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?

Stoll and Quick Do Their Thing Again in the Shootout

Well, the Kings are getting better as the homestand rolls along.

Zero points on Thursday, one point Saturday and (finally) two points tonight. The games are also getting longer - going from regulation vs. the Blues to needing overtime against the Ducks...and then (finally) downing the Flames via a shootout.

In a game that was set up perfectly for the triumphant return of Ryan Smyth - the missing King for the last 20-plus games, going head to head with the team he's played more than any other club in the NHL (74 games vs. the Flames) - in the end, it just wasn't meant to be. He finished the night with zero points and was a minus-one.

However, it was business as usual for Jonathan Quick and Jarret Stoll. You'd be hard pressed to think of a more 'sure thing' in the game of hockey right now. If it's a shootout, Quick will win it (8-0) and Stoll will score in it (now seven for eight on the season, that's a whopping 88% success rate).