HENRIK PUZZLED BY BRODEUR REMARK
Imagine Henrik Lundqvist's surprise upon discovering that Martin Brodeur had been quoted in the Jan. 14, 2008, edition of Sports Illustrated as saying of the Rangers' goaltender, "The way he plays is not something I like too much.
"Lundqvist is weird."
"I have to tell you, I respect Marty a lot, and it's always a great challenge for me to play against him, but I don't know what to say about what he said about me," a rather bemused Lundqvist told The Post yesterday. "Does he think my style is weird? I don't think I have a weird style.
"Does he think that I'm weird as person? I don't think I'm weird. I don't know what to say."
It's Round 7 of the Battle of the Hudson at the Garden tonight, the Rangers against the Devils, Lundqvist against Brodeur. Tonight, the Blueshirts go for their seventh straight without a defeat against New Jersey, the first six victories including one in OT and two via shootouts.
And tonight, Lundqvist aims to improve his startling 11-2-3 career record against Brodeur, who in turn is 5-8-3 against the King. That's a far cry from the 33-11-16 mark Brodeur owns against the 10 other Rangers' netminders he's faced since his rookie 1993-94 season.
This isn't just about the goaltenders. This is about two teams in disrepair. The Devils have scored a sum of three goals in losing four straight (0-3-1). The Rangers have won only once in regulation over their last 11 games. The sixth-place Blueshirts can tie the fourth-place Devils with a regulation victory tonight, though New Jersey owns the tiebreaker.
But it is about the goaltending. It is about Lundqvist consistently elevating his game against Brodeur and the Devils, against whom he's allowed five goals in six games this year. It is about the Rangers getting the one they need to beat Brodeur, who once went 23 straight (15 wins, 8 ties) without a loss to the Rangers from mid 1996-97 to late 2000-01.
"I take it as a real challenge to play against Marty and all the top goalies, and I love playing in the rivalry games we have against the Islanders and Devils," Lundqvist said. "Everyone knows how much Marty has accomplished.
"It's a challenge for me to try to beat him, but I don't take it personally more against him than any other top goalie."
In the SI article, Brodeur is described as being miffed that Lundqvist did not acknowledge him at last year's NHL awards ceremony in Toronto when both were nominees for the Vezina that the New Jersey netminder captured for the third time.
"I never really had the opportunity to meet him," Lundqvist said. "It's not in my nature to go up to someone and start talking.
"Of course I was a little surprised to hear he was insulted. I mean, it takes two to say hello, doesn't it?"
When the Devils owned the Rangers through a 24-3-13 run over seven years preceding the lockout, Brodeur crowed about his team's superiority. He luxuriated in kicking the Blueshirts while they were down.
Now, though, with the Rangers 6-0 this season and 13-6-3 against the Devils since the lockout, Brodeur claims it's no big deal.
That's weird.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/rangers/item_CCs6Wxs8MGVex3VSwqfXlJ;jsessionid=458546FC191E1CE684AAB892CCD769B3#ixzz0jAFO05r0
Here is the link to the original Sports Illustrated article:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/michael_farber/01/08/goalies0114/
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