The sport of golf is often synonymous with the hockey offseason. It’s the other sport where many NHL players focus their competitive nature once the ice has melted and it’s time to decompress.
But golf, and golf tournaments to be exact, often also signal the start of a new hockey season. Teams host tournaments of all kinds to kick off their season, and the New Jersey Devils are no different.
Entering its seventh edition, the MB30 Golf Invitational was the brainchild of Hall of Fame netminder Martin Brodeur, bringing together those who make the franchise a success. From alumni to sponsors to donors, Brodeur has cultivated a benchmark tournament to kick off the Devils hockey season.
For Brodeur, it started with a desire to create something special for his fellow alumni, bringing them back into the fold and making them feel a part of the organization again.
“There was nothing really that involved the sponsors and the alumni, like an event or something,” Brodeur said, explaining where the idea was born from. “Just because the experience I had in St. Louis with their alumni was pretty amazing, and so I just kind of wanted to do something to get the chance for these guys to come back.”
Brodeur welcomes his former teammates back for a day of golf, but MB30 has grown into much more than a tournament. It’s become an annual reunion for Devils alumni, an opportunity for sponsors and donors to connect with the organization, and a chance for current players to meet some of the players who helped build the franchise before them.
And the alumni have certainly embraced it.
“They all call me,” Brodeur said. “They’re waiting for it. ‘When is it this year?’ I’m like, ‘Guys, it’s always Monday after Labor Day. Always.’”
And when you get a group of former teammates together, there’s no shortage of stories.
Brodeur has heard plenty of them over the years, and told plenty, too. The only challenge is remembering which stories have already been told.
“You forget,” he said. “There’s so many of them. You kind of forget, you know? And after that, you just kind of get to a point that you didn’t remember you told the story, so you say it again.”
In recent years, MB30 has expanded to include current Devils players, adding another layer to the event and giving some of the organization’s newer players an opportunity to connect with the alumni.
For Brodeur, having newly arrived Devils involved is important because it gives them an opportunity to learn more about the organization beyond the players they see in the locker room every day.
“A lot of these guys are new Devils, not the older guys that have been here,” he said. “So it’s kind of nice for them before the season, kind of get to know some of the alumni, get to know some of the sponsors, the people that work at the Devils that they will deal with.”
It’s an introduction to the organization’s past, while also bringing together the people who are helping shape its present and future.
But perhaps the most important part of MB30 happens after the golf clubs are put away.
Proceeds from the event support the Devils Youth Foundation’s Alumni Scholarship Fund, which provides scholarships to students making the transition from high school to college.
For Brodeur, seeing the recipients and their families receive their scholarships is one of the most rewarding parts of the entire initiative.
“It feels good,” he said. “That day when we go to Prudential Center and they come in with their family, you could see the big smile.”
The tournament itself is designed to be a little different from a traditional round of golf. Participants play a shotgun start in a shamble format, with each player teeing off before the group selects the best drive. From there, everyone plays their own ball.
It gives players the benefit of a strong opening shot while still allowing them to play their own game, and, importantly, keeps the day moving.
Afterward comes a cocktail and food reception, capping off what Brodeur estimates is a six-to-eight-hour day.
But for all the golf, MB30 has never really been about the golf.
It’s about connection.
It’s alumni reconnecting with old teammates. Current players getting to know the names and personalities that helped shape the Devils. Sponsors and donors getting closer to the organization they support. And scholarship recipients getting an opportunity to take the next step in their lives.
Seven years after Brodeur first had the idea, MB30 has become a tradition of its own, one that brings the Devils family together just as a new hockey season is about to begin.
And, of course, there’s still the golf.
As for which former Devil has the best game?
Brodeur wasn’t ready to offer a full scouting report.
“I just know that they love golf,” he said.
He did, however, have one definitive assessment.
“Jim McKenzie sucked, though,” Brodeur added with a laugh. “You could write that one in.”
