"I'm a spectator out there too, you know," Brodeur said of matching a goalie like Roy save-for-save. "I'm watching. It's something where you want to make sure you're ready for the chances you're going to get, so you can't get overwhelmed by the other guy playing over his head.

"Every time you play one of the best goalies in the League you want to beat him," he said. "A lot depends on who you play against, but most of the time it gets a little easier to pick up your game when you play against a goalie that you know is going to play well."

In many respects finishing second twice to Hasek for the Vezina Trophy (1997, '98) has been a motivating factor for the affable Brodeur. He doesn't begrudge Hasek the award. In fact, Brodeur is quick to credit Hasek for his skills and accomplishments. Still, he thinks his performance was worthy of the award.

"I was a little surprised for sure, but losing to a guy like Dominik Hasek, it's hard to be really sour about it," Brodeur said. "I wanted to win it. I thought I had the stats to do it. But it's not my fault that Dominik Hasek played so well. He won the Hart Trophy (as the NHL's most valuable player), too.

"If I win the Vezina in my career, it probably will be with worse stats than I had in 1996-97," Brodeur says with a smile. "It will be really tough to top what I did that year. Not winning the Vezina was disappointing, but I've got to live with it. I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't care about it. It's something that any goalie wants. It's personal. It's not about the team. It's just me. I felt I was good enough to be able to win it. But I didn't, so be it."

Besides being a spark for great competition, Brodeur uses his head-to-head battles with opposing goalies as a measuring stick for his own progress.

"I think you'd be crazy not to look at other players that people are saying you are as good as him or whatever. So you try to compare yourself, but I think everybody is in a different kind of situation playing in different systems. And we're all good for our team, important for our team; so I think that's where you've got to make a big difference to see where you're at.

"I think for the last five years or so goalies have been more dominant than before. And a lot has got to do with the way the game is played. I think guys are a little smarter about the way they play hockey in front of you. I think a lot of attention is brought up to the goalies the last few years. Just with Dominik winning all the awards that he did, the performance of certain goalies in the playoffs, Stanley Cups and stuff, I think it brings the image of a goalie to be a real important player on the team, not just the guy that couldn't skate. So, I think that's why people are looking up and paying attention to goalies. You know the masks and the equipment are really sharp, and I think people are really looking up to goalies more than ever now."

The Devils are a team that has been built with a "team-first" approach. New Jersey doesn't sign a lot of high-priced free agents. The majority of Devils -- including Brodeur -- are nurtured through the team's farm system. But Brodeur has gone on to become a NHL superstar, and New Jersey's most popular player.

"I just go out and enjoy myself," Brodeur shrugged when asked about his approach to the game.

Martin Brodeur is closing in on a record eight-straight seasons with 30 or more victories.

OK, so it will be left to others to rank Brodeur's place in the history of the game.

"I played with Terry Sawchuk and I thought he was one of the best ever," said Jacques Caron, the Devils' goaltending coach and longtime Brodeur tutor. "I see a lot of Terry in him. I also see a lot of Jacques Plante because he stands in the right place and Glenn Hall because of the butterfly style. So he is a combination of the three greatest goaltenders I've seen, and nobody could handle the puck the way Marty does."

"I don't know if it's different from what other people see, but I do appreciate (Brodeur's) ability to stick with the basics pretty well," said Richter, who has waged many a battle with Brodeur in the heated Devils-Rangers rivalry. "Everybody's got different styles, and I think Martin adheres to the things that are going to make a goaltender successful. He's centered on the puck, really well-balanced, he controls his rebounds. He's a pretty controlled goaltender. Whether you stand up or go down isn't as important as whether you adhere to the basics that make you successful. He definitely does that. He's a great competitor. He doesn't seem to let goals or bad games or any kind of negative event affect him too much."

And Minnesota Wild coach Jacques Lemaire, the longtime Devils coach, sees Brodeur continuing to improve. After all, most goalies don't reach their peak until they reach their early 30s.

"Not a chance," Lemaire says when asked if Brodeur's game could fall apart. "You look at him in practice, and he's like that every day. He has fun playing this game. He reminds me of Patrick Roy so much. Not the way he is in the net, but the way he enjoys practices, games. He enjoys the game, and that's why he is as good as he is."

"He's going to be among the greats for a long time," New Jersey defenseman Ken Daneyko said. "He's young and his potential is unlimited. He's a star in the League now, and he'll be a superstar when it is all said and done."