We’ve been blessed with so many great goalies in the NHL during its long history. But no one compares to the one and only Martin Brodeur.
He played 22 seasons in the NHL, 21 of them for the New Jersey Devils. He won three Stanley Cups and two Olympic gold medals with Team Canada. And his statistic and honors speak for themself.
Brodeur is the all-time regular season leader in wins (961), shutouts (125), and games played (1,266).
Brodeur was so good for such a long time, he won at least 30 games in twelve straight seasons, from 1995 to 2008. And yeah, he also won four Vezina Trophies, five William M. Jennings, the Calder Memorial, and played in ten All-Star games.
Brodeur was probably many superstars’ worst nightmare to play against. But who was the best out of all the players he played during his Hall of Fame career?
”I was fortunate. I played against some great, great players. I think Mario Lemieux is probably the guy that was one of the top players,” Brodeur said on ’The Adrenaline Zone Podcast.’
”He was still close to his prime. I played against Wayne Gretzky but he was a bit older. But Mario was right, right there. He was so good.”
Brodeur played against the Pens a lot, and if somehow Lemieux didn’t show up, others did.
”Obviously, there’s players that are really good, but they play at a different conference, so you don’t see them as much. But sometimes, they’re rivalry players, like Pittsburgh and New Jersey is a big rivalry, so we got to face them. And if it wasn’t Mario, it was Jagr.”
Brodeur also said that he counted every time Lemieux didn’t score in a game as a win.
”There was a lot of talent there in Pittsburgh, but Mario Lemieux … I remember the first game against him. I think he scored three goals, I couldn’t even stop him. Second game, he scored two goals. Third game, he scored another three goals. I was like, ’Am I ever going to be able to stop that guy?’
”It was like the biggest win when he didn’t score a goal on me. He’ll probably have four assists, but at least he didn’t score.”
