Playing the position of goalie is a high risk and at times thankless job. Its also one of the hardest jobs in professional sports. If you're a good enough goalie to make it to the NHL, you must be doing something right. There have been a lot of great American netminders to play the game. Mike Richter, Tom Barraso, John Vanbiesbrouck, Ryan Miller, Tim Thomas are the names that usually first come to mind. You can add another name to that list. Jonathan Quick. As of this past weekend, Quick won career game #392, passing Ryan Miller for the most by an American born goalie.
Quick has had himself quite the career for himself. He was a third round pick, 72nd overall, by the Kings in 2005. Quick made the jump to the NHL for three games during the 2007-08 regular season, becoming the Kings full time starter the next season. He played a total of 16 seasons in a Kings uniform, winning 370 games, and collecting a pair of Stanley Cup Rings. He then won another ring las season getting traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, playing ten games in Vegas. He signed this offseason with the Rangers, winning another 17 games (as of this writing), including the record breaker over the weekend in Arizona. He's won a Conn Smyth in 2012, the Jennings in 2014 and his three cup rings.
What was so special about Quick?
He lived up to his last name. He had lightning fast reflexes and made some saves that were tough to make for any normal person. He played his best hockey during the playoffs, and was a MAJOR factor as to why the Kings have their two Cups. He has been on the decline in recent years, that's why he's serving as the backup on Broadway.
But when the game was on the line and you needed a big stop, Quick would be the man to make it. There was some nights, during his time in Los Angeles, where he would keep the Kings in a lot of hockey games. He was one of the better goalies in the league for a stretch and helped get the Kigns back to relevance.
Congratulations to Jonathan Quick for becoming the all time winningest American board goalie in NHL history!
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