Oshawa's Jeremy Brodeur, on dad Martin's retirement: 'If anyone knows there's a time to stop, it's him'

Two nights before his famous father made his NHL retirement official, Jeremy Brodeur illustrated how far he's come as a first-year goaltender in the Ontario Hockey League.

By his own admission, the younger goaltending son of Martin Brodeur had a slow start with the powerhouse Oshawa Generals after making the jump from Shattuck-St-Mary's prep school. In the past month, though, the 18-year-old has begun drawing more starting assignments for the Gens, including one last Sunday where he made 22 saves during a statement win over the London Knights. It was an indicator that he's starting to carve his own path, just as his father is hanging up his pads after an illustrious 22-season career, all but seven games of which came with the New Jersey Devils.

"I'm very proud of him," Jeremy Brodeur said on Tuesday, hours after his 42-year-old father announced his retirement. "If anyone knows there's a time to stop, it's him. I'm sure it's going to be pretty hard for him these next few weeks but I'm very happy for him.

"He's come up to see me a few times," said Brodeur, whose 19-year-old brother Anthony Brodeur is a Devils draft pick who plays goal for the QMJHL's Drummondville Voltigeurs. "He came up when we played Belleville and came to my first game in Mississauga."

Jeremy Brodeur landed in the Generals organization as an eighth-round choice in the 2013 OHL priority selection. He returned to Shattuck last season, but came to Oshawa to become the backup behind Ken Appleby, a one-time youth hockey teammate of Anthony's. He played very sparingly in the first half of the season, but some tutoring from his goalie coach Zac Bierk and collaboration with Appleby is starting to pay off. He has a 1.99 average and .941 save percentage over five starts since the Christmas break, including two shutouts.

"I'm starting to feel a bit better," the 18-year-old Brodeur says. "It was a slow start to the season but I've been working hard in practice. I feel like I'm starting to gain a bit more trust from the guys. It's been nice to get a few more starts lately.

"Shattuck's helped me a lot and definitely got me to where I am, but it took me a few weeks of practice to get used to how quick guys were making passes and releasing the puck," Brodeur adds. "I feel like I've adjusted to the pace a bit better."

Appleby, a North Bay native, leads the OHL in goals against average (2.12), wins (30) and shutouts (five) and is second in save percentage (.922, one percentage point behind the Kingston Frontenacs' Lucas Peressini). With the Generals just four points clear of Sault Ste. Marie in the race for first overall and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs, though, Oshawa is going to need Brodeur to pick up more starts and give Appleby some nights off.

"Jeremy's played great," Generals coach D.J. Smith says. "He wouldn't get more time if he didn't deserve it. He's giving us a chance to win every night."

Beating London on Sunday gave the Generals a 13-1-0-0 record against the Western Conference (both wins over Erie came while Connor McDavid was out with a broken bone in his hand). That game had some added weight for Oshawa, which traded with London on New Year's Day to land centre Michael McCarron and overage defenceman Dakota Mermis.

"London's always a big-name team," Brodeur says. "It was really nice to play against some old teammates [Cliff Pu and Josh Sterk] and get a win there."

Growing up in New Jersey, where Marty is a hockey demigod, Brodeur played forward during his first season of minor hockey. At age nine, he went in goal, not worrying either consciously or subconsciously about the family legacy.

"I didn't like forward too much and I just strapped on pads," he says. "I didn't really think about it. I decided I wanted to be a goalie after that first year and that was that.

"It's something that's always going to be with me," he says of his famous hockey surname. "I try not to let something like that bother me and just show people what I can do."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.