Martin Pierre Brodeur is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey goaltender and current team executive. He played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League. In 2017, he was named by the league as one of the “100 Greatest NHL Players”.
Brodeur is one of five children. His father played hockey in the 1956 Olympics for Team Canada and won bronze. Brodeur started playing hockey as a forward. At the age of seven, his coach asked him if he wanted to try goaltending which, as we all know, he did. In the 1989 to 1990 season, he made it to the Quebec Major Junior League. He played for the Saint-Hyacinthe Laser and made the QMJHL All-Rookie team from 1989 to 1990 and the QMJHL second All-Star team from 1991 to 1992.
He was drafted for the New Jersey Devils in the first round, 20th overall, in the 1990 NHL entry draft. Even though he spent most of his time with the Saint-Hyacinthe, he was called up to the NHL on an emergency basis for about four games when both goaltenders became injured. By the 1993 to 1994 season, he returned to the NHL permanently and gained recognition when he won the Calder Trophy. In the 1994 to 1995 NHL season, he won his first Stanley Cup, his second full season in the NHL.
During the 1995-96 season, he played 74 out of his team’s 82 games setting a single season record for most minutes played by a goaltender. He was named the starter in the All-Star game for the Eastern Conference and he played for Team Canada during the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. In the 1996-97 season, he was named to the All-Star team again. On April 17th, 1997 in the first game of the first round of playoffs, he fired the puck the length of the ice and into the Canadien’s empty net to ensure a 5 to 2 victory. This was only the second time in NHL history that a goaltender has scored in the playoffs and 5th time overall. As always, the following year he once again made the All-Star team and the Devils finished first in the Eastern Conference. In the 98 to 99 season, the Devils finished first in the Eastern Conference for a third straight year and he started in the All-Star game, making his fourth appearance.
During the 1999-2000 season, they had won their second Stanley Cup Championship. The next year he played in the All-Star game for his sixth consecutive season. In the 2002-2003 season, he had finally won the Vezina Trophy for the first time, he also won the Jennings Trophy. In the 2003 to 2004 season, he won his second consecutive Vezina Trophy and Jennings Trophy.
After the 2004-2005 lockout, and before the start of the 2005-2006 season, the league instituted a new rule preventing goaltenders from playing the puck behind the goal line except within a trapezoid-shaped zone located behind the net. Now many thought this was singling out Brodeur who was one of the best at getting behind the net to handle the puck. It has come to be known as the “Brodeur Rule”.
Brodeur signed a contract extension with the Devils on January 27th, 2006. He won his third Vezina Trophy during the 2006-2007 season. On April 5th, 2007, he broke the record for most wins in a single season, 48 wins. In 2012, he signed a 2-year deal to stay with the Devils. He became a free agent for the 2014-15 season and his 21-year tenure with the Devils ended. He had signed a 1-year contract with the St. Louis Blues but, just five games into the season, he announced his retirement.
He did get selected for Team Canada 4 times in 1998 in Nagano, Japan, in 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2006 in Turin, Italy and, in 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
After his retirement, the Blues hired him as a Special Assistant to the General Manager. In May 2015, they announced that he and the Blues had agreed on a 3-year contract naming him as an Assistant General Manager of the team. In February 2016, the New Jersey Devils unveiled a bronze statue of him and they retired his #30 Jersey. In July 2017, he was appointed a management team member for Canada’s men’s team for the 2018 Winter Olympics and, in August 2018, he joined the Devils as an Executive Vice President of Business Development. In January 2020, he became the Advisor of Hockey Operations after General Manager Ray Shiro was fired.
In June 2018, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2019, he was awarded the Order of Sports and inducted into the Canada Sports Hall of Fame. He’s gotten many awards and he holds many records to this day.