Martin Brodeur Zooms In On Patrick Roy's Win Record Tonight!

Montreal Canadiens defenseman, Patrice Brisebois, will enter the record books as he plays his 1,000th career NHL game.

He will be the 11th member of the Canadiens to reach this mark, but all eyes will be focused elsewhere on the ice, as Montreal native, Martin Brodeur, a nemesis of the Canadiens since he started his career with the New Jersey Devils, could tie a record held by a living hockey legend, Patrick Roy.

Brodeur boasts a 44-20-3 record against the team he grew up watching, but tonight would not just be another wins.

With a win tonight, Brodeur would tie Roy's career regular-season win mark of 551.

After arriving in Montreal yesterday, Brodeur had dinner with his wife and friends.

This morning, he had a 17-minute press conference at the Bell Centre. The press conference came after Brodeur had a special visit.

"I was happy to see him," Brodeur told the media after Roy had paid him a visit at his Montreal hotel. "It went well. He wanted to say hi and wish me well on tonight's game."

Though Roy has not publicly said he will attend tonight's game, Brodeur said, "I think he will."

Though Brodeur said that the two goalies were not really good friends, he did acknowledge that the two have extremely good admiration and respect for each other and enjoy the opportunities they get to meet, whenever possible.

Acknowledging saying that Roy was the one that many young goaltenders emulated their styles from, Brodeur jokingly said, "I was the guy that nobody did. I don't know who's the pioneer here."

He acknowledged Dominik Hasek and Ed Belfour as two other goalies that inspired him in developing his style.

Brodeur was also asked about the pressure of going into tonight's game. "I'd be lying to be saying it's just another day."

He felt the two Stanley Cup Final game sevens, which he has been a part of, were the games where he has felt the most pressure to date.

Going into an arena where Roy's No. 33 hangs from the rafters will not be easy for the Devils' goalie.

"It will be a little nerve racking for me," Brodeur said on getting prepped for the game. He feels once he puck drops it will be business as usual. "I want this to be a great day and hopefully today is the day. Hopefully I will not disappoint anybody."

Having missed 50 games this season with a biceps injury, Brodeur said he had time to put his career in perspective.

"I'm definitely not ready to retire," he said, noting he has three more seasons remaining on his current contract.

He has started in 985 games and missed only 219 starts since joining the Devils in 1992-93.

With a win tonight, Brodeur could break the record by March 17. Roy is affectionately known as "St. Patrick" by the Montreal fans.

Brodeur could also eclipse another record by season’s end. His 100 regular-season shutouts are three behind Terry Sawchuk's all time record.

He has and NHL record 122 combined shutouts, including playoffs.