2024-25 New Jersey Devils Season Opener Countdown: #31 Chris Terrei, #30 Martin Brodeur, and #29 Shawn Chambers

The 2024-25 New Jersey Devils season opens very soon. On October 4, the Devils will fight the Buffalo Sabres in Prague, Czechia. To get ready for the season, we're doing a daily piece countdown of all the numbers of the Devils sweaters and moments in Devils franchise history. We have now reached the top 30 days, as we look at our primary goalie before the mid-90s with #31 Chris Terreri, the greatest Devils player of all time #30 Martin Brodeur, and a vital player of the 1995 Stanley Cup team in #29 Shawn Chambers.

Chris Terreri

After the days of Chico Resch, the Devils needed goaltending help, and they had a mix of goaltenders in the late 80s. Chris Terrei, one of the goalies early on in his career, did not get a win in the first seven games in his career from 1986-1988. When he returned to start an entire season in 1989-90, he got his first win against the Flyers in Philadelphia on October 5th, 1989.

Throughout the season, Terreri would play backup to Sean Burke and end up with a 15-12-3 record with a .890 save percentage and a 3.42 GAA. Due to the numbers being better than Burke, Terreri would be named the starter for the next two seasons. Due to his numbers regressing after the 1991-92 season, Terreri would play backup to Craig Billington for the following season. Entering the 1993-94 season, everything changed for the organization and Terreri when Martin Brodeur came onto the scene and shocked everyone with his fantastic Calder-winning season.

Terrei, during that season, played well as a backup with a 20-11 record and a .907 save percentage. Terrei would continue playing backup to Martin Brodeur as he won his first Stanley Cup in the 1994-95 season because of Brodeur’s success.

Terreri was traded in November of 1995 to the San Jose Sharks for a 2nd round pick in the 1996 NHL Draft. He struggled for an entire season in San Jose with a 13-29 record. After finishing his tenure in San Jose and a small tenure in Chicago, the Devils re-aquired Terrei at age 34. He would spend three more seasons with the Devils, once again paying backup to Martin Brodeur, and won his second and final Stanley Cup in the 1999-00 season. Funny enough, after that season they won the Cup, Terreri was acquired by the Minnesota Wild, only to be traded back to the Devils for Brad Bromadir. Terreri would play one more season in the NHL, being traded to the Islanders for John Vanbriesbrouck, which was mentioned in the last piece. Terrei would last eight games as an Islander before retiring at the end of the season. Terrei wore the #31 sweater, and believe it or not, he did wear 30 early on in his career, so what changed? Well, let’s talk about that now.

Martin Brodeur

So, for many readers and Devils fans, you always think of Martin Brodeur when you see the Devils logo. For the first time in any of these pieces, let's ask a question. How did Martin Brodeur get his number 30 sweater?

According to a piece from NJ.com writer Randy Miller, who interviewed Brodeur when the Devils retired his jersey in 2016, Brodeur originally wore jersey #1. After getting called up, his #1 jersey couldn’t be used because Craig Billington already had that number, so he took 29. Brodeur also wanted #30, but when former goalie Craig Erickson was called up before Brodeur, he took #30 before Broduer got a chance to claim it. So Brodeur had to settle for 29. When Brodeur was called back up for the 1993-94 season, Erickson was out of the Devils organization by that point, so he took #30, and the rest is history.

It's such a fascinating story for an intriguing player. Everyone has their favorite memories of Martin Brodeur, whether it’s a fantastic save he made or my personal favorite being the only NHL goalie to score three goals, and by the time I became a fan, I watched him score his 3rd goal against the Carolina Hurricanes in 2013. Whatever memory you have of him is your favorite. Still, the most important thing to remember is that without Martin Brodeur, the Devils would probably not be known as an NHL franchise, as not many franchises have a goaltender who is remembered as the best goalie of all time.

Shawn Chambers

When you think of the 1995 Stanley Cup team, the defensive core had a lot of talent and depth. Sure, both Scotts on the team in Niedermayer and Stevens were great, but Shawn Chambers is one defenseman who doesn’t get enough credit.

Chambers, who turned 28 when he joined the Devils, had a long career. He would be a solid player, starting with the Minnesota North Stars. When he went to the newly formed Tampa Bay Lightning towards the beginning of the 1992-93 season, his numbers improved; with 30+ point seasons, he became the best defenseman for the Lightning. In March of 1995, the Devils acquired Chambers during the trade deadline, and he ended up helping the Devils in the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals in Game 4 when he scored the game-tying goal and an insurance goal to help seal the game and the Stanley Cup for the Devils.

Chambers would stay for two more seasons in New Jersey, putting up productive numbers with 23- and 21-point seasons. Chambers would finish his career in Dallas with the Stars, where he earned another cup for the Dallas Stars in the 1998-99 season and almost won another cup in the 1999-00 season; however, his former team, the Devils, won that year’s Cup in 6 games, preventing a back-to-back winner.