Apparently, Robert thinks he's pretty cute. Sometimes like the ladies he posts up which may or may have photoshopped Canadiens logos on them. Alas, he's also confused. Sometimes like Canadiens management since 1993. As he supports Montreal, he has a love for a player who once gave up 9 goals in a game and demanded a trade on the spot away from Montreal.
To be fair, Roy is a legendary goaltender and one of the game's greats in his own right. But last I checked, he's no Martin Brodeur.
So in the interest of dropping some knowledge on a sucka fair play and balance at SBN, I would like to offer the following items in rebuttal - what Brodeur has over Roy:
1. MORE HARDWARE Martin Brodeur was crucial in Canada's Gold medal victory in the 2002 Olympics and Canada's World Cup of Hockey championship in 2004. Patrick Roy failed his country in 1998.
2. A BIGGER TROPHY SHELF Roy impressively won three Vezina trophies in 1989, 1990, and 1992. Brodeur already has more, with four Vezina trophies in 2002, 2004, 2007, and 2008. And who is to say he can't win one or two more after this season? Note that Roy was in his prime for his Vezinas, whereas Brodeur is still racking up the trophies beyond the age of 33.
Also, Brodeur won the Calder for rookie of the year in 1994. Where's Roy's Calder? Oh, wait, it went to Calgary defenseman Gary Suter.
3. CONSISTENCY Many critics point to the Devils' defense to discredit Brodeur's achievements. An odd claim. Brodeur just goes out and does what he needs to do to win games. With 12 consecutive 30+ win seasons, 11 consecutive 35+ win seasons, and 3 straight 40+ win seasons (all of which will end this season due to his injury) under his belt, the one constant on the Devils besides Lou Lamoriello has been Brodeur.
You cannot seriously explain the Devils' success by just saying it's the trap or it's the league or some other hogwash. If you did, you're just showing off how little you know of the Devils. There are two constants: Lou and Marty's consistent play in net.
He won with Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer running the blueline. He set the regular season record for wins with a defensive corps of Brian Rafalski, Colin White, a sophmore named Paul Martin, a rookie named Johnny Oduya, Brad Lukowich, and a mix of Jim Fahey, Andy Greene, David Hale, Alex Brooks, and Mark Fraser in that #6 spot. He won when Jacques Lemaire played nothing but the neutral zone trap, when Robbie Ftorek and Larry Robinson opened up the offense, when Pat Burns had the Devils tightly check opponents, when Claude Julien didn't know what he was doing, and today with Brent Sutter's trap-less, puck possession systems. No matter the coach, no matter the defense, Brodeur wins and has made his team contenders for every season since 1993-1994 (save for 1995-96)
Patrick Roy cannot boast of the same feats. He can't even come close. Hell, he couldn't deal with Mario Tremblay.
4. LOYALTY Brodeur stated in his biography and has proven over and over he is a Devil through and through with his contractual committments. Not once did he demand a trade nor was there a campaign made for one. Patrick Roy famously demanded one because he couldn't be bothered to deal with Mario Tremblay. Oh, boo hoo. Picture me playing the world's tiniest violin for Roy.
5. TENACITY Oh, Roy giving up 9 goals in a game upsets him. Really. Brodeur has had games where he's given up 6-8 goals. You know what he does? Does he get angry and throw a fit? Does he yell at management? Does he complain to the media? No, he just re-focuses and plays better the next game. Like a great goaltender is supposed to do. Admirable traits that I wonder if Roy ever had. I'd like to think otherwise, but there's that trade.
6. AN ABILITY TO BE NORMAL Brodeur's only quirk, according to his biography, is that he drinks Sprite during a game. Otherwise, he talks to reporters before games and on game-day, he keeps things loose. He doesn't have all these Roy was named by the CBC as one of sports' most superstitious athletes - need I say more?
7. BEEN A REASON TO CHANGE THE RULES Brodeur's stickhandling was so adept, he even scored a goal (against Montreal!!) - twice! The NHL had to change the rules to prevent goaltenders from roaming to play the puck! They didn't make that rule for anything Roy did - though I'm sure he'd like one to prevent this kind of a play!
8. AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE RULES Brodeur has been a disciplined goaltender. Patrick Roy seemingly forgot about this one!
9. NEVER BEEN BEATEN BY ANOTHER GOALTENDER. The only time Brodeur dropped the gloves in a hockey game came against the Florida Panthers back in the 1997-98 season, with it all starting by Dino Ciccerelli taking a shot at Marty. Alas, that was it, only the one time and Brodeur has kept his cool.
Roy can't say the same against Detroit goaltenders. Twice he threw down, against Mike Vernon and Chris Osgood; hchallenged Dominik Hasek. What has Roy proven? That he has a temper and he's a legend at getting punched in the head! Brodeur generally has a cooler head in the game and what do cooler heads do? They prevail.
10. SHUTOUTS. For all this talk about how Martin Brodeur's wins are flawed for one reason or another, those same critics fail to mention that 18.18% of those career wins (as of right now, with 550) are shutouts. Games where the goalie was perfect. Brodeur has done this way more times than Roy in the regular season, 100 to Roy's 66. Roy's only saving grace is in playoff shutouts with 23, but Brodeur only needs 1 to tie and 2 to take that record. Do you doubt Marty in the playoffs? I wouldn't!
11. TIME. Brodeur doesn't actually need to break these records this season. With 3 more seasons left on his contract, the wins and shutouts records will all fall in due time. Roy, being retired, can't stop this. Brodeur will own these records for some time, maybe not forever, but for sometime those record books will have more listings for "Brodeur" ahead of "Roy."
For a more serious look at the debate of Brodeur's status among the greats, Joe Pelletier took a stab at it at his blog, Greatest Hockey Legends. I'm not sure why he uses save percentage and awards to discount Brodeur against Hasek (which is fine) and then uses playoff wins to discount Brodeur against Roy. I'm also not sure why shutouts aren't even brought into the comparison at all. That said, I really like the comparison of Gordie Howe to Martin Brodeur. Maybe we should all start calling Marty, Mr. Goaltender.