Holtby’s goal getting tougher
Capitals goalie has Brodeur’s single-season wins mark in sight, but it’s no sure thing
WASHINGTON — Of all the goaltending records owned by Martin Brodeur — and there are many — the one for most wins in a season was among the hardest to chase.
It felt, he said, like a yearlong “sprint.” There were years when he got close, notching 42 or 43 wins, then Brodeur made the sound of a car screeching to a halt.
As games grew more critical late in the season, they also grew closer and harder to win. Or the opposite was true, the outcome the same: Because the New Jersey Devils were in good position for the post-season, Brodeur didn’t play as much down the stretch. Maybe what made this record so hard to capture was that it wasn’t entirely in Brodeur’s control.
He needed help from his teammates.
“For me to have the most wins, that means I played on a great organization,” Brodeur said. “You ain’t getting the most wins ever if you’re playing on a last-position team. It just ain’t happening. I hate to break the news to anyone who thinks that they’re going to get it. It’s all about playing on good teams and winning.”
Braden Holtby read Brodeur’s book when he was younger, would gawk at Brodeur’s stats in goaltender magazines. The Washington Capitals goalie now has the opportunity to pass Brodeur in one category, just two wins from matching the singleseason wins record set by Brodeur during the 2006-07 season when he won 48 of his 78 starts.
Holtby likely will get just four more starts to break or tie that record (the Capitals played late Saturday night against the Arizona Coyotes). He’s unashamed to admit he wants it, too, because, as Brodeur noted, it would mean not simply individual success but team success.
“It obviously wasn’t a goal to start the year, but as time went on, it’d be a cool thing as a team to accomplish,” Holtby said recently. “It’s a hard thing to do. Right now, we’re just trying to sharpen our game as best we can. If we play our game the rest of the way, we should have a chance at breaking it as a team, but it’s not our main goal. We’re just trying to sharpen up.”
What will now likely be a photo finish seemed a forgone conclusion earlier in the season. Holtby had a stretch of 23 games from November to mid-January without a regulation loss, losing only twice overall in that span. He was on a pace not only to pass Brodeur for most wins in a season, but to do so by five games.
But as Washington slowed down slightly, so did Holtby. His save percentage and goals-against average have declined since the all-star break, a combination of the team not playing as well in front of him and Holtby struggling to find a rhythm when the Capitals weren’t practising as much because of their mammoth lead in the standings.
Capitals coach Barry Trotz said it was no different than a skater on a hot streak. But while Holtby wasn’t stealing games for Washington as often in the second half of the season, Trotz praised him for still making the saves the team needed to win most nights.
Holtby, a Lloydminster, Sask., native, has repeatedly referred to setting the wins record as a potential team accomplishment and the Capitals want this for their goalie. Through 62 starts, Holtby is tied for fourth all-time in single-season wins (46) — the only goalie to reach that mark starting fewer than 73 games.
“It matters to me because I’d heard about it recently and understand how crazy of a record that is,” defenceman Karl Alzner said.
“There’s a few that have been around the league that I’m just like, ‘That’s never going to get touched.’ Probably a lot of people thought this was one that would never even come close. To me, I think Holts would tell you that it’s not necessarily just a goaltender record. It’s kind of a thing for all of us, and we want to give him what he deserves. He’s played so good for us this season that we want his name to go up in history and have that as his honour. But it’s a little feather in our cap as well.”
“I think it’s nice for him, and I think it’s a great goal of his,” Brodeur said. “It’s funny. As goalies, you always hope that people are kind of behind you when you’re going for these records, not that you’re doing it personally, but you do it as a team. If you win, it’s not selfish. You win, everybody’s happy.”