Martin Brodeur

What impresses me the most about Martin Brodeur is how calm he is all the time. I know he has had an amazing career, but when you get older, you tend to recognize more what’s on the line. He is really good about not getting caught up in everything.

Also, I think he’s better than he ever was. He is continuing to evolve with today’s style. Goalies used to stand up all the time, but they are now virtually going down on every shot. Years ago, goalies would come out of net to challenge, would play the angles. There is very little of that. You have to play in the net and react to the cross-crease pass. Brodeur has really put in the time and done his homework to learn that. He still comes out more than most goalies, but he can do that because he has such a strong defense in front of him.

Strengths and weakness: Like Giguere, Brodeur doesn’t have any weaknesses. His two biggest strengths are skating ability and athleticism. He is so athletic that he is able to make tough plays and still look graceful.

Suggested plan of attack: I would try cross-crease passes because there might be more holes coming across. You might be able to put one in the five hole. I’m not suggesting there would be a lot of holes and I’m not suggesting it will be easy. With Brodeur, it never is.

Kelly Hrudey is second to Rogie Vachon in games and wins on the Kings’ all-time goaltending list, but Hrudey stands alone in one category. He is the only goalie to lead the Kings to the Stanley Cup finals. That was 10 years ago when they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in five games. Now a television hockey analyst in Canada, Hrudey lives in Calgary. He is serving as The Times’ guest columnist for this year’s Stanley Cup finals.