Corey Schwab
The New Jersey Devils had the greatest goaltender in history lead them to three Stanley Cup championships. Brodeur was the reason the Devils won those Cups. A lesser goalie like Dominik Hasek (alright, kidding) wouldn’t be able to bring that kind of glory. It’s not a surprise that Brodeur played almost every single minute of playoff hockey in those three years. In total, Brodeur’s backups got a total of 36 minutes of playoff hockey in 1995, 2000, and 2003. 28 of those minutes came from Corey Schwab during the run to the 2003 Final.
Ironically, Schwab has never allowed a goal in his three postseason appearances (one came with the Toronto Maple Leafs). It is only 40 minutes of postseason play, but it’s still impressive nonetheless.
In one game, Brodeur allowed five goals to the Boston Bruins in the second round. The team was already up 3-0 in the series, so resting Brodeur and trying again the next game made sense.
The other game he appeared in came in the Stanley Cup Final, in one of the most famous Devils losses of all time. It was the Paul Kariya “off the floor, on the board” game. Kariya was knocked out by Scott Stevens in a crazy open-ice hit. It was one of the scarier moments in hockey as the Ducks star was not moving. However, minutes later, he emerged from the locker room and scored. The Ducks eventually put up five goals on Brodeur, and the Devils pulled him for the end of the game. It was the only time the Devils pulled Brodeur in the Final, and it led to Schwab getting his name on Lord Stanley’s Cup.