When Marty played his first game at MSG ...

By Kevin Canessa Jr.

NEW YORK —

Here are some interesting facts I came up with about Martin Brodeur and his career at Madison Square Garden — and otherwise. Some are obscure. Some are like, what? And some are just plain hard to believe.

n  When Marty played his first game at MSG in 1992, Thom Morrera was the public-address announcer. Morrera, formerly of WNEW radio, died in 2012.

n  Since then, Bob Gallerstein was the PA announcer. He’d go on to be the Devils’ PA announcer for a few years, too. Joe Tolleson is now the PA announcer.

n  MSG has undergone two whole renovations during Marty’s career. When he first started, seats were red, orange, yellow, green and blue. Then they became purple and teal. Now, they’re all blue.

n  Mark Messier was captain of the Rangers in Marty’s first game at MSG.

n  In Marty’s first game at MSG, the Rangers’ goal song was “The Heat Is On,” by Glen Frey. Their current goal song we all know and hate, wasn’t even written yet.

n  In Marty’s first game at MSG, a playoff game, the Devils’ games were broadcast on Sportschannel. At the time, whenever the two teams played, MSG couldn’t broadcast games at the Brendan Byrne Arena, and Sportschannel couldn’t broadcast games at MSG. So, there is no official Devils telecast of his first game at MSG, only one called by Sam Rosen and John Davidson.

n  Speaking of which, when Marty first played the Rangers, the Devils’ home arena at the time was still called Brendan Byrne Arena, or Byrne Meadowlands Arena. Or the Meadowlands. Or Meadowlands Arena.

n  When Marty first played the Rangers, George H. W. Bush was still President of the United States, and Bill Clinton hadn’t yet been elected. Barack Obama was 29.

n  Gas was about 96 cents a gallon for regular when Marty first played the Rangers.

n  When Marty first played the Rangers, we did not know the following words: texts, AOL, Internet, World Wide Web, website, broadband, WiFi, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google, Yahoo … OK you get the idea.

n  If you wanted to go see Marty’s first game at MSG, it would have cost you $1 to do so by taking the PATH.

n  When Marty played his first game at MSG, smoking was still allowed inside the building, as were billboard ads for cigarettes.

n  David Dinkins was Mayor of New York City when Marty first played at MSG. Rudy Giuliani hadn’t yet been elected.

n  When Marty played his first game at MSG, I was 17. I’m 39 now.

n  Marty was 19 when he played his first game at MSG. He’ll soon be 42.