Martin Brodeur Quotations

We're going to shadow a line instead of one player.

We're going to have a good competition and that's what you want.

We're going to get through this crisis we have now.

We're going to face one of the top three teams, each first in their division, regardless of where you're at. The odds are if we finish sixth, the Rangers will be our first opponent, so that would be pretty exciting. Knowing what the other teams are, Ottawa and Carolina, I don't think there's one you want to pick over the other.

We got used to not having him around. We really have a sense of what it's going to be like without Scott Stevens. At the same time we're going to have to learn about life without Scott Niedermayer, too. It's two tough blows to take if Scott (Stevens) doesn't come back.

We're just worried about what we do on the ice. Whoever runs the ship will surely be a good fit for us.

We have no excuse to not get back to where we were at or even better. I think the competition will be greater from now on because of the stretch drive. Some teams are going to try to secure playoff spots. Some teams are going to try to get back in the mix. Some teams, like us, are trying to stay alive and move up with the big guys.

When he got the puck there I was thinking about the Olympics against Corey Hirsch. That was a big goal for him.

When he got the pass, he kind of looked right away to see if somebody was open. He never looked at me until he shot the puck. I felt like I was in good enough position to be able to turn my body just a little bit to react to a pass and he just snuck it right through me.

We'll see what the next couple of days bring and how sore it is. I just twisted it. My leg was under me and I kind of put my body weight under it and I heard it twist pretty hard.

We've still got a lot of time before they exercise their option.

When he hit me, I didn't really feel the stick more than my legs going down under me. You've got to be careful with your stick, bottom line. Accident or not, he's responsible for his stick.

Letting in that first goal gave them some wind and it set us back.

Letting in that first goal gave them some wind and it set it us back. On the next shift they scored another one to put us behind the 8-ball.

Losing a game like tonight is a killer. These are four-point games. We have six games left against these guys. Who knows, those points might determine a playoff spot.

Scott Stevens is a big part of our hockey club. We've got used to not having him around and we really have a sense of that, but life without Scott (Niedermayer), too ... that's two tough blows to take.

Nothing. I don't move, I don't do anything anymore.

Perfect is a big word. But we're playing great hockey.

One thing is certain ? no matter who gets chosen, there will be second guessing.

I got it with the paddle of my stick. I think he ran out of real estate. He's the one who scored that big goal against me (in the Olympics), so it was kind of nice to stop him. But it was not really a decisive save though.

If they had 30 Martin Brodeurs out there, that rule wouldn't be there; nobody would have voted for it, ... There are just too many teams that didn't have these goalies that were ready to make sure the guys that were affecting the games weren't able to do it anymore.

I'd love to know what it is so we can try to prevent it.

I don't know what's going to happen. It's just a tough situation. It makes it hard to avoid the question for two weeks. It's tough for everybody. For us, what's done is done. You can't change it. It's just the way you react to it, the way you handle it that is going to make the difference. It's definitely something we wish we could avoid.

I feel good and I feel re-energized. That night off was good for me and I feel like I'm ready to go.

I don't think you can call that a move. It's going to the net and letting the puck go. I don't think he touches the puck the whole way. I think it psyches the goalie out a little bit not knowing what he's going to do and not doing anything. He beat me with it a few times. It must work.

I don't think you can blame the new guys for the way we've been playing.

I don't think our approach will change that much because we're up 3-nothing. We just don't want to give them life. We are definitely scared of that hockey club.

For us defensively, we take a lot of pride in it. This year it's a little different because of the circumstances of the CBA. There are no bonuses. The guys are definitely out for just pride and feeding off that performance to move on to the next game.

Goalies that like to react to pucks won't have a problem. Those goalies that block shots instead of stopping shots, will find it's going to be a little tougher for them, especially in close.

He's a young guy. When you have the privilege of playing for the greatest hockey country, there are only so many players. It's not that he's not worth being there, it's just because he's in a situation that Team Canada has a new wave of young players.

He had the bronze medal in my face all the time. And his wool jersey, because they played outside.

He is a tremendous hockey player so you've got to know if he is going to play or not. Regardless of him being there 100 percent or not there, it doesn't change the approach of our game.

He is Mr. New Jersey. Scotty was a great player who was known around the league, and established in All-Star games and this and that. Dano is pure New Jersey.

He lost the puck, which I think might have confused him. I certainly know it confused me.

He looks like he's not even trying out there and he just picks me apart every time, so it's definitely not a fun situation.

He missed it. (It went) low, hit my pad.

He missed it. He went low and it hit my pad.

We've been through a lot this year, so facing what's ahead I think everybody doesn't want to mess it up.

He's a great player. He always seems to find a way (to score).

He's just quick in everything he does. I think before, he didn't have an opportunity to get open because of his size and the clutching and grabbing. Now he's able to get in those areas where nobody can touch him.

He's getting more and more responsibility. And you mature when you get those responsibilities. We're looking for him to bring some toughness and stability on our defense.

He's been always really good against us. I don't remember the last time (the Devils' scored five goals on Hasek). I'm sure we did it, but I'm not sure when. We had so many opportunities tonight early in the game and he still made some great saves.

He wanted us to have the best system we could, and I think he never really approved of what we took.

He was a young guy from Montreal, like me. I idolized him because he came in (to the NHL) so young and he showed he could do the job. He made me see the possibility of doing it myself.

He didn't accomplish a miracle. He just put the pieces back together.

I survived the game, ... Personally, I felt really good in there. My leg was good. I was not afraid to play the way I wanted to play. That's something I was looking at before getting a start. I'm pretty happy about it.

I think it's going to be a great possibility. But I don't think it's going to change our approach to the game one way or the other.

I think it's funny that we have to answer these things (about Gretzky). After all, the highlight of our lives is playing in the Olympics right now. It's a great opportunity to compete at the highest standard of hockey. So for people to waste their time asking these questions, we just brush them off and move on.

I think it's going to get harder and hard to do. I was in the position to be able to do it. I don't think too many guys are going to be able to do that with the different way the system works now.

I think you'll get people's ear. If you keep it to yourself, no one will know.

I was concerned enough to leave the game,

I thought we played really well. We've got to get the third period out of our mind and be comfortable with how we played.

I think we're definitely not sharp as far as my game and everybody defensively. I think it's a combination of a lot of things why defensively you're not successful. I don't think you can pinpoint it to one person. As a group, we're just not sharp and have been playing the price a lot.

I think we'll surprise a lot of people.

I think we'll be really fast, we have a lot of speedy forwards. I think we're going to be big like other teams, but I think it will be exciting to watch when everybody learns to play with the new rules.

I think we're pretty happy to get out of here with one point.

It is important that we have a balanced squad, youth blending with experience.

I think ... we're going to put this aside for two weeks, playing hockey against the best players in the world. I think definitely the distraction is you guys bringing it up to us because we don't bring it up to each other at all.

It is beneficial for us in terms of getting us going. When you get so many superstars from different backgrounds everyone has to gel and sometimes when you play good teams right off the bat like in Salt Lake, everyone wants to do their own thing and it gets tougher and tougher. I think that happened in Salt Lake, I don't think we were really prepared to play as a team early on.

I think there was a big transition in Canada, having younger guys being part of Team Canada now. I think it's nice we had a chance to perform with each other. At least you don't come in and it's a brand-new atmosphere. Now Team Canada has been doing these pre-Olympic training camps in the summer also, where we got together. I think everybody's really anxious to see each other again.

I saw everybody in front of me, and their eyes were going crazy. It was a scary five or six seconds. They finally told us there was a mechanical problem and they couldn't get the plane in the air.

Our weekend, to gain these four points, it's a great feeling.

People like the glamour and the glamour with Scotty is his hits. That's what they remember. They don't want to talk about him taking the puck away from Jaromir Jagr with one hand or anything like that.

Some of the stuff he would tell us was really out of character.

My skate got caught and I twisted it. I heard it twist and I couldn't get up. All my body weight fell on it. I had to be really hurt to leave the game. We were still in the game at that point.

It felt long, ... Not playing is one thing, but not being with the guys. I was out of it for 18 months with the lockout and now I'm so happy to get back. When you're hurt -- I'd never really experienced it before -- you're not part of a team too much.

It felt a little hurt but now it's fine. No problem.

I think he got caught in a tough situation. He won us a Stanley Cup, took us to a Game 7 and gets fired the middle of the following year. It wasn't really justified that he got fired, but it happened and knowing we've had that kind of success with him, it's nice having him back.

It all depends on where we're at. Probably one or two I'll miss.

We'll be able to make a long pass because the red line is out,

(That) was as bad a call as they could make. I have never heard of incidental contact in my crease. That was as bad a call as they could make.

That was the first thing we said today when we walked into the locker room. They spoiled our party when we were doing so well and these guys were doing well and we wanted to stick it to them the way they did to us.

You kind of wonder what's next. Maybe Lou is the right guy for the time being, to make us more accountable.

You kind of wonder what's next. Lou's going to come in, and we don't know for how long. We're going to take it day by day. You can't dwell on the situation. We play so many games in such a short time, sometimes you want to take a step back and evaluate what's going on. But you just can't afford to.

While you're fighting for a playoff spot, you might as well try to get the best spot possible.

We were lucky getting out of here with one point. We had a chance to get a win. It's usually the first shooter on both sides that decides the shootouts.

We got back to the old Devils that everyone wanted to change in hockey. People said they didn't want these types of games anymore. Now we are doing it again, and I'm just hopeful we'll do it again when it counts.

We got back to the old Devils that everyone wanted to change in hockey.

We are definitely expected to win but we had to do it the way we did it. The way we did it was the thing everybody was happy about. It was not just skimming a victory out of a shootout or something like that. This was a good effort and it's been a while since we had one like that.

We didn't play the way we've been playing, but give them credit. They played well. They didn't take bad penalties.

We definitely have to keep an eye on Crosby a lot more. I thought we just played him like a regular player, and he showed us that we can't allow ourselves to do that. We have to play him tough and try to get him off his game.

We definitely put ourselves in a better spot than before we started, but there's a lot of work to do still.

We knew time was on our side when there were disappointing times. But we've turned it around and this was really rewarding.

We're trying to survive and get in the playoffs, so these wins are huge.

We don't always do it. When we make a big point of doing it, the success always comes.

We're not kids. At least we're informed of the possibilities.

We just have to move on and try to get better.

We didn't give them our best game, that's for sure. We turned the puck over, made a lot of mistakes. (But) Rick played tremendous. He made the saves when he needed too.

The progress that I've made in two days has been tremendous, ... I think one week at the most and I'll be ready to go.

When you have a guy everyone expects to produce you just wait for him to explode. We can't forget about him.

You can't be happy about losing a game. You have to look at the bright side. We competed well against a team that we can afford to give two points to and we took one away from them.

To me, he was always a safety valve, knowing that I had one of the best competitors in the game in front of me. To be the captain of three Stanley Cup teams, you don't do that by chance. It's because you've done something great in your career.

To me, he's one of the top goaltenders in the league and he's a big reason why the Predators are in the situation they are right now. He beat me at the World Championship, and even though there wasn't as much talent there as there will be at the Olympics, he's brought his game to the level of guys that have been around the league for a long time.

The opponent was always so petrified of him.

This was huge, especially against a team like that. Hopefully, we'll build some confidence and get some momentum going forward.

You have to manage your ups and downs in a series to be successful. We've been able to pull through in situations where our backs were against the wall a little bit, but we took advantage of some lucky breaks. That's the way games go, if you work hard good things will happen.

We are trying to get better every game. We took a step by winning an important game against a big rival.

Everything was chaotic. A lot of things were up in the air. There were a lot of rumors here and there. It kind of took two or three weeks to settle our heads, and when the New Year turned, that's when this team turned around and made it happen to make the playoffs.

It would have bothered me to see Ken Daneyko's number, or Scott Stevens' given out. But Nieder made his own choice to leave.

The worst thing for us was probably getting the early lead. We sat back after that, but in the end we held on and got a good performance out of our guys.