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Brodeur the Great I've been silent during the playoffs. As a Jackets fan, it's the time of year to happily watch playoff hockey while trying to choke down the disappointment in not being invited to the dance. It's also the annual questioning of Martin Brodeur by the armchair cowboys and media who have run out of Tortorella stories. I was elated to see Brodeur outduel Lundquist and send the Devils to the finals against the juggernaut eighth seed Kings. When you beat the 1, 2 and 3 seeds... Well, you're on an epic roll. Nonetheless I couldn't help but be captivated by Brodeur and his still off the charts compete level. He does, and always has, all the little things to win. A key poke check on a breakaway, a backing of the glove atop the desperate pad stack and never missing the chance to punish an opponent camped in his crease. He and his teammates do the tough, unglamorous, unpretentious things every minute if every period of every game, and that level of commitment to intensity and greatness is missing from the Blue Jackets game. The little things that add up to a Cup.