The_People1 Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=750853 Is Brodeur the greatest goaltender of all time? In 1990, the Flames traded up with New Jersey to avoid drafting him. Instead, the Flames took WHL sensation Trevor Kidd. The New Jersey Devils gladly drafted Martin Brodeur a few picks later and the rest was history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wreckening Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 There's no denying he is the greatest of all time in my opinion. Talk about your coulda, shoulda, woulda's. And he was a guy that just went about his business. No dramatics, no theatrics, just lunch boxing it his entire career. Should be a shoe-in for first ballot entry into the HHOF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zirakzigil Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 Hes the best of all time in my books. Sad to see him go, was hoping he would make it to 700 wins, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khrox Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 The system he played in helped him out, but doesn't change the fact that he made the big saves when he had to, Greatest Goalie of All Time. No question about it. Congratulations on a great career Marty Brodeur, hopefully you find enoyment in the management side of the game. Would be a shame to lose you from the game altogether. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_People1 Posted January 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 For the record, i don't think Brodeur is the best of all time. The best of all time is Patrick Roy. Second is Dominik Hasek. Brodeur is the third best of all time. The main reason is, Roy "invented" the butterfly goaltending style that nearly all goalies use nowadays. He also played in a high scoring era where he truly, undoubtedly, stood out as a class of his own compared to his peers. This was especially true in the early half of his career where all goalies were playing stand-up style and there was nothing like him before. Roy was special and he redefined the entire position of goaltending when he arrived. The Cup win in Montreal was the last time where one goalie took his team the entire way to a Championship. Not even Hasek or Brodeur ever accomplished this. Hasek, very similiar to Roy in that he invented his unorthodox style of goaltending. He was a flopper but he was unbeatable. He was also the best goalie of all time in reading the play and anticipating everything that happens a second ahead of time. His hockey sense was mind blowing and that translated into saves that were out of this world. In his prime, he may be the greatest goalie to ever play the game. Brodeur's strength that sets him above the rest may be his puck handling talents. He was his team's third defenseman on dump-ins all the time. You can argue he played the butterfly more technically sound as Roy but still, he never had to invent the butterfly. During his time in the NHL, he was always among the best in the league and was only considered the clear cut best after Roy and Hasek's best days were behind them. Not saying Brodeur sucks because he doesn't but he is third only to two others in history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wreckening Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 My top 3 1. Brodeur - Because he stood the test of time. He's seen and survived many changes in this league and continued to be a dominant goalie that could beat you on any given night. I don't know, given the way the game is changing, many goalies are going to come close to Brodeur's records. 2. Roy - Mainly for the reasons listed by Peoples. 3. Sawchuck - Call me a sucker for the oldies but Terry Sawchuck was the original great one between the pipes. Sure there was Plante, who was no slouch himself, but Sawchuk defined the goalie position. That and he set most of the records Brodeur broke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KACaribou Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 I wouldn't be so quick to assume that goalies who play in your era are naturally the best ever. Maybe the best you have seen! There have been sensational goalies from the days of Tony 0, Ken Dryden, Jacques Plante, Glenn Hall, Terry Sawchuk and beyond. They had inferior equipment, if you can call it equipment at all compared to today. Many didn't even have a mask. Let's just see how well some of these Goodyear Blimp goalies of today including Brodeur, Hasek and Roy would have done then... if they had the guts to even get between the pipes. I will say Hasek at his best was better than both Brodeur and Roy for a number of seasons. He was a far bigger game changer. Roy demanded a trade when his Habs sucked and it was hurting his average and wins. If he had played on the teams Hasek netminded for he wouldn't be in the conversation. I never thought anyone would beat Sawchuk's 103 Shutouts though. And Brodeur beat it by a lot (125) and that says something about a guy that can keep his focus on - all-game-long. Kelly Hrudy in the Easter Epic is the best goaltending I can ever remember seeing. 4 OT game, brutally outshot and the NYI wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyerfan52 Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Throughout his career Brodeur killed the Flyers. I admired him. To me he's the best of his generation. His hybrid style & the fact he cleared the puck well made him almost a 3rd D. His wandering style caused the NHL to bring in the trapizoid because he was so effective. As KACaribou mentions, it's tough to compare goalies from different eras. He mentioned the equipment. Heck of a difference. Consider the horsehair filled pads compared to the lighter 1s of today. Another reason is the various eras the league goes through. It's hard to compare the "Run & Gun" era to the "Dead Puck" span. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KACaribou Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Flyerfan is so right comparing eras. It always makes me laugh when people look solely at stats and say Fuhr or Vernon must have been weak goalies. Or that the 80s never had great goalies. Nobody backchecked in the 80s. Not on the Oilers anyway. Gretzky never met a blueline in his own zone he ever crossed. Lots of 2 on 1s, and breakaways on these goalies. Twice as many scoring chances every game. Everyone tried to run and gun to keep up with the Oilers and they were scoring 5-6 goals a night! Fuhr was incredible. I think if you put him in Roy's era, with Roy's padding, and his good two-way teams Fuhr would have every bit the stats Roy has. Not picking on Patrick but just making an example. Verny wasn't far behind Fuhr either, but a little. And Billie Smith... nobody mentions him but in the day that miserable bugger was tougher as the games got more important. Him and Fuhr as good in the clutch as Roy or Brodeur. Love the Leach - Clarke - Barber graphic. One of the greatest, most talented and toughest lines ever! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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