Marcel Dionne on Jonathan Quick and NHL goaltending

Jonathan Quick in retro gear (photo: Ikiri)

Fresh back from a five-day trip to Russia, Marcel Dionne arrived in LA last week to participate in the LA Kings Fantasy Camp. The night before he joined several other members of the Kings Alumni and this year's campers, I met with Dionne for a one-on-one interview, where we covered a wide range of topics.

[note: His thoughts on Anze Kopitar were posted here]

On his trip to Moscow, Dionne spent time with another Hall of Famer, Phil Esposito. They were there to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Russia-Canada Summit Series - including an outdoor game on legendary Red Square, a contest that featured former NHL greats Pavel Bure and Alexander Mogilny.

Dionne's 735 goals alone were enough to give some goalies nightmares. But, add in the more than 1,500 scored by that trio of companions and you're talking about an unlimited highlight reel of how to pick up points in the NHL.  Yet, in this feature, we'll take a look at the other side of putting pucks in the net - the guys wearing pads and a mask and trying to stop those snipers.

We began with an obvious one, Jonathan Quick - is he the real deal?

VIDEO: Quick beats Howard, gets interviewed by Lundqvist

Jonathan Quick is the Kings' lone representative at this weekend's NHL All-Star Game - and the team's first goalie to receive such an honor in thirty years. As part of tonight's Skills Competition, Quick first participated in the 'fastest skater' challenge, opposing Jimmy Howard from the Detroit Red Wings. Take a look...

Here are some other video highlights from throughout the evening:

- What the race looked like from Howard's helmet cam, click here.

- Later, Quick was in net for the 'elimination shootout' - an event he was most likely much more comfortable competing in. He stopped shots by Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars, Ryan Suter of the Nashville Predators and this one by Toronto's Joffrey Lupul.  The only guy to beat him was the Flyers (and former LA prospect) Kimmo Timonen (video link).

- At some point during all the fun, Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist took a few minutes to try and interview Quick (video link).

- Before things even got started, Quick chatted with the NHL Network's EJ Hradek - click this link to see why he was in the dressing room so early today and what he forgot about prior to landing in Ottawa.

The actual All-Star game is tomorrow afternoon. Quick, Lundqvist and Brian Elliot of the St. Louis Blues will share the goaltending responsibilities for Team Alfredsson, with each playing one period. No word yet on which segment will be assigned to Quick.

The Mayor
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