On Friday night, Martin Brodeur won his 572nd career game for the New Jersey Devils, beating the Boston Bruins in a shootout. Along the way, Brodeur broke the record for minutes played, breaking Patrick Roy’s record of 60,235 minutes. While the minutes record itself is not incredibly impressive, it serves as another reminder that current NHL fans are getting a chance to watch the best goalie of all time play right now.
Until the 3rd period, the Bruins had not scored, and Brodeur was 20 minutes away from tying Terry Sawchuk’s shutout record of 103 clean sheets. Brodeur currently holds the record for most career wins and will undoubtedly break Sawchuk’s record before he finishes his Hall of Fame career. Brodeur will certainly be a first ballot Hall of Famer, and should be remembered as the greatest goalie of all time. Some will argue that he was a product of a Devils’ team that has played a defense-first system for the past two decades, and that his numbers would not be as good without the defenses that have played in front of him. For those who may disagree (probably Rangers fans), here’s some of the other records he holds.
Martin holds the single season win record with 48 wins in 2006-07, a season in which he also set the record for most minutes played. He was the youngest goalie ever to record 300, 400 and 500 wins – he is currently 37. While he still needs one shutout to tie Sawchuk, he already holds the record for playoff shutouts with 23, as well as the single postseason record with 7 shutouts in 2003, the year he won his 3rd Stanley Cup. He recorded his 7th shutout in Game 7 of the Cup Finals that year – his 3rd of the series. He set another record that series as well, becoming the first netminder to record 3 shutouts in 2 different playoff series. He holds the record for most overtime wins, with 45, and the records for the most 30, 35 and 40 win seasons (12, 11 and 7, respectively).
Brodeur has been an NHL All star 10 times over his career, and won the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year in 1994. He has won the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the league’s top goaltender each year, 4 times. Only Dominik Hasek, Bill Durnan and the legendary Jacques Plante have won it more times. Plante (7) and Durnan (6) won their trophies while the award was still given to the goalie who allowed the fewest goals against in a season, while Hasek won his under the current voting system. Brodeur has also shown a knack for scoring, as he is the only goalie to score a game winning goal, and shares the honor of having scored a goal in both the regular season and playoffs with Ron Hextall.
Brodeur has also excelled at the international level as well, winning Olympic Gold in 2002 and backstopping Canada’s World Cup gold medal performance in 2004. He has never won a World Championship medal, perhaps the only championship he has never won. He won silver medals in 1996 and 2005 at the tournament.
With a lifetime GAA of 2.20, and a save percentage of .914, Brodeur has saved 23,515 shots, more than any other goalie in history. Whether you’re a Devils fan or not, the numbers don’t lie – there can be little debate as to whether or not he is the greatest goalie of all time. He has shown no signs of slowing down, either. In 2008-09, despite missing most of the season due to injury, he posted 19 wins in 31 starts, along with a sterling 2.41 GAA and a .916 save percentage. This season, he already has 15 wins, leading the league, and is 3rd in the league with a 2.05 GAA. He ranks 5th in the league with a .925 save percentage. It will be a long time before any goalie ever reaches the level of play that Martin Brodeur has demonstrated over the past 16 seasons, and we may never get a chance to see another goalie like him.