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Martin Brodeur on Blues tryout: 'For the first time in a long time, I'm nervous'

Martin Brodeur has never had to try out for anything.

Brodeur is a goaltending legend, a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer and arguably the best ever to play the position. (The correct answer, by the way, is Dominik Hasek. But again, it's arguable.) 

So it's understandable that a player of Brodeur's stature and historical significance found the experience of this latest offseason - going unsigned as an unrestricted free agent - somewhat humbling. 

It's an experience that has left him nervous about pursuing an opportunity with the St. Louis Blues, who have agreed to give him a tryout this week.

"I really waited until they set up the flight for me. Then I said to myself, 'This is real, then,' " Brodeur told Sportsnet's Damien Cox on Wednesday. "For the first time in a long time, I’m nervous. Things were always set for me. I just showed up. Now it’s different. I’m looking forward to that experience."

Brodeur, 42, is approaching the foreign opportunity with an open mind.

"To go in on a tryout at this point doesn’t feel weird," he said. "It would have felt weird to try out in training camp. It’s gonna be a short-term thing, a few practices. They’re at home against Edmonton on Friday, then Saturday they’re in Minny. Tuesday they’re in Chicago for the start of a road trip and I think we’ll know by then. 

"I’m not gonna stay there two weeks. It’ll mostly be morning skates, so I don’t really know what they’re going to look at."

Understandably, Brodeur has seen his ability to stymie NHL shooters wane with age. Over the past two seasons, 31 NHL goaltenders have logged at least 2,500 even-strength minutes, and of those regular starting goaltenders, Brodeur ranks 31st in even-strength save percentage. 

Despite his atrophied form, Brodeur wants the opportunity to end his career on his own terms. 

"I didn’t like the way things ended last year in New Jersey," he said. "Twenty years from now, at least now I’ll be able to say I gave it my best to play one more year."

As for his opportunity with the Blues, Brodeur is mostly in the dark on the health status of Blues starter Brian Elliott. The club is describing Elliott as "week-to-week" with a lower-body injury, but if that was really the case, why would the club feel the need to bring in a veteran of Brodeur's stature?

"They just said (Elliott) is hurt. They didn’t get into detail how bad it is," Brodeur said. "There’s obviously a reason they’re bringing me in. I’m just glad they picked me out of the goalies that are out there."

Brodeur's also happy that his tryout is with a team in the Western Conference. 

"Going west was one of my priorities. I didn’t want to be in the east if possible," he said. "Playing in New Jersey, or playing against the Devils, that would be tough for me. It would break my heart to get booed in that building. I don’t know if that would happen, but I wouldn't want it to."

It surely wouldn't have happened. Or, wouldn't have happened so long as Brodeur didn't don Rangers blue.

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