Jonathan Quick has been the worst goaltender through the start of the 2014 NHL Playoffs. This shouldn’t come as a surprise as his numbers are the likes of Marc-Andre Fleury during the 2012 and 2013 playoffs. However, the question has be asked while watching his performance through the first two games against San Jose, “is this the start of the decline to his career?”
The playoff stat line isn’t the most shocking part about Quick. His 7.22 goals against average and .824 save percentage is right where he finished the regular season. In the four games that concluded the season in April, Quick won only one start while losing the final two contests in a shootout. In those last three contests Quick gave up eight goals 82 shots.
In an interview with NHL.com before Game 3, Quick addressed his struggles saying:
“I got things to do this afternoon. I don’t want to get into all of them. I don’t know if it’s not feeling sharp. It’s just [that] I’m not doing the job. I feel fine. When I’m going into the games, I feel good. I think it’s going to go the way we want it to go, but it hasn’t. You got a routine that you’ve had for years, that you feel works. It’s worked in the past. It hasn’t worked the past two games, but you’re just going to stick with your routine and focus on the details. Like I said earlier, we’re trying to win one game and go from there.”
While he says he feels fine, Quick did go through a minor surgery on his back to remove a inflammatory cyst and a disc fragment after winning the Stanley Cup in 2012. However, as he ages and as his playoff stats continue to trend downward, the start of injuries popping up have to concern Kings fans.
While he says he feels fine, Quick did go through a minor surgery on his back to remove a inflammatory cyst and a disc fragment after winning the Stanley Cup in 2012. However, as he ages and as his playoff stats continue to trend downward, the start of injuries popping up have to concern Kings fans.
Kings fans should pay attention to what happened to Fleury. He had two great post season runs, in 2008 and
2009, and then collapsed in 2010, ’11 and ’12. Those putrid playoff runs have all but ended his career as a Penguin. If his contract wasn’t so massive, this could be the first domino that could have ended his time in LA.
But, if he continues to disappoint in the playoffs, then are we in fact seeing a once great goalie start the downtrend of his career? A career that will stay on the Kings’ financial books until the 2023 season making them and him stuck in a distant past when they were champions.
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I’m a huge Sharks fan but this article is ridiculous. For one, 7.22 GAA and .82SV% is not even close to where he ended the season. 8 goals on 82 shots is slightly above a 90% SV% and is certainly nowhere near his GAA in the playoffs right now. It may be human nature to worry about things like this when a player has two bad games, so I won’t complain about the premise of this article, but at least do a better job writing it by checking your facts before berating a Conn Smythe winning goalie and one of the best in the game. He did afterall near single handedly knock my team out the 2nd round last season.