ALERT: Brodeur out three to four months with torn biceps tendon

Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur will have surgery Thursday morning to repair a torn distal biceps tendon in his left elbow and will miss three to four months, Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said this morning.

Lamoriello said Brodeur is expected to make a full recovery and should make it back in time for the end of the regular season. The surgery will be performed by a specialist, Dr. Steven Beldner, with the assistance of team orthopedist, Dr. Barry Fisher.

"It could take anywhere from three to four months," Lamoriello said.

I hope to have some comments from Brodeur later today. Brodeur has never missed more than six games in a row due to injury.

"This is not a career-ending injury," Lamoriello said. "This is a bump in the road. (He'll have) a total recovery, 100 percent and with this type of surgery there is no doubt about and I have total confidence that he will be back in a short period of time. That's not a long period of time. Would we want it to be less? Absolutely, but it is what it is at this given time and you go forward. There are other injuries that could have been worse. Not that you want any. But I look at the positive side."

Brodeur was injured in the second period of Saturday's 6-1 win over Atlanta. He fully extended his left arm to try to make a catching glove save on a shot that went wide and immediately grabbed his left elbow afterward. The Devils initially said it was a bruised elbow.

Lamoriello said he didn't know if this injury occurred at that moment or if it was a wear and tear thing that built up over time.

"It's something you never know if it occurred at that moment," Lamoriello said. "He feels fine right now. He has no swelling. He has no anything. No black and blue. He's gone through an extensive diagnosis over the last couple of days with MRIs so there was no chance of anything. The decision made this morning was to go ahead and we're all totally comfortable it's the right decision."

Kevin Weekes, who now takes over as the Devils' No. 1 goaltender, had surgery to repair a torn biceps tendon in his left arm this summer. Lamoriello was unsure if this is the same tendon.

"I couldn't say it's the exact same thing because they're all different," Lamoriello said.

This could be devastating for the Devils season.

"When you have a Marty Brodeur as a goaltender and he's out for a significant amount of time sure it certainly gives you a knot in your stomach, but you have move forward," Devils coach Brent Sutter said. "I'm confident and I trust the players here that they will do what needs to be done to move forward."

"Injuries are part of the game," Lamoriello said. "There's no question Martin Brodeur is an integral part of our team. This is where other people have opportunities. Other people have to step up, but you don't approach it any other way. I still feel strongly about our team. We'll be getting some people part shortly, but the people in that locker room right now have more than the abilities to do what's necessary to have success."

This was to be a historic season for Brodeur. He's still eight wins away from breaking Patrick Roy's record of 551 career wins. Now that will be put on hold for a while.

"It still can be," Sutter said. "Again hopefully things will work out with the healing process and a lot of things can still happen for him this year. If not, it can happen for him next year. It's inevitable it's going to happen. We all know that. Marty's still got lots left in his tank. This is the first significant injury he's had. That's pretty remarkable for the amount he plays."

Sutter said Lamoriello told him about the severity of Brodeur's injury after this morning's brief practice.

"I didn't really know (what to expect) because there was a process that we went through with the extent of the injury with doctors and so forth," Sutter said. "I guess when you're going through that, you're always in the back of your mind that it might be a little more significant that you wanted. And yet when reality hits you, it's like 'OK this is finally happening now.' This is the finalization and you know what's going on and now let's start putting a plan in place and start moving forward."

Sutter said he told Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner the bad news, but most of the other players had already gone home for the day.

Lamoriello said he does not feel the need to trade for another goaltender. Weekes will start Wednesday night's game against Tampa Bay.

Expect Scott Clemmensen to get a start as soon as this weekend -probably Sunday against Edmonton.

Comments

[Jeremy]

Oh my god, and I thought Rolston 3-4 weeks was long.....This is terrible.

[Sam B.]

In Weekes we trust. I am confident that in a long run he will be able to keep us in the race at worst... I think working with Caron and his work ethic has really helped him get back into form. Best case, he fully returns to form and gets into a groove.

[Steve]

Well, crap.

So much for breaking Roy's record this season. Hopefully Weekes can hold down the fort. And hopefully they can stop getting hurt, and start getting some bodies back into the lineup.

[Jennings]

I'm sick to my stomach.

[HF]

devastating!!!

[jkrdevil]

Victor Hedman here we come

[HF]

and with our defense, might as well clean house now, elias, gionta, madden, trade em all

[ortugg44]

:( sob :(

[ortugg44]

someone please destroy that helmet!!!

[Maxwell]

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There goes the season.

[NJSwampdragon]

If the team can hang in there, Brodeur could come back in sometime in March, still break Roy's records and be very well rested for the playoffs. That is a small bright spot if the team doesn't fall apart. Do we get any "salary cap relief" for an injury that long allowing us to go over the cap?

[titans04]

Man clearly the worst bruise of all-time right Lou.

[britdevil]

I havent felt this bad since Stevens went down. **** my life.

[Major Tom]

PANIC!!!!! LOL. Let's give Weekes a shot before we look forward to pitchers and catchers. I'd like to think Lou's looking for a new back-up though. I don't think Weekes will be able to take the workload like Marty did. Just remember that Marty got HIS shot in 93-94 because Terreri got hurt. This doesn't have to be the end of the world.

[Brodeur30]

I just vomited in my mouth...

[Brodeur30]

ahh I'm in panic mode....need alcohol....

[Falcone]

Well I hate it, but this might be a good indication of what type of team we have. Marty has always been there to bail us out and I'm not saying this is a good thing. Marty is getting older and I want him around and in net for us for as long as possible. But let's see how we as a team step up.

There's got to be a move made, but not from a goalie standpoint per se. I'm fine with Weeks. But we've got to solidify our D or bring some other gun in on O. Too many guys running around and not enough goal scorers.

[Jeff]

In a weird way, this could be a good thing for the Devils.

Obviously, losing the greatest goalie of all-time is not a good thing.

However, this might force the Devils to re-focus their offensive efforts and change their gameplan to score more than 2 or 3 goals a game.

I hope they do, because with the team currently structured as is, we cannot win without Brodeur.

[Mike]

In terms of the cap relief if Brodeur goes on LTIR we can use his entire cap hit. The problem is that we need to be back under to reactivate him...

[JCdevs]

WOW..well that's not good. If the Devils can hang in there and I dont see why they cant. Marty will be well rested for the playoffs.

[J-Remy]

Well. This sucks.
But I believe in Weekes.

[gunnar stahl 30]

hold me tom

[ortugg44]

Ok, so I'm over my initial panic. We all knew something like this would happen some day, and in years to come we'll have to deal with it when he retires. It is going to be a tough season to watch without him in the net, but this is still our team guys. Marty is a great big part of our team, but not the whole team so we can't count everyone else out. We need to rally behind them and show them that no matter what we have confidence in them as a team and not just Marty. I hope it doesn't affect our attendance at the arena, if we don't show it may as well be all away games since we'll have more opposite fans. WE ARE STILL THE DEVILS SO LETS GO DEVILS!!!!!!!!!!!

[Brodeur30]

We absolutely need to bring in a d-man...

[Jason]

Weekes is perfectly capable. If we can't win with him, then we can't win. They scored 6 goals against Atlanta with weekes in net. If you score 6 goals a night, the mascot could be playing goalie and it wouldn't matter. If, on the other hand, you score 2 goals at home after day off, you are going to lose games no matter who is in there.