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New Jersey Devils: Martin Brodeur Vs. Henrik Lundqvist Debate Is Hot

By Vincent Parise

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 23: Martin Brodeur #30, Andy Greene #6 and Bryce Salvador #24 of the New Jersey Devils celebrate their 5 to 3 win over the New York Rangers in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 23, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 23: Martin Brodeur #30, Andy Greene #6 and Bryce Salvador #24 of the New Jersey Devils celebrate their 5 to 3 win over the New York Rangers in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 23, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images) /
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The New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers rivalry is even heated when there isn’t hockey. A Martin Brodeur vs Henrik Lundqvist debate is hot right now.

The New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers fans are at it again online. They fight all of the time, but with no hockey available right now there is the old debate going around. Some significant media outlets like MSG have been feeding into the debate by posting poll questions around the topic of who is better between Martin Brodeur and Henrik Lundqvist.

This is a New Jersey Devils site, so it is clear which way we are going to go on that debate but the numbers just support the claim that not only is Brodeur better than Lundqvist, he is better than everyone. The most important thing in hockey is winning. Well, Brodeur did more of that than any goalie who ever lived. His 691 wins are 140 more than Patrick Roy who is in second place.

Lundqvist is certainly one of the best goalies who ever lived.  Anyone who denies that is just not paying attention but he certainly isn’t as good as Brodeur was. The common knock on Brodeur’s greatness is the fact that he played with those great defensive Devils teams in the 90s and early 2000s. The fact of the matter is that he also was great for another decade after that.

The Devils went to the 2012 Stanley Cup Final with a significantly lesser defense than they had earlier in Brodeur’s career. Brodeur was able to help his team make a deep playoff run in two different decades which shows how good he was for so long. He did benefit from some good defense but no goalie would be strong with a horrific defense night in and night out.

Marty Brodeur took the Devils to the 2012 Stanley Cup Final at 40 years old. At 38 years old, Henrik Lundqvist is the New York Rangers third string. In 2012, when Brodeur took the Devils to the Final, they defeated Henrik Lundqvist’s Rangers in the Eastern Conference Finals. New York’s defense was so much better than the Devils on paper but Brodeur came out on top once again.

Hot. Jake Sanderson is an option for the Devils at the Draft. light

Honestly, there are only two other goalies in the discussion with Martin Brodeur for the greatest goalie of all time. Patrick Roy and Dominik Hasek are the only ones in that conversation. Lundqvist is in the top ten but those three are in a class by themselves. Not winning the Stanley Cup will also be a hit on Lundqvist if he doesn’t get one by the end of his career. It is fun to have these debates but Brodeur is the greatest goalie who ever lived.

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