Martin Brodeur was born on May 6, 1972, in Montreal. He was one of five children of Denis and Mireille Brodeur. Denis played in the 1956 Olympics for Team Canada and won a bronze medal. After his playing career, Denis was a longtime photographer for the Montreal Canadiens.

In the 1991-92 NHL season, Brodeur spent most of his time with Saint-Hyacinthe in the QMJHL, but was called up to the NHL on an emergency basis for four games when New Jersey goaltenders Chris Terreri and Craig Billington became injured. Brodeur won his NHL debut against the Boston Bruins, 4-2, and played in one playoff game that season. Brodeur spent the following season with the Utica Devils of the American Hockey League (AHL). However, in the 1993-94 season, Brodeur returned to the NHL permanently and gained recognition when he won the Calder Trophy, an annual award for the best rookie in the NHL. He led the Devils to 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. He finished 2nd in goals against average (GAA) (2.40) and 4th in save percentage (.915) in 47 games played during the regular season, helping him eventually land the starting job over Terreri.  In the 1994-95 NHL season, which was shortened to 48 games due to an extended lockout, the Devils finished tied for 9th overall, 5th in their conference. With the leadership of Brodeur, they defeated the Boston Bruins in the 1st round, shutting them out in three of their four wins. In the second round against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Brodeur gave up only nine goals and helped the Devils defeat the Penguins in five games. In the third round, the Devils defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in six games, giving them their first Stanley Cup Final appearance in franchise history, against the heavily favoured Detroit Red Wings. The strong play of Brodeur and the Devils' "trap" method of defence made the series lopsided in favour of New Jersey, who swept the Red Wings 4 games to 0 while holding them to just seven goals in four games. Brodeur won a Stanley Cup in only his second full season in the NHL. After the victory, he was quoted as saying:  In the last game against Detroit, the time from ten minutes left to one minute left was probably the longest nine minutes of my life. But from one to zero was probably the greatest time I've ever had. I didn't want the clock to run out. It was such a great feeling: people crying in the stands, people jumping up and down, people cheering. Guys couldn't even sit up on the bench. It was probably the best minute of my life. Answer this question using a quote from the following article:

any other team apart from that
the Devils defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in six games, giving them their first Stanley Cup Final appearance in franchise history,