New Jersey Is One Devil of a Team

It has long been said by NHL naysayers that the Devils' success over the past decade and a half has been all about Martin Brodeur and not so much the other 19 guys on the ice. Make no mistake, you can make an argument that without Brodeur, perhaps New Jersey has no Stanley Cups—he is after all, a sure-fire Hall of Famer and a lock to shatter Patrick Roy's all-time victory total. He will undoubtedly end his career with the most shutouts ever, to go along with the requisite hardware: Vezina Trophies, Stanley Cup trophies, not to mention the Conn Smythe that was gifted to sure-fire non-Hall-of-Famer Jean-Sebastian Giguere in 2003. All deserving accolades to No. 30 aside, one must be sure to look at the teams in front of him, and even more strikingly now, the team playing in his absence. Through the perennial purge of talent, be it via fiscal prudence, or free agents ripped from them by those desperate to outbid their services, the Devils not only have managed to stay competitive but remain ... (link)