NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: PENGUINS v DEVILS

May 18, 2001

Martin Brodeur

MARTIN BRODEUR: You know what, usually it's just you have -- you know, the longer you go, I think the easier it gets. I think the first couple, first ten, 12 minutes of overtime, there's so much intensity that I think everybody is a little nervous, and after when it gets to be a little long, I think everybody is getting in their comfort zone a little bit, then you start playing your game knowing what you are able to do. Earlier on, definitely you are a little more pressured. You just don't want to make the mistake with that. The further you go into overtime, I feel better. You feel better about yourself knowing that guys are a little more tiered, they won't take the same shots, the same quality shots; it is not as hard. So next thing you know, you are starting to play your own game instead of -- compared to just trying to keep it simple.

MARTIN BRODEUR: He's been unbelievable. I didn't watch a lot. That was the first game I lot was really the overtime, and, you know, a lot of shots -- a lot of long shots, but he made some key saves. He was really on top of things. That's what Patrick is all about, you know, playing in the playoffs. He seems to stay in his net a lot more than he did in the regular season, as far as playing in the puck and stuff like that, and he's been tremendous, like he always is in the playoffs.

MARTIN BRODEUR: Growing up, he was just starting with Montreal; so I would look up to this guy throughout my career.

MARTIN BRODEUR: No, not that bad. I had a picture -- I had a few pictures of different goalies and Patrick was one of them.

MARTIN BRODEUR: On the wall.

MARTIN BRODEUR: You know what, I met him when I was really young with my father, but it was nice to meet him and to -- I had a chance to play with him and all. So definitely it was -- the first time I played against him was a pretty good thrill.

MARTIN BRODEUR: It was my rookie year. He came in and beat us 2-0 or something like that in Jersey. We went in a couple weeks later in Montreal and I beat him -- I don't remember the score. So it was kind of pretty neat to play against him.

MARTIN BRODEUR: Now he's a guy that I fight against all the time, so I don't really look up to him anymore. But definitely I look back when I was younger, I was looking up to him, but now I appreciate what he does on the net. That's about it.

MARTIN BRODEUR: Sometimes. I just pick up everything, watching other goalies, seeing how they handle situations and stuff like that. It's nice. I don't know if I would have bumped that Jamal Meyer there, but I pick up stuff on goalies and stuff. He played well. He played really well. Both of them played well.

MARTIN BRODEUR: You know, not really, because he's a butterfly. He's been a butterfly goalie since he broke into the League. He's adjusting a lot. He's playing a little different than when he broke in before, he was going down, down, down all the time. Now I think he is a little different goalie than he was when he broke in the League. I never really was really a butterfly -- a one-way goalie, just making the same save over and over. I don't know why, by it was just the way -- we all look up to him and we all look like him -- when you are from Quebec, you look at all of the goalies, they look like Patrick a little bit. But I was never really a big fan of, you know, the way that he was playing all the time, with just being a butterfly goalie.

MARTIN BRODEUR: He's playing the puck. He's challenging more. He's having a lot of success. I think you have to adjust in the way the game is played. In '86, the game was played a certain way and now it is a little different.

MARTIN BRODEUR: It was in Montreal. Maybe 13, 14 years old.

MARTIN BRODEUR: The Forum. My father works for them. He used to work for Montreal.

MARTIN BRODEUR: It's important. I think when the games start, it is going to be -- it's important that we keep that fear of these guys, knowing they could explode at any time and hurt us and embarrass us. It's important to keep that. If we don't have that, we are going to have a hard time playing against -- every time we get into a comfort zone against these guys, we seem to pay the price. We have to be on our toes and make sure that we are ready to play and ready to -- try to make the good things out there.