Martin Brodeur was born on May 6, 1972, in Montreal. He was one of five children of Denis and Mireille Brodeur. Denis played in the 1956 Olympics for Team Canada and won a bronze medal. After his playing career, Denis was a longtime photographer for the Montreal Canadiens.

In the 1991-92 NHL season, Brodeur spent most of his time with Saint-Hyacinthe in the QMJHL, but was called up to the NHL on an emergency basis for four games when New Jersey goaltenders Chris Terreri and Craig Billington became injured. Brodeur won his NHL debut against the Boston Bruins, 4-2, and played in one playoff game that season. Brodeur spent the following season with the Utica Devils of the American Hockey League (AHL). However, in the 1993-94 season, Brodeur returned to the NHL permanently and gained recognition when he won the Calder Trophy, an annual award for the best rookie in the NHL. He led the Devils to the second-best record in the league and the Eastern Conference Finals in the playoffs, where they lost to the New York Rangers in seven games. He finished 2nd in goals against average (GAA) (2.40) and 4th in save percentage (.915) in 47 games played during the regular season, helping him eventually land the starting job over Terreri. In the 1994-95 NHL season, which was shortened to 48 games due to an extended lockout, the Devils finished tied for 9th overall, 5th in their conference. With the leadership of Brodeur, they defeated the Boston Bruins in the 1st round, shutting them out in three of their four wins. In the second round against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Brodeur gave up only nine goals and helped the Devils defeat the Penguins in five games. In the third round, the Devils defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in six games, giving them their first Stanley Cup Final appearance in franchise history, against the heavily favoured Detroit Red Wings. The strong play of Brodeur and the Devils' "trap" method of defence made the series lopsided in favour of New Jersey, who swept the Red Wings 4 games to 0 while holding them to just seven goals in four games. Brodeur won a Stanley Cup in only his second full season in the NHL. After the victory, he was quoted as saying: In the last game against Detroit, the time from ten minutes left to one minute left was probably the longest nine minutes of my life. But from one to zero was probably the greatest time I've ever had. I didn't want the clock to run out. It was such a great feeling: people crying in the stands, people jumping up and down, people cheering. Guys couldn't even sit up on the bench. It was probably the best minute of my life. After a year of success, the Devils were in the middle of the pack for most of the 1995-96 season and barely missed the playoffs. Brodeur played in 74 of his team's 82 games, setting a single-season record for most minutes played by a goalie, while having the 2nd-most shutouts (6) in the league. He was named the starter in the All-Star Game for the Eastern Conference and stopped all 12 shots he faced. He finished fourth in voting for the Vezina Trophy, which is awarded to the league's top goaltender. Brodeur also played on Team Canada during the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, where Canada lost to the United States in the gold medal finals. In the 1996-97 season, the Devils finished 3rd in the NHL. Brodeur was runner-up for the Vezina Trophy, was named to the All-Star team, and had the lowest goals against average by a goalie in almost 30 years, earning him the Jennings Trophy. He also had 10 shutouts and a .927 save percentage. On April 17, 1997, in the first game of a first-round playoff matchup against the Montreal Canadiens, Brodeur fired the puck the length of the ice and into the Canadiens' empty net to ensure a 5-2 victory. It was only the second time in NHL history that a goaltender had scored in the playoffs, and the fifth time overall. The Devils went on to win that series, but lost in the second round to the rival New York Rangers. The following year, Brodeur had 43 wins and 10 shutouts in the regular season. The Devils finished first in the Eastern Conference, but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the eighth-seeded Ottawa Senators. Once again, Brodeur made the All-Star Team, finished as a runner-up for the Vezina Trophy, and won the Jennings Trophy. In the 1998-99 season, the Devils finished first in the Eastern Conference for the third straight year, with Brodeur winning 39 games. He was among the contenders for the Vezina Trophy and started in the All-Star game, making his fourth appearance. However, the Devils lost in the first round to the Penguins. It was Brodeur's worst playoff performance to date statistically, as he allowed 20 goals in seven games with an .856 save percentage. After the 2004-05 lockout and before the start of the 2005-06 season, the league instituted a new rule preventing goaltenders from playing the puck behind the goal line, except within a trapezoid-shaped zone located behind the net. The trapezoid began at the goal line with angled lines six feet from each goal post and widened to 28 feet at the end boards. Former Flyers general manager Bobby Clarke was one of the leaders in getting the trapezoid implemented. This was viewed by many as singling out Brodeur, who was one of the best at getting behind the net to handle the puck, and has come to be known as the "Brodeur Rule". At the 2009 NHL General Managers' Meeting, it was discussed whether the rule should be eliminated as a solution to the increasing number of injuries on defenseman who were being hit hard by forechecking forwards. The forecheckers were no longer impeded by defencemen holding them up because of the crackdown on interference, which created situations where defencemen were being hit at high speeds. Brodeur believed that revoking the trapezoid could result in more scoring and more exciting games. He explained, "If you give the liberty to the goalies to play the puck, they'll mess up more than they're successful." He also expressed his concern for defencemen, "It's a no-brainer if they want to start to eliminate these huge hits for the defencemen... Whenever my defencemen or somebody was getting a big hit, I felt guilty that I let that guy get hit like that. Now, I've got to sit and watch all the time... You've got to try to find something because so many guys are getting hurt." At the time of his statement, Devils defencemen Paul Martin, Johnny Oduya and Bryce Salvador were all out with injuries. Ultimately the suggestion was rejected and the rule stayed in place. Former Maple Leafs' general manager Brian Burke said, "We had originally approved a rule where the goaltenders couldn't handle the puck behind the net at all. The game was turning into a tennis match. You'd dump it in and the goalie would throw it out and now with the soft chip into the corner it turns into a puck battle and a forecheck opportunity, which is what we wanted."

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In the 1991-92 NHL season, Brodeur spent most of his time with Saint-Hyacinthe in the QMJHL, but was called up to the NHL on an emergency basis