Martin Brodeur played for 22 NHL seasons as a goaltender, most notably making a major impact during his time with the New Jersey Devils. Brodeur racked up 691 career wins, 1,266 games, and four Vezina Trophies as the league’s best netminder. He is by far the best goalie in Devils history and recognized one of the greatest of all time, and made the NHL’s centennial list of the 100 greatest players, for good reason.
Now let’s take a look at five mind-blowing facts about Brodeur:
1. Wins In Net
What is so great about this statistic is all the consistently good seasons that he had to have, combined with the longevity of playing at the top of his game. Brodeur had to compete against an era of elite goaltenders, and even those guys couldn’t keep up with those high win totals. He was able to play well for two decades and hardly had any bad seasons. Brodeur definitely had some extra skill and good health for his game. He was also a true workhorse who rarely missed time, having started at least 70 games 12 times in a 14-season span from 1996-2010.
Not only does he have the most career wins, but he also has the most 40-win seasons, with eight. That level of consistency is tough to achieve, considering teams go through rebuilds all the time. The Devils were virtually never out of contention with Brodeur between the pipes.
2. Master Puckhandler
Yes, Brodeur was elite at keeping the puck out of the net, but he was excellent at handling it for a goaltender. The guy was so good at puck handling that the NHL actually had to change the rules. Sometimes, Brodeur would play almost like a third defenseman, leaving his net to break up dump-in plays and spark breakouts. He was also good at setting up breakaway passes or just straight-up clearing the puck himself. The way he stickhandled made teams change their hitting approach.
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With all this movement from Brodeur, the creation of the trapezoid rule came about after the lockout in the 2005-06 season. As a result, goalies could only play the puck behind the net and not in the corners. Brodeur was so good at playing the puck himself, that the league had to create what’s commonly known as the “Martin Brodeur Rule.”
3. Shutouts
In Brodeur’s era, he had to deal with a lot of elite players and the talent was always evolving. Despite all those good scorers being out there, he was able to keep that puck out of his net — often for entire games. Brodeur holds the NHL record for most career shutouts with 125 in the regular season. He also has 24 playoff shutouts, edging out his legendary contemporary, Patrick Roy, for first in that category.
Brodeur accomplished a lot of this during the early 2000s, which has been described as the “dead puck era.” Scoring numbers were down, and those Brodeur shutouts just kept coming. Even when offense went up again post-lockout, that didn’t slow him down, as he continued to stop pucks with his quick reflexes and calm demeanor. Staying locked in as much as possible helped Brodeur get into the skaters’ heads and protect that blue paint.
4. Cups And Glory
Brodeur wasn’t just a great statistics guy in the net, he knew how to turn his skill set into a title run. He led the Devils to three Stanley Cup titles in 1995, 2000, and 2003. The Devils quickly went from a below-average franchise to the top of the NHL world. His great play in high-pressure games was just another thing to add to his legacy.
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On the international side of things, he helped earn Team Canada gold medals in 2002 and 2010. In those tough games, Brodeur was good at guiding his country through some elite competition and putting Canada back on the map, for hockey greatness. What made him so legendary, was playing well in the big games, when the team needs that last line of defense to come up clutch.
5. Empty-Net Offense
It’s tough for anyone to score in hockey, let alone a goaltender. Of course, Brodeur is one of relatively few goalies that have scored a goal in the NHL. Also, he is the only netminder to have scored more than once in both the regular season and the playoffs.
That playoff goal came on April 17, 1997, and he was the first goalie to ever score a goal in an NHL playoff game. However, it was a bit of a lucky goal because the other team accidentally scored on their own empty net, and since Brodeur was the last player to touch the puck, he got credit for it.
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He had another own goal type of situation happen in 2000 and got on the scoresheet for that one as well. Brodeur finished with three career goals, and it just shows off his puck skills some more.
Martin Brodeur wasn’t just an amazing goalie, but he literally changed the way the position was played, and even forced the league to change the rules on him. He had the perfect career, filled with top-level accomplishments, loyalty, consistent success, and all kinds of hardware. Brodeur still has plenty of records out there and a rock-solid legacy as arguably the greatest to ever man a net.