Marty Gras

With Martin Brodeur set to make his return tonight, I present to you a brief write-up as to why he is already the greatest goaltender in the history of the NHL, with plenty of time to go in his career.

Consider the following list, accurate as of today, February 26, 2009. All of the records Brodeur does not yet own, he is currently 2nd all-time.

01. Brodeur has 544 all-time wins, 7 behind Roy (551) for 1st all-time.

02. Brodeur has 98 all-time season shutouts, 5 behind Sawchuk (103) for 1st all-time.

03. Brodeur has 22 all-time playoff shutouts, 1 behind Roy (23) for 1st all-time.

04. Brodeur has 120 all-time shutouts overall (season + playoffs), the most in NHL history.

05. Brodeur has appeared in 978 regular season games, 51 behind Roy (1,029) for 1st all-time.

06. Brodeur has played 57,790 career regular season minutes, 2,444 behind Roy (60,235) for 1st all-time.

07. Brodeur has recorded at least 30 regular-season wins a total of 12 times, 1 behind Roy (13) for 1st all-time.

08. Brodeur has recorded at least 40 regular-season wins a total of seven times, the most in NHL history.

09. Brodeur has recorded at least 30 wins each of the last 12 regular seasons, the longest streak in NHL history.

10. Brodeur has recorded at least 40 wins each of the last three regular seasons, the longest streak in NHL history.

11. Brodeur has made 14 consecutive Opening Night starts for the same team, the longest streak in NHL history.

12. Brodeur has recorded 53 regular season overtime wins, the most in NHL history.

13. Brodeur recorded an NHL-record 48 wins in 2006-07.

14. Brodeur played an NHL-record 4,697 minutes in 2006-07.

15. Brodeur recorded an NHL-record seven shutouts during the 2003 postseason.

16. Brodeur recorded three shutouts during the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, tying Frank McCool for the NHL record.

17. Brodeur has posted at least 10 regular season shutouts a total of four times.

18. Brodeur has appeared in at least 70 regular-season games a total of 11 times.

19. Brodeur scored a goal in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Montreal Canadiens on April 17, 1997.

20. Brodeur was credited with the game-winning goal against the Philadelphia Flyers on February 15, 2000, joining Ron Hextall as the only goaltenders to have scored a goal in both the regular season and playoffs.

Brodeur also has the following accomplishments in his trophy case:

— 3 Stanley Cups - 1995, 2000, 2003
— 4 Vezina Trophies (Best Goaltender) - 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008
— 4 Jennings Trophies (Lowest Goals-Against Average) - 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004
— Calder Trophy (Top Rookie) - 1994
— Olympic Gold Medal - 2002

Other Notable Achievements:

— Has won the team’s Most Valuable Devil award 10 times.
— Has appeared in nine NHL All-Star Games.
— Has appeared in two Winter Olympic Games.
— Has led the NHL in games played during the regular season five times.
— Has led the NHL in games played during the postseason four times.
— Has led the NHL in wins during the regular season eight times.
— Has led the NHL in wins during the postseason three times.
— Has led the NHL in minutes played during the regular season six times.
— Has led the NHL in minutes played during the postseason four times.
— Has led the NHL in shutouts during the regular season four times.
— Has led the NHL in shutouts during the postseason three times.
— Has led the NHL in goals-against average during the regular season one time.
— Has led the NHL in goals-against average during the postseason three times.

But there’s more than just numbers and accomplishments in the Brodeur argument. There’s a reason that upcoming goalies like Steve Mason cite Brodeur as their biggest influence; it’s because he is truly above a goaltending “style.” You’ve got your standups and your butterflies, and then there’s Brodeur, a hybrid goalie who calls upon whichever style will keep the puck out. Perhaps the best feature about Marty is that despite his intense level of preparation and knowledge about his opponents, it took a line-crosser like Sean Avery to break his cool, an incredible level of calm he has carried with him throughout his entire career. Having done all he has, it seems rather easy for him to maintain a level head at this point in his career, which allows him to block out his mistakes and continue to play at an extremely high level.

Ready to write the book on Brodeur's career? Hold on, there’s one more thing. Brodeur currently has three more full seasons on his contract after this year; the contract runs out after the 2011-12 season. Even if he decides to retire after that, there’s a very good chance that all those “2nd place” marks will have been changed to “1st place.” They might as well start petitioning now to rename the goaltending record book “The Martin Brodeur NHL Goaltending Record Book.”

Did he have an incredible defense in front of him all these years? Sure, but from 2006 forward, he has hardly had the blueline of years past, yet still continues to put up the same numbers. Did he benefit from the overtime and shootout? Yeah maybe, but that’s no fault of his, and in fact, the NHL has also implemented things like the trapezoid with one eye focused on Brodeur, although it hasn’t really worked. Patrick Roy himself said that it doesn't really matter if Marty had the benefit of overtime and shootouts, he still had to win the games.

And that's what Martin Brodeur is all about. Forget the awards, it's all about winning. And add to that list of accomplishments "future first-ballot Hall-of-Famer."