"If you put Marty Brodeur on any team, he's going to make the team great. But here we have a great group of guys, but also the best goaltender in the world. You ask around the league and they will tell you if you have Marty Brodeur on your team, it will improve your chances."
Jamie Langenbrunner, on the other hand, said this, "Everybody plays a system that is good for the goaltender. Marty Brodeur is better because of the system he plays and if you put him in any system, he's good."
The players will always give their teammate credit, but the fact is it's Brodeur's drive to win, which makes the Devils so good.
Every year, the future Hall of Famer comes back because he has the thirst to dink out of the cup one more time. His ability to go into every game with playoff intensity allows him to fight for the one-goal win.
"Tight games prepare yourself for the playoffs," Brodeur said after he defeated the Rangers in a shootout, 3-2. "We won a lot of games by one goal. This is playoff hockey. You have to play with a small lead or come back from small deficit. That's what we have been doing."
It also helps when the team is local. Brodeur's intensity seems to go up a notch, just because his drive to win starts with the division.
"You have to," he answered. "If you win your division, you are in a pretty good position in the playoffs. In the same situation they want to do that to us. And if they do get in there’s a pretty good chance they will play us. There are things that you have to do to teams in your division."
Three Stanley Cup wins taught the 34 year-old that winning comes first. It started when he first came up in 1993 [he had a cup of coffee two years before] and it just never ended.
It also makes him come back for more every year.
"It's the passion," Brodeur said. "I love this game and being a part of the team. When you win with a team, it's a feeling that's hard to get. I saw the '95 team the other day and it's a feeling I miss. It's something I want to take with me. I want to enjoy every single minute of my career, so I want to make the best of it."
That is what amazes his teammates, even in practice.
"It's no secret he's the best goalie in the game," said Brian Gionta. "You give up any chance and he's going to back you. Just going at him in practice everyday, you get challenged by the best goaltender in the league and possibly history."
And that should answer "the chicken and the egg" question.
