As Martin Brodeur gets into his 16th season with the New Jersey Devils, the numbers everyone will be focused on have to do with wins and shutouts.
The future Hall of Fame goaltender is within reach of setting new NHL career records in both key categories, and one of the biggest reasons is he plays, a lot. In fact, Brodeur is expecting to make at least 70 starts for an 11th consecutive season, which means he will again be sniffing at critics who say New Jersey's recent early exits from the playoffs are in part due to him being worn out by the time they arrive.
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| Martin Brodeur displays his fourth Vezina Trophy awarded to the top goalie. (Getty Images) |
While the workload might have seemed excessive in years past, it has become increasingly common for some like Roberto Luongo, Henrik Lundqvist and Ryan Miller. Not coincidentally, those netminders are among the highest paid players on their respective teams, and to a certain extent, are required to make the club's investment in them worthwhile. However, all are at least several years younger than Brodeur, who might reasonably be expected to have had a toll exacted on his 36-year-old body by now.
Not so, insists Brodeur.
"It's the demeanor, I'm not a nervous goalie and I don't put extra pressure on myself," Brodeur said. "And definitely the way the Devils have been playing as far as the system is concerned, it's pretty rare that I'm going to have to stop 45 shots one night, travel somewhere else and have to kill 12 penalties. We're a pretty structured team, so games are not maybe as hard as other teams."
Naturally, it doesn't hurt that Brodeur has managed to avoid any major injuries throughout his career. Luck obviously has something to do with that, but Brodeur attributes it in part to his stand-up style of play, which is unusual considering Brodeur comes from Quebec, a province that has become something of a goalie factory since Patrick Roy arrived on the scene more than 20 years ago and introduced the butterfly technique.
Roy's approach has been widely emulated and effective, but it has also been blamed for the spate of hip injuries suffered by goaltenders like Rick DiPietro, Antero Nittymaki, Jocelyn Thibault, Dan Cloutier and Ilya Bryzgalov in recent seasons. Brodeur, who was a member of the NHL's competition committee for the first two seasons after the lockout, said he isn't particularly surprised.
"I never really played that style so it's hard for me to understand the strain that the hips can take on some of the blows they're taking," Brodeur said. "But I think it really puts a lot of stress on your hips when you do fall down and when you have to get up. It's definitely an awkward position for your legs to be in."
Still Brodeur isn't critical of the fraternity members, noting that butterfly goalies are among the best in the league right now. And he understands that it would be difficult to move young netminders away from that style of play when so many goalie coaches are teaching it and equipment manufacturers are producing pads specifically designed for the butterfly set.
Besides, Brodeur is really more focused on his own situation, which includes getting the 14 wins he needs heading into the season to surpass Roy's total of 551 and the eight shutouts necessary to top Terry Sawchuk's mark of 103. And with 62 games, he will eclipse the all-time regular season total of 1,029 set by Roy.
Brodeur doesn't deny that setting those marks will mean something to him, but for a seven-time All Star with three Stanley Cups, four Vezinas and an Olympic gold medal on his resume, those individual milestones are secondary to him now. Particularly since the Devils figure to challenge for first place in what should be a very tight Atlantic Division race this summer.
New Jersey was only three points off the pace when it finished second in the division last season, despite struggling with an offense that ranked 27th overall in the league and a power play that came in at No. 25. But the Devils took a rare dive into the free-agent pool this summer, coming up with versatile and high-scoring forward Brian Rolston, who will take some of the offensive pressure off Patrik Elias, Brian Gionta and youngster Zach Parise. They also added Bobby Holik, who will add size and meanness to the front end.
"We made some great changes and I'm really excited about the season," Brodeur said. "I know it's not going to last forever, so I want to make sure I enjoy every moment of it."
