Martin Pierre Brodeur (French pronunciation: [maʁtɛ̃ bʁɔdœʁ]; born May 6, 1972) is a Canadian-American professional ice hockey executive and former player. He played 22 seasons as a goaltender in the National Hockey League (NHL), 21 of them for the New Jersey Devils, with whom he won three Stanley Cup championships and five Eastern Conference championships in 17 postseason campaigns. He also won two Olympic gold medals with Canada, his first as the starting goaltender for the team in 2002, and his second as the backup goaltender in 2010, as well as several other medals with Canada in other international competitions. Brodeur is widely regarded as one of the greatest goaltenders of all time. In 2017, he was named by the league as one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players", and the following year, he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Brodeur holds numerous NHL and franchise records among goaltenders; he ranks as the league's all-time regular season leader in wins (691), losses (397), shutouts (125), and games played (1,266). He won at least 30 games in twelve straight seasons between 1995–96 and 2007–08 and is the only goaltender in NHL history with eight 40-win seasons. He is a four-time Vezina Trophy winner, a five-time William M. Jennings Trophy winner, a ten-time NHL All-Star, and a Calder Memorial Trophy winner. He is one of 18 NHL goaltenders to score a goal in the regular season and the second to do so in the playoffs; his three goals are the most of any NHL goaltender. He only had three seasons where he posted more losses than wins.
Brodeur used a hybrid style of goaltending by standing up more than typical butterfly style goaltenders, though he adapted to more modern techniques at the latter stage of his career. He was known for his puck handling, his positional play, and his reflexes, especially with his glove hand. Brodeur's prowess at puck handling was so well known that it led in part to the NHL changing its rules to restrict where goaltenders were allowed to handle the puck outside of the goal crease, adding what is known as "the Brodeur rule" after the 2004–05 NHL lockout. He announced his retirement in the middle of the 2014–15 season after a brief stint with the St. Louis Blues, having played in just seven games with the team. He is the current executive vice president of business development for the Devils.
Brodeur was born on May 6, 1972, in Montreal. He is one of five children of Denis and Mireille Brodeur. Denis played in the 1956 Winter Olympics for Canada and won a bronze medal. After his playing career, Denis was a longtime photographer for the Montreal Canadiens. For more than 20 years, he attended all Montreal games and practices, and when Martin was old enough, he came along. Brodeur idolized Canadiens goaltender Patrick Roy, as well as Flyers goaltender Ron Hextall.
Brodeur started playing hockey as a forward. His goaltending career began when his coach asked him if he wanted to play as a backup at the position in a youth tournament. Brodeur explained:
The next season my coach came up to me and said, 'Do you want to be a goalie or forward this year?' It was the biggest decision of my life, and I was seven years old. I don't know why I decided, but I thought it would be fun to play goal.
When he was 12 years old, Brodeur briefly intended to stop playing hockey, after he had been removed from his team's lineup for not showing up at a game. Following a conversation with his brother Claude, though, he decided to continue playing. When receiving goaltending instructions in his teens, Brodeur was taught a variety of different styles, ranging from butterfly to stand-up, and paid attention to the technique of others playing the position. He attended a camp run by retired Soviet goaltender Vladislav Tretiak, who encouraged the use of multiple methods; Brodeur believes that the concept made him "a student of the game." In the 1989–90 season, he made it to the Quebec Major Junior League. While playing with the Saint-Hyacinthe Laser, Brodeur made the QMJHL All-Rookie team in 1989–90 and the QMJHL Second All-Star Team in 1991–92. Brodeur was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the first round (20th overall) in the 1990 NHL entry draft.
In the 1991–92 NHL season, Brodeur spent most of his time with Saint-Hyacinthe in the QMJHL, but was called up to the NHL on an emergency basis for four games when New Jersey goaltenders Chris Terreri and Craig Billington became injured. Brodeur won his NHL debut against the Boston Bruins, 4–2, and played in one playoff game that season. Brodeur spent the following season with the Utica Devils of the American Hockey League (AHL). However, in the 1993–94 season, Brodeur returned to the NHL permanently and gained recognition when he won the Calder Trophy, an annual award for the best rookie in the NHL. He led the Devils to the second-best record in the league and the Eastern Conference finals in the playoffs, where they lost to the New York Rangers in seven games. He finished second in goals against average (GAA) (2.40) and fourth in save percentage (.915) in 47 games played during the regular season, helping him eventually land the starting job over Terreri.
In the 1994–95 NHL season, which was shortened to 48 games due to an extended lockout, the Devils finished tied for ninth overall, fifth in their conference. With the leadership of Brodeur, they defeated the Boston Bruins in the first round, shutting them out in three of their four wins. In the second round against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Brodeur gave up nine goals and helped the Devils defeat the Penguins in five games. In the third round, the Devils defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in six games, giving them their first Stanley Cup Final appearance in franchise history, against the heavily-favoured Detroit Red Wings. The strong play of Brodeur and the Devils' "trap" method of defence made the series lopsided in favour of New Jersey, who swept the Red Wings in four games, while holding them to just seven goals in those games. Brodeur won a Stanley Cup in his second full season in the NHL. After the victory, he was quoted as saying:
In the last game against Detroit, the time from ten minutes left to one minute left was probably the longest nine minutes of my life. But from one to zero was probably the greatest time I've ever had. I didn't want the clock to run out. It was such a great feeling: people crying in the stands, people jumping up and down, people cheering. Guys couldn't even sit up on the bench. It was probably the best minute of my life.
After a year of success, the Devils were in the middle of the pack for most of the 1995–96 season and barely missed the playoffs. Brodeur played in 74 of his team's 82 games, setting a single-season record for most minutes played by a goaltender, while having the second-most shutouts (6) in the league. He was named the starter in the All-Star Game for the Eastern Conference and stopped all 12 shots he faced. He finished fourth in voting for the Vezina Trophy, which is awarded to the league's top goaltender. Brodeur also played for Canada during the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, where Canada lost to the United States in the gold medal games.
In the 1996–97 season, the Devils finished third in the NHL. Brodeur was runner-up for the Vezina Trophy, was named to the All-Star Game, and had the lowest goals against average by a goaltender in almost 30 years, earning him the Jennings Trophy. He also had 10 shutouts and a .927 save percentage. On April 17, 1997, in the first game of a first-round playoff matchup against the Montreal Canadiens, Brodeur fired the puck the length of the ice and into the Canadiens' empty net to ensure a 5–2 victory. It was the second time in NHL history that a goaltender had scored in the playoffs, and the fifth time overall. The Devils went on to win that series, but lost in the second round to the rival New York Rangers.
The following year, Brodeur had 43 wins and 10 shutouts in the regular season. The Devils finished first in the Eastern Conference, but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the eighth-seeded Ottawa Senators. Once again, Brodeur made the All-Star Game, finished as a runner-up for the Vezina Trophy, and won the Jennings Trophy.