Brodeur on Capitals' Holtby: 'He reminds me of me a lot'
Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby received quite the compliment from four-time Vezina Trophy winner Martin Brodeur over the weekend.
With Brodeur in attendance at the Prudential Center, the two joined New Jersey Devils netminder Cory Schneider during an awkward ceremonial puck drop prior to Saturday's contest between the Metropolitan Division rivals. Holtby gave the future Hall of Famer an eyeful by making 22 saves to lead the Capitals to a 3-2 victory.
Via The Washington Post:
"He reminds me of me a lot. Not the way he plays or whatever, but the way he puts himself out there. He's not scared. He just wants to play.
"I'm sure he's playing through tons of injuries. He's a warrior out there; he just looks like that. I don't know him, and I don't know if he does or not, but he’s having a great year, and it's not just this year. Last year, he was coming on. He's going to be good for a long time for them."
Holtby (33-5-3, 2.06 goals-against average) leads the league in wins this season and is in line to eclipse Brodeur's NHL record of 48 victories, set during the 2006-07 campaign. With Washington owning the NHL's best mark at 38-9-4, perhaps the only obstacle in the 26-year-old Saskatchewan native's way could be coach Barry Trotz limiting his workload with the division title almost a formality.
Signed to a five-year, $30.5 million contact extension in July 2015, Holtby competed in a franchise-best 73 games last season. In addition, he tied Olaf Kolzig (1999-2000) by notching his career-high 41st win and matched Jim Carey (1995-96) with his ninth shutout of the campaign.
As for Brodeur, well, the three-time Stanley Cup champion recorded 688 of his NHL-best 691 career wins in New Jersey while playing in 21 of his 22 career seasons with the Devils. The 10-time All-Star finished with NHL goaltending records in shutouts (125), games played (1,266) and minutes played (74,439).
Brodeur, who finished his career with St. Louis, now serves as assistant general manager with the Blues.
The 43-year-old will have his number retired by the Devils on Tuesday night.
