All roads lead to Brodeur: to wrest the Stanley Cup from New Jersey, somebody will have to beat the best goaltender in the game

Hockey Digest, May-June, 2004 by John Kreiser

LIKE THE TEAM HE PLAYS FOR, Martin Brodeur is down-to-earth. He's a goalie for he 21st century--a nice, normal guy who just happens to be the best player on earth at his position. And he's the reason that no matter how the final regular-season standings end up, the road to the Stanley Cup figures to go through the New Jersey Meadowlands.

In an era that boasts more goaltending excellence than at any time in NHL history, there's no one better than Brodeur. He's got the hardware to prove it--including the Vezina Trophy he won last June, acknowledging his status as the best goaltender in the business.

But it's the three Stanley Cup rings that he's most proud of--and wants nothing more than to add another one by helping the Devils repeat as champions.

This might indeed be the golden age for goaltenders, just as the 1980s were boom times for shooters. Goaltenders today are better athletes, use better equipment, receive better coaching, and benefit from an emphasis on defensive systems that have doused the fire-wagon hockey of previous generations. But with Patrick Roy now retired and 39-year-old Dominik Hasek struggling in his return to the NHL after a one-year layoff, Brodeur stands alone as the best at his profession. If anything, he's even better than last season--he entered the final third of the season on pace to break Tony Esposito's modern-day record of 15 shutouts while helping the Devils post the best defensive mark in the league.

"He's the best goaltender in the world," says 43-year-old teammate Igor Larionov, who played with Vladislav Tretiak during the heyday of the Soviet hockey machine and was a teammate of Hasek in Detroit when the Wings won the Cup in 2002.

To John Davidson, a former NHL goalie and current TV analyst who sees Brodeur play often, the recognition Brodeur is receiving is overdue.

"Patrick Roy may have been the best of all time, over the course of a career, but for the last couple of seasons, Marty's been the best goaltender," Davidson says. "That's primarily because he wins, he takes a lot of pressure off his defense, and he never gets tired. He's there every night, and he never seems to show any wear and tear."

Indeed, the only thing harder than getting a puck past Brodeur is getting him to take a night off. Brodeur's 73 games played last season matched his career high, set the previous season--and he was on pace to surpass that mark this season after playing in 49 of the Devil's 53 games before the All-Star break. By the time Brodeur takes the ice for the Devils' playoff opener, he'll probably have played 70 or more games for the eighth time in the past nine seasons.

"I don't think I get more tired than guys who have to skate up and down the ice all the time," Brodeur says of a schedule that makes his backup about as busy as the old Maytag repairman. "They play 82 games; I don't know why physically a goalie can't do it, too. If I sit on the bench, it's the waste of a day. My coaches know I play a lot, so they give me some rest time in practice. But when they give me a day off, I'm not happy."

Opposing shooters probably are, though, because not only does Brodeur play almost every night, he doesn't get beaten often. The 2.01 goals-against average that helped him win the Vezina last season was only the third-best average of his career--he posted a 1.87 GAPG in 1996-97 and 1.88 the next season. And his 41 victories in 2002-03 was only his fourth-highest total: he's won 43 twice and 42 once, and was on pace to break 40 again this season.

Roy owns a number of career goaltending records--1,029 regular-season appearances and 551 victories; plus 247 playoff games and 151 victories. But at age 31, Brodeur entered 2003-04 with 665 appearances and 365 victories in 10 seasons, plus 139 playoff appearances and 83 victories--including the three Stanley Cups, one less than Roy recorded in his 18 seasons. Another six seasons at anything close to his current performance level will give Brodeur the regular-season marks, and another Cup or two will give him a chance to pass Roy's playoff marks.

"Getting those records will mean something," says Brodeur, who would appear to have several productive years ahead of him. "Patrick Roy was an exceptional athlete, and he got those records for a reason. They'll be hard to get. Even though I'm on pace to pass a lot of them, it's going to be hard to get them."

Even Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP by getting the Mighty Ducks within a game of the Cup, acknowledges Brodeur's status.

"With Patrick retired," says Giguere, "I think he's the one taking over at being the best."

But what makes Brodeur the best? Other goaltenders have faster glove hands, quicker feet, and swifter reflexes. A lot of what makes Brodeur the best isn't physical--it's mental.

"There's no question he's the best right now, and he's unique because his demeanor is so calm," says former NHL netminder Darren Pang, now an ESPN analyst. "Marry never gets rattled. He's never caught looking back at the past or ahead at the future--he's always focused on the present.