The 2024-25 New Jersey Devils season opens in 42 days (at the time of the writing). On October 4, the Devils will face 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. Since we are 41 days away, we will focus on Martin Brodeur’s 2002-03 season, where he won 41 games en route to earning his first Vezina trophy.
Martin Brodeur won 38 games in the previous season, 2001-02, had a save percentage of .906, and had a 2.15 GAA. While he was excellent overall in the 2002 playoffs, especially in the second round against the Carolina Hurricanes, he lost the series in six games after the Devils failed to score a goal. It was clear Brodeur needed to do something great next season to bring the Devils back to the promised land.
When Brodeur’s 2002-03 season began, he started it with a win in Ottawa against the Senators, stopping 33 of 34 shots. In the following two games at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Nashville Predators, Brodeur gave up two goals each to start his season at 3-0.
Brodeur would keep up his steady pace in the first half of the season, and while in Philadelphia against the Flyers on November 7th and December 2nd, Brodeur would shut out the Flyers in both games. Brodeur would have three shutouts in December, as he shut out the St.Louis Blues on December 10th at home, stopping all 28 shots, and in Boston on December 30th, 2002. After the first half of the season ended, Brodeur had a record of 28-14-5 with a save percentage of .919 and six shutouts in 45 games. Due to how amazing Brodeur played, he was selected as an All-Star.
Martin Brodeur went 13-9-6 with three more shutouts after the All-Star Game. Broduer’s best second-half game was a shutout against the Montreal Canadiens on March 18, 2003, when he shut them out on 25 shots. Brodeur ended the 2002-03 regular season with a record of 41-23-11.
In the first round of the playoffs against the Bruins, Brodeur shut down the Bruins in a five-game series, where he shut them out three times. When they played the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round, Brodeur shut them out in Game 1 on just 15 shots. After getting scored on four times in Game 3, Brodeur rebounded and gave up one goal in Games 4 and 5, and the Devils won the series in triple overtime thanks to Grant Marshall’s goal.
In the Eastern Conference Finals against the Ottawa Senators, Brodeur got a shutout in Game 3, stopping 24 shots. Even after the Senators forced a Game 7 in that series, Brodeur only gave up two goals and made a save on Marian Hossa with 5:00 left in the 3rd period as the Devils made the Stanley Cup Final.
Against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the Stanley Cup, he shut them out in Games 1 and 2, stopping 16 shots in both games. The Ducks would finally solve him in Games 3 and 4. However, in Game 7, he shut them out one more time on 24 shots, giving him his 3rd and final Stanley Cup. Broduer would be rewarded with his 3rd Stanley Cup, his first of 4 Vezina trophies, and his 3rd Williams Jennings Trophy of the five he would get in his career. On top of all that, he still holds the playoff shutout record with seven that season.