Tomorrow, Martin Brodeur and the Devils head to Montreal to play the Habs. Marty's one win shy of tying Patrick Roy for the most all-time regular season wins for a goalie and is gonna do it in much fewer games. He already has the record for most wins in a season (48), sits second all-time in shutouts and just needs 3 more to catch Terry Sawchuk (103). He has the most combined (regular season and playoffs) shutouts (118); most overtime wins (45), most consecutive 30-win seasons (12), most consecutive 35-win seasons (11), and most 40-win seasons (7). He's the only NHL goalie to score a game-winning goal and one of only two NHL goalies to score a goal in both the regular season and the playoffs. He's a Calder Trophy winner, a 10-time All-Star, an Olympic Gold Medalist, a 3-time Stanley Cup Champion, and a 4-time Vezina Trophy winner. There isn't much missing from his resume but the one thing that is stops him from being the greatest of all-time. The Conn Smythe Trophy. St. Patrick has 3 and Brodeur has zero. You might be thinking, "No, he must have at least one." Nope. In '95, it went to Claude Lemieux; in 2000, it went to Scott Stevens; and in 2003, it went to J.S. Giguere, the goalie of the losing team.

I know it's not about stats or individual trophies, it's about winning. And barring some sort of catastrophe, Marty will have the most wins ever at some point this season. Patrick may have one more Cup, but Brodeur has a gold medal that Roy couldn't quite get. At the same time, when you're determining who the best goalie is you can't just look at the number of wins you have to look at who put their team in a position to win more often and that was St. Patrick. Just look at what happened to their teams when they weren't there. The Habs took a downward spiral when they traded him in '95 and The Avs went from being an elite team in the NHL to a pretty good that might compete for a playoff spot or possibly the division title. Brodeur, who's played with the same team and has been pretty much healthy for his entire career, finally went down this season with an injury that took him out for most of it to test this theory. How did his team react? It was business as usual. The Devils continued to lead a division with the Flyers, Penguins, and Rangers, and who was in net? A 31-year-old career minor leaguer who wasn't good enough for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Martin Brodeur is a great goalie, one of the greatest of all-time. But in your heart of hearts, think about it. Who would you rather have in net when it counts? A goalie who in his last Stanley Cup Final was out played by the goalie of the losing team or a goalie who brings it when it counts winning more Conn Smythes than not only any other goalie but any other player NHL history his last of which he won against Brodeur and the Devils. I'm taking St. Patrick.

Disclaimer:
I am not a fan of the Montreal Canadiens nor The Colorado Avalanche now or ever. They can, in fact suck my balls.