Hextall's influence on Brodeur's passing game

There have been and will continue to be many articles on Martin Brodeur potentially playing his final game for the New Jersey Devils, but make sure The Star-Ledger's look Sunday is one of them.

Several particularly interesting angles to the article, including Brodeur's take on the trapezoid rule and the impact on his game. Not quite the negative impact you might think.

Brodeur also explains the origin story of his puck-handling skills.

"My dad came home when Ron Hextall was a rookie and played a game in Montreal," Brodeur recalled. "He told me, ‘Watch the highlights tomorrow and you’ll see that guy is like a third defenseman out there.’

"I didn’t understand what my dad was saying, but I looked at the game and saw some of the highlights and how effective and good he was with the puck. It was like, wow.

"I’ve worked at it. My dad helped me out. We’d get pucks at home and I’d shoot pucks and make plays. Even to this day it’s one of the things I like the most, shooting the puck and making passes. That’s how I was able to get through all these years having 12 shots on net. I was able to make 15 passes. That kept me in the game. I get as much joy making a good outlet pass to send someone on a breakaway or being part of the offense as I do making a save."

Source: Rich Chere, Star-Ledger