Winning the gold made it all OK for Martin Brodeur.
Benched by Canada after a loss to the United States, the Devils goalie said it was difficult to watch the Olympics rather than participate.
But “It’s not a big deal because we won the whole thing,” Brodeur said today, according to NJ.com.
Roberto Luongo took over from Brodeur and was in nets for Canada’s gold-medal-winning overtime victory over the USA on Sunday.
“Looking back at it, you go through these things in your career and you have to adjust,” Brodeur told writer Rich Chere. “Being part of a winning organization (Team Canada) is always really rewarding. I didn’t know how I was going to react, but I really got into it. It was fun to see some of these young guys doing well.”
Brodeur practiced with the Devils this morning in San Jose, Calif., less than 12 hours after accepting his second gold medal. He was the winning goaltender in 2002.
“When you don’t play, you don’t feel as much a part of the team,” Brodeur said. “I really embraced them as much as I could because I thought that was the right thing to do, but when you participate in winning something it’s a lot different than when you’re just the ‘best man’ of the hockey club to tap the guys on the butt when you go onto the ice.”