March 17, 2009, Reasons why or why not Martin Brodeur will break Patrick Roy's record for regular season wins and top five goaltenders of all time.
Record-breaker
Devils goalie Martin Brodeur can become the NHL’s all-time leader in wins tonight vs. Chicago. He enters the game with 551 regular-season wins, tied for first place with Hall of Famer Patrick Roy.
In his words ...
“Depending on whether goalies can have that workload and organizations will leave goalies alone for 15 years and say: ‘You go on the ice whenever you want.’ They might have a chance to be close to it.”
— Brodeur on the possibility of anyone catching up to him.
3 Reasons why Brodeur will break the record tonight:
Attitude: While expectations and questions swirl around him, Brodeur has remained publicly unaffected by the record. His focus has been about the Devils winning games and preparing for the playoffs.
Jersey’s hot: Since the future Hall of Famer returned from a torn bicep, the Devils are 7-1, six points behind Boston for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. As much as the win might mean individually, it means as much for the organization.
Chicago’s not: The resurrection of the Blackhawks has been one of the great stories of the year. Chicago is headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2002. However, in the last 10 games, the Baby Blackhawks are just 3-6-1.
3 Reasons why Brodeur won’t break the record tonight:
Chicago needs two, too: Vancouver is two points behind Chicago for the fourth seed in the Western Conference. The Blackhawks are a better home team (18-8-6) than they are on the road (19-13-3), so home ice come April is vital.
Letdown? As the clock ticked down to zero in his hometown Saturday night, Marty’s fellow Montrealers chanted his name as he tied Roy. Unless he’s truly Superman, going from the cradle of the sport to Newark has to be a bit of a letdown.
St. Patrick’s Day: Today’s is St. Patrick’s Day. Patrick Roy’s nickname is St. Patrick. Perhaps Roy will hold on to his record for at least one more day due to some divine assistance?
We rank the top goalies of all time (apologies in advance to Greg Goldberg from “The Mighty Ducks” movies):
5 Glenn Hall: Hall has the one record that will never be broken. He played 502 consecutive games. Hall backstopped the 1960-61 Blackhawks of Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Al Arbour, among others, to the organization’s first Cup since 1937-38.
4 Jacques Plante: Prior to the Nov. 1, 1959, Canadiens-Rangers game, goaltenders did not wear protective masks. Following an Andy Bathgate shot to the face, Plante told head coach Toe Blake he would not play without a mask. Oh, there’s also the matter of 434 regular-season wins, seven Vezina trophies and six Cups.
3 Patrick Roy, above: Revolutionized goaltending. Pre-St. Patrick, goaltenders played a standup style, which led to goals being scored low. Enter Roy and the butterfly style, which has made low goals incredibly difficult to score. Goaltenders of all ages are being taught the butterfly due to its success.
2 Terry Sawchuk: The terribly tormented goaltender is place holding the all-time shutouts record for Brodeur. Sawchuk was a first or second team All-Star seven times while backstopping the Gordie Howe Red Wings to three Cups. He then split time with Johnny Bower on the last Maple Leafs Cup championship team in 1967.
1 Martin Brodeur: The Devils’ goaltender has dominated in two distinctly different eras: The trapping of the mid-’90s and Gary Bettman’s free-flowing post-lockout game. Before he’s done, Brodeur will do to goaltending records what Wayne Gretzky did to scoring records.
posted by Denis P. Gorman at 11:24 AM
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