Confirmed: Pas De Brodeur

Let the world exhale: Martin Brodeur will not be signed by the Montreal Canadiens! Ok, that's not a revelation by any means, but after the suggestion by RDS analyst Vincent Damphousse that Montreal was considering signing the 42 year-old netminder, GM marc Bergevin decided to lay the issue to rest by making a comment. He didn't have to say anything, so the fact that he made a statement with regards to this issue is nice to see. After all, the fate of at least three goaltenders hung in the balance with Brodeur being mentioned as a Canadien, so having the GM speak out should give everyone a little relief based on his comments.

"I already have three goalies on my team, I don’t want four."

That solves that problem, and I commend Marc Bergevin for doing the right thing. Sure, it would be nice to have the Quebecois goalie come home and tend the nets for Les Habitants, but he has exceptional goalies in Carey Price, Peter Budaj, and Dustin Tokarski. As I wrote in my argument against signing Brodeur, "I don't know why everyone is so excited to see Brodeur in the bleu-blanc-et-rouge when both Budaj and Tokarski are just as good and are willing to sit behind Price". I stand firm behind that statement.

The Canadiens have shown a commitment to the three men who took them to the Eastern Conference Final last season, and it's the right decision. There is no second-guessing to be done because the only time Brodeur was linked to the Canadiens in any sort of seriousness was in July. After that, it apparently wasn't something Bergevin was considering. Nor should he.

Sometimes, the right thing to do isn't the most popular. In this case, there is nothing wrong with the unpopular decision. No one in Montreal will even remember these events if Price, Budaj, and Tokarski play as well as they should this season.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!