Yet, Jonathan Quick has owned the crease the last two seasons.
He should have been voted to the NHL All-Star Game this year, he wasn't. And he was one of the team's best players all year long.
Still, the questions keep coming. Before the playoffs started, coach Terry Murray was adamant though when speaking to the media - Quick will play every game.
He stuck to his guns too, even while his peer on the other bench - Todd McLellan - was swapping around his netminders like a game of three-card monte in attempts to change momentum.
Earlier today, I asked Murray if, in hindsight, he wishes he would have done the same...
Murray - "Absolutely not. Jonathan Quick played tremendous hockey. He gave us the opportunity to win. He did his job. You go back into it, you want to talk about 52 shots - well, hey, that's your job. Stop the puck. That's hard, cold - but, that's a fact. You have to have your goaltender win a game for you. I believe in him and the goals that ended up going into the net in any one of those games that we can go back over, he did his job. We need to be better in front of him."
Perhaps that will calm all the Bernier, Bernier, Bernier talk on various message boards and social media sites.
But, I doubt it.
Quick hasn't received any respect around the league for two years. Why would it start now?
If you're thinking about roster changes, expect to see Bernier gone before Quick. That's not a knock on Bernier at all. He played well this year. It's more a function of the Kings needing offense and having few tradeable assets at the NHL level. We can get into that later though.
The Mayor
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photo courtesy of www.sharkspage.com
The Bernier chants will continue as long as Quick continues to exhibit focus problems, as he did from time to time throughout the season. I mean, fans don't call him Mr. Softie for nothin'.
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, it would be a waste and a shame to jettison Bernier without giving him a proper shot at the no. 1 spot.
If Bernier was starting, there would just be chants for Quick anyway. I remember in the shootout that Bernier lost, everyone said "Quick would have won that game, we should have played him!"
ReplyDeleteIt's just a grass is greener on the other side thing. But I do believe that Bernier is more likely to be gone before Quick, especially since the Kings seem to have some solid guys in the minors that can be a backup. I hope that we get another year of him though, love both our guys.
If we don't showcase Bernier more, we're not maximizing his trade value. I actually think Quick might be close to his peak value if we are simply talking about trade potential. Sell High/Buy low?
ReplyDeleteDemand for goalies was not very high over the last 12 months, but some teams may be shopping more actively this offseason. NJ needs to think about the post-Brodeur era. And even if they got by Buffalo, Philly will probably need to find ONE guy they can trust. I could see NJ being more interested in Bernier (lower cap hit, speaks French ;)), but Philly trying to target Quick (win now).
I'm on the fence would actually be traded first. Honestly I wouldn't trade either one of them as long as you don't have to. It's great to have 2 great goaltendeers. Also people need to lay off Quick,yes there are things he needs to improve on,but look at all that he has accomplished thus far and look at where he was statistically all year. He is ONLY 25! Which is only like 2 years older than Bernier,he still just needs to mature and keep improving.....which he will. He already has a good head on his shoulders he's all about the team and never takes the spotlight even if he was the reason the kings won and alot of the times he takes the responsibility for when they lose,saying he needed to be better even if the loss wasn't all on him.
ReplyDelete