasn’t ranked so high for the draft so I wasn’t expecting to go in the first round anyway," said Brodeur, respectful of Kidd who played a passable 12 years in the league for four teams.
"Trevor was always Canada’s goalie since he was 16 so I saw him up there."
Brodeur said New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamoriello picked him based on the relationship they built well ahead of the draft – a practice Brodeur now employs.
"Picking a guy based on stats is kind of hard so you have to sit and talk with the kid – when I got drafted that’s what the Devils did," said the St. Hyacinthe Lasers product from the Quebec Major Junior League.
"They came in and sat with me during the regular season. So they learned about my character, my family and they had a really good idea of what they were bringing in and that’s kind of the homework you have to do."
When teams are investing so much into every draft pick he says evaluating what’s between the ears is the best indicator of who’ll be the best between the pipes.
"Character is number one," he smiled.
"The personality of an athlete goes a long way. Even with forwards. That’s what they’re going to look at as much as they can. It’s hard to see it but you have to do your homework and talk to people who know the kid. That’s how you’re able to be a better judge to bring guys into your organization. The scouts have to do that job for us."
The Flames certainly put plenty of time in getting to know Gillies before and during his three years at Providence where he won a national title in 2014-15. By all accounts a good lad with a 6-foot-6, 225-pound frame, the third-round pick was tabbed to start challenging for an NHL spot next season until hip surgery ended his first AHL season just seven games in. He’s still at least another year of AHL seasoning away from taking the next step.
Still, as the Flames debate who they’ll acquire this summer to fill their starting goalie void GM Brad Treliving will do so mindful of the fact Gillies is tabbed as their future star.
A scary thought in a league where most organizations have learned the hard way goalies tagged early on for greatness generally don’t sustain their dominance at the NHL level.
"It could be scary but then again when you know you have something special I think you have to embrace it," said Brodeur, quick to point out even kids with solid character can falter.
"Every organization has their own path. We do certain things in St. Louis. I was in Jersey for a long time. We did it a certain way. They put stock in me my whole career – they had nobody (slated to be his successor or backup) and it worked out pretty good. You never know how it goes."
Eric Francis is a columnist who can also be read regularly in the Calgary Sun.
