Congrats to Marty Brodeur!

[Elite Sim News (ESN)]

Congrats to Marty Brodeur for win number 551! Here's to an excellent career...even though I'd still take Hasek over Brodeur.

[formerDevilsGM]

Congrats to Broduer also from my part. He is the sign of consistency throught his career and to have done it with one team is all that better.

No better guy out there to see have this on his record.
(including Hasek)..

[CalgaryGM]

Here, here. Brodeur is by far the best goalie of the past 20 years. I wouldn't take anyone else during that time.

[Elite Sim News (ESN)]

Alrighty then. There aren't many debates I love more than the old "who's the best goalie". I will always defend Dominik Hasek in this arguement. I'd take Dominik Hasek over any goalie in hockey HISTORY. For the sake of this thread, I'll keep it to Hasek v Brodeur.

First, we'll look at the raw numbers. These numbers are as of today, March 16, 2009 as Brodeur is still playing.

REGULAR SEASON

Martin Brodeur - 986 games played, 551 wins, 293 losses, 105 ties, 100 shutouts, 2,135 goals against, 24,720 shots faced, .914 save percentage, 2.20 goals against average, 58,254 minutes played

Dominik Hasek - 735 games played, 389 wins, 223 losses, 82 ties, 81 shutouts, 1,572 goals against, 20,220 shots faced, .922 save percentage, 2.20 goals against average, 42,836 minutes played

PLAYOFFS

Martin Brodeur - 169 games played, 95 wins, 74 losses, 22 shutouts, 344 goals against, 4,264 shots faced, .919 save percentage, 1.96 goals against average, 10,521 minutes played

Dominik Hasek - 119 games played, 65 wins, 49 losses, 14 shutouts, 246 goals against, 3,283 shots faced, .925 save percentage, 2.02 goals against average, 7,317 minutes played

Alright. As we all know, we are discussing two legends here. The one stat, for you stat heads, that always stands out to me with Hasek is the save percentage. Those are pretty ridiculous numbers in the NHL. You can think of the stats what you will.

HARDWARE

Martin Brodeur:

Stanley Cup 94-95, 99-00, 02-03
Calder Trophy 93-94
Vezina Trophy 02-03, 03-04, 06-07
Jennings Trophy 96-97, 97-98, 02-03, 03-04
NHL First All-Star Team 02-03, 03-04, 06-07
NHL Second All-Star Team 96-97, 97-98, 05-06
Olympic Gold Medal 01-02
World Cup Gold Medal 03-04
World Cup Silver Medal 95-96
World Championship Silver Medal 95-96, 04-05

Dominik Hasek:

Stanley Cup Champ 01-02, 07-08
Vezina Trophy 93-94, 94-95, 96-97, 97-98, 98-99, 00-01
Jennings Trophy 93-94, 00-01
Hart Trophy 96-97, 97-98
Lester B. Pearson Award 96-97, 97-98
NHL First All-Star Team 93-94, 94-95, 96-97, 97-98, 98-99, 00-01
Olympic Gold Medal 97-98
Olympic Bronze Medal 05-06
World Championship Silver Medal 82-83
World Championship Bronze Medal 88-89, 89-90
U20 World Junior Championship Silver Medal 82-83
U18 World Junior Championship Silver Medal 81-82
U18 World Junior Championship Best Goalie 81-82

No one will care about these for Hasek...but...

Czechoslovakian Goalie of the Year 85-86, 86-87, 87-88, 88-89, 89-90
Czechoslovakian Player of the Year 86-87, 88-89, 89-90


Wow. Pretty impressive on both accounts. That said...6 Vezinas, 2 Harts and 2 Pearsons is pretty d**n tough to top. And the next time you see a goalie medal in both the World Junior Championships and the World Championships in the same year, you let me know. That is a pretty special accomplishment as well.

I will always entertain arguments when it comes to goaltending, especially this one. Me, personally, I take Hasek over anyone. It is, however, close.

So, I ask you Mr. Drummond. How is it that you can say that Brodeur is "by far the best goalie of the past 20 years" when looking at the resume of Dominik Hasek? If you want to side with Mr. Brodeur, that's your choice. By far? I think not.

[formerDevilsGM]

I was really not trying to get into this one. I do agree that these 2 players are two of the greatest off all time, but I think Rogers stats prove the Broduer is slightly above Hasek.

Let me put it this way: If Broduer stopped playing right now and Hasek came back next season and won 30 games every season after that it would take him exactly 5 1/2 seasons to catch up to Brodeurs wins.
or maybe this way, a Goalie plays in the NHL for 15 seasons and wins 30 games a season would have what can be considered as a very succesful career. Well at the end of his career this player would have 450 wins, over 100 less the Broduer has at this point.

I think this is how big the wins record is in this debate. Hasek is 10th in the wins list that just does not cut it. But it is also very important that Broduer that did not bounce around from team to team to obtain this record.

Personally I have Broduer #1, Roy #2 and Hasek #3, these are players I have seen in my era, I really cant say about players before I watched.

Just my 2 cents in the mix

[Elite Sim News (ESN)]

I hear what you are saying Los, and that's a pretty visible record (all-time wins). It's quite difficult to judge individuals based on team numbers, which is what a win is.

Looking at the tangible stats, you can see the goals against and save percentage of these two keepers are strikingly similar. The exact same goals against over their careers in regular season play, yet Hasek's save percentage is a step above Brodeur's.

It's all about run support. When you have the likes of Miro Satan, Derek Plante, Michael Peca and Curtis Brown leading your "offense", you sure as hell don't have much margin for error.

There really is no wrong answer to this debate, but during my lifetime, Hasek was the greatest puck stopper I ever saw. I would put Brodeur second and Roy third. I am also thankful that I got a chance to see them play live quite a few times. Being a season ticket holder for the Lightning from Day 1, I got to see a lot of hockey come through this town. I have always told people the team I enjoyed watching come in the most was the Buffalo Sabres team with Hasek, Lafontaine and Mogilny. What could have been.

[Elite Sim News (ESN)]

Just in case anyone is interested, the NHL Network has picked up tonight's game between Jersey and Chicago. I'm about 99% certain the Devils will win this game, so you have a chance to see history tonight. Also, I'm going to call a shutout for Mr. Brodeur as well. The Hawks have been brutal the last few weeks, are still minus Patrick Sharp, and Martin Havlat's groin appears to be acting up yet again. I'll say 4-0 Devs and win number 552 for Marty tonight.

Anyway...if you guys get the NHL Network and aren't doing anything tonight, there's an option for ya.

[formerDevilsGM]

Thansk for the Info Roger.. Will have to check it out..

Its a good thing NHLN picked it up cause versus probably has something more important to broadcast like the Rodeo Championships or the Bass Fishing Finals.

[Elite Sim News (ESN)]

Well, no shutout, but mission accomplished! Congrats again to Marty, even if he did beat the Hawks to break the record.