#5: The Martin Brodeur Rule and the Trapezoid
Dump the puck behind the New Jersey net, and there was a fair chance Martin Brodeur would get there before your forechecker did. That created an unusual frustration for opposing teams. Instead of behaving like a goaltender who waited patiently in his crease, Brodeur could leave the net, control the puck comfortably, and send it back toward his defensemen before an attack ever developed. His teammates sometimes described the advantage as having a third defenseman. When the NHL returned from its 2004-05 lockout, two diagonal lines appeared behind every goal, forming the trapezoid that remains familiar today.
