Martin Pierre Brodeur is a Canadian-American former ice hockey player who was born on May 6, 1972, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is former ice hockey goaltender and the assistant general manager for the St. Louis blues of the national hockey league. He is one of the fifth children to Denis Brodeur (his father) and Mireille Brodeur (his mother). The family has altogether five children including martin. Martin has two elder sisters; Sylvie Brodeur and Line Brodeur and two elder brothers; Denis Brodeur Jr. and Claude Brodeur. His father Denis has played in the Olympics for team Canada in 1956 and won a bronze medal. Denis was a longtime photographer for the Montreal Canadians after his playing career. He was admired by the Canadians goaltender Patrick Roy.
Brodeur started his career towards hockey as a forward. He continued playing hockey as a forward and began his goaltending career when his coach asked him if he wanted to play as a backup at the position in a youth tournament. According to him, he was asked by his coach whether to be a goalie or forward this year which was the biggest decision of his life. He was seven years old during that period. Finally, he came to the decision of being a goalie in his career. He stopped playing hockey when he was 12 years old, after being removed from his team's lineup for not showing up at the game. He then decided to continue playing following a conversation with his Claude. Brodeur was taught a variety of different styles, ranging from butterfly to stand-up. He paid attention to the technique of others playing the position. He then attended the camp run by Vladislav Tretiak, a retired soviet goalie, who encouraged him about the use of multiple methods. He made it to the Quebec major junior league in 1989-90 seasons. He made the QMJHL All-Rookie team in 1989-90 and the QMJHL 2nd All-Star team in 1991-92 while playing with the Saint-Hyacinthe laser. He was drafted in the first round of the 1990 NHL entry draft by the New Jersey devils.
Brodeur spent most of his time with the Utica devils of the American hockey league in the 1991-92 NHL season. He was called up to the NHL on an emergency basis for four games when New Jersey goaltenders Chris Terreri and Craig Billington became injured. he won his NHL debut against the Boston bruins scoring 4-2and also played in one playoff game in that season. He spent the following season in the AHL with Utica and returned to the NHL permanently in the 1993-94 seasons. There he gained recognition winning the Calder Trophy, which is an annual award, is given to the best rookie in the NHL. He led 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. They defeated the Boston bruins in the 1st round with the leadership of Brodeur. He gave up only nine goals and helped the devils defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins in five games in the second round against the penguins. In the third round, the devils defeated the Philadelphia flyers in six games, giving them their first ever Stanley cup final appearance in franchise history. He was also awarded his first of four Vezina trophies as the league's top goalie in that year.
The NHL instituted a changed rule preventing goaltenders from playing the puck behind the goal line, except within a trapezoid-shaped zone which is located behind the net in 2005. This was viewed by many but Brodeur was the best one at getting behind the net to handle the puck. This rule has come to be known as "Brodeur Rule". He signed a tryout contract with the St. Louis Blues on November 26, 2014, after their starting netminder, Brain Elliott was injured. He signed a one-year, 700,000 dollars deal with the Blues on December 2, 2014. He was hired by the blues as a special assistant to GM Doug Armstrong after his retirement. Brodeur and the Blues agreed to a three-year contract naming him as an assistant general manager of the team. The New Jersey devils revealed a bronze statue of Brodeur on February 8, 2016, which will be displayed outside the prudential center. The statue was formally dedicated in a ceremony before the game against the Minnesota wild on October 22, 2016.
Brodeur used to live in north Caldwell, New Jersey and currently lives in West Orange, New Jersey which is near to the devils' former practice facility, south mountain arena. He became a naturalized United States citizen on December 1, 2009. He got married to Melanie Dubois in august 1995. The couple has altogether four children. Anthony is the first child as a son who was born to this couple in 1995. They had twin sons in 1996 whose name were William and Jeremy. Finally, they had a daughter in 2002 whose name is Annabelle Antoinette. During the 2003 playoffs, Melanie filed for divorce to her husband reporting that he was having an affair with Genevieve Nault, the wife of Melanie's brother. The incident was referred to by opposing fans but proved to be true when he and Genevieve married in June 2008. The first child born to them after their marriage was Maxime Philippe Brodeur in November 2009. Brodeur co-owns a business with his former teammate Sheldon Souray. It is a restaurant called la pizzeria etc.
He stands 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 216 pounds. According to some sources, he earns a salary of 700,000 dollars and has a wonderful net worth of 55 million dollars.
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