After notching his 500th win two weeks ago, Martin Brodeur reached another milestone Friday night in a 4-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens.With his 116th career shutout, Brodeur passed Terry Sawchuk to become the NHL's all-time shutout king.
Well, sort of.
The shutout record is unofficial, and controversial to boot.
Sawchuk notched 103 career regular-season shutouts and added 12 more in the playoffs—for a total of 115. Brodeur's shutout on Friday was his 94th in the regular season. Add the 22 goose-eggs he's posted in the playoffs and you get a total of 116.
So should that qualify as a record?
Comparing regular-season and playoff shutouts is like comparing, well, Terry Sawchuk and Martin Brodeur. You can argue until you're blue in the face for either party...and nothing's going to get resolved.
I'm reminded of the controversy that emerged around Gordie Howe's combined NHL and WHA goals record when Wayne Gretzky surpassed Mr. Hockey's NHL mark. That debate didn't end until Gretzky's NHL total surpassed Howe's combined total.
Such will probably be the case in the Brodeur-Sawchuk dispute.
As it stands, Brodeur is just 10 shutouts away from the definitive record. Until then, most hockey purists—myself included—won't be completely satisfied.
94 shutouts is nothing to sneeze at. But Sawchuk's mark has stood for 37 years—and it will likely stand for at least another season or two.
2 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Kevin van Steendelaar about 1 year ago
I think Gretzky is in the record books for combined scoring marks...so why not this one...?
And it is acknowledged as a combined total.... BUT keep in mind that Sawchuk did much of this in the original six era...and without a mask for the better part..
Edit Comment Cancel
Jason Hackett about 1 year ago
I think comparing a playoff shutout to a regular season shutout is complete nonsense. How hard is it to shutout an expansion team, compared to a stanley cup final shutout?
It is a record for sure, but no one will even remember it as a record if he passes sawchuk's regular season mark.
Edit Comment Cancel
Leave a Comment
You must register to post a comment.