New Jersey Devils: Appreciating Martin Brodeur’s Greatness
The New Jersey Devils had the luxury of the greatest goaltender who ever lived for such a long time. He was truly a remarkable player.
The New Jersey Devils have had some awesome players play for them since they got there in 1982. They went from a “Micky Mouse Organization” to an elite organization for a long time. A lot of that had to do with their all-time greatest player, Martin Brodeur. Brodeur is not only the greatest goalie in New Jersey Devils history, but he is also the greatest goalie in the history of planet earth.
There are people who think that Patrick Roy and Dominik Hasek are in the conversation. To be honest, they both make a fair argument. Brodeur is the all-time winningest goalie and he played in two very different eras so he should get the nod over those two. Henrik Lundqvist, Marc-Andre Fleury, Roberto Luongo, and others made compelling cases but they are just a tier below the big three. Brodeur changed the way the position was played forever.
Martin Brodeur’s 691 wins are the most in NHL history. He has also won the Stanley Cup three times, the Vezina Trophy three times, and the Jennings Trophy five times. He was also the Calder Trophy winner for the 1993-94 season. His seven all-star appearances also go on his incredible Hall of Fame resume. Brodeur simply as much as possible in his NHL career.
Brodeur did a lot with an incredible defense early in his career. Names like Scott Niedermayer, Ken Daneyko, and Scott Stevens led the way on the back end to help Brodeur early. People who claim that he was only elite because of that are clearly misinformed. He did benefit from having an incredible defense but no goalie in the world would be good if their defense was bad. That also wasn’t the case for Brodeur’s entire career.
As mentioned before, Brodeur played in two eras of Devils hockey. In the second half of his career, forwards like Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk led the way. The defense was led by players like Andy Greene, Bryce Salvador, and Adam Larsson. Those players are good but they are not the all-time great Devils that the defensemen that were there earlier in Brodeur’s career. He simply just deserves credit for being awesome his whole career.
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The New Jersey Devils were so lucky to have Brodeur’s greatness on their side for so long. They got more from him than they ever could have asked for. He was a first-ballot Hall of Famer thanks to being this great with the Devils. There is no doubt that he is the greatest goaltender who ever lived.