As I noted on Twitter earlier today, Jonathan Quick left the ice first at the morning skate and is likely to start in net for Los Angeles. It would be his fifth consecutive start and the sixth consecutive game he has played.
Quick is 8-4-4 lifetime against San Jose with a 2.52 goals against average, a .912 save percentage and two shutouts over 16 games, all starts.
I’ll have more on Quick and tonight’s match up later this afternoon following some interesting Darryl Sutter quotes about the owners he has coached for and recollections of a young Patrick Marleau.
A good place for the Conn Smythe winner to get his groove back.
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Lake Forest Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 1:40 pm
@Shotongoal, Let’s hope!
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RobSD Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 1:53 pm
@Shotongoal,
If he puts up another stinker… when do you start playing Bernier more?
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Shotongoal Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:45 pm
@RobSD, I don’t think he really put up a “stinker” in PHX if that’s what you’re referring to. I do think he’s chasing the puck a bit too much and that can only be corrected by more playing time. So I guess my answer would be that he plays as much as physically possible and Bernier does what is best for this team, and that’s to be a solid backup when called upon.
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vinny Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:53 pm
@Shotongoal, I think he’d definitely like to have the first and fourth goal back, but I still agree in getting him in as much as he can take
HockeyNerd Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:04 pm
@Shotongoal, +1
Well, why not? The Kings didn’t lose their last game because of poor goal tensing… I just hope Bernie is able to.stay sharp without much game time…
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LVKINGS88 Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:14 pm
@shiny, Not poor tensing, but partially tending, JQ could have and should have stopped at least 2 of those goals. I like JQ’s record against the Sharts,I would like to see what JB’s record is.Here’s to Quick playing out of his mind and hopefully DS has this team hungry cuz we need some wins.
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Lake Forest Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:32 pm
@LVKINGS88, i think he meant poor-cleansing.
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I don’t know what Bernier has to do to get Sutter’s trust. He’s been playing better than Quick. It doesn’t mean throwing Quick under the bus. But like Sutter said with the short season, its a race not a marathon, and you have to go with who is hot at the time. Bernier is plaing better than Quick for the time, and should get the start.
Okay… you can start with the rebuttals.
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MickSorley Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 1:48 pm
@NOW IMPRESSED, Quick is out #1. That hasn’t changed. He needs to build confidence by performing well against good teams. It’s Vital that he has that confidence going into he playoffs.
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MickSorley Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 1:48 pm
@MickSorley, *OUR #1
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shiny Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 1:50 pm
@NOW IMPRESSED, we’re a little over halfway through the season. If Quick doesn’t bring up his sv%, there’s no way we’re going to survive the playoffs, especially as everybody will be gunning for the Kings to say they took down the reigning Champs.
I do wish he’d start Bernier more often, though, just because he needs the play time almost as badly.as Quick.does
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NOW IMPRESSED Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 1:55 pm
@shiny, What you really meant to say was if Quick doesn’t bring up his sv% there’s no way we’re going to MAKE the playoffs. At the very least, starting Bernier more often will increase his trade value. What good is having a good back-up if Sutter has no trust in him? Just a couple of weeks ago Sutter was saying the goalie compitition was good for the team and you all agreed. And now???
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LVKINGS88 Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:19 pm
@NOW IMPRESSED, How soon they forget,huh? I agree with you,sometimes what DS says does not come to fruition.
shiny Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:20 pm
@NOW IMPRESSED, there is no goalie market at the moment, so trade value is sorta useless *at this moment*
But I think even with Quick’s lackluster performance so far this season, I still think we can make the playoffs. I don’t think we’ll survive the first round, though, unless the whole team improves significantly, which they will once they hit playoffs but every other team will be playing to their highest abilities as well.
I say split the goalies. I know Quickie is #1, but God forbid something happens, we need Bernier to be sharp and ready. But I trust Sutter will make the right decision. You never know if it truly paid off until later down the road.
PP Anybody? Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:37 pm
@NOW IMPRESSED, Well, if we all want Quick to improve his game this year, the only way it’s going to happen is by playing.
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HockeyNerd Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:41 pm
@NOW IMPRESSED, You present a reasonable argument. The way I see it is that when the playoffs roll around 1 of 2 things will happen: Quick will be back in form and we will have a decent chance to repeat or Quick will not be back in form and we will be in trouble. It is worth taking a VERY small risk of missing the playoffs to have Quick play his way out of this funk. His play will not improve from the bench. It is not that DS doesn’t trust Bernier.
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brian spain Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:44 pm
@NOW IMPRESSED, Bernier was lit up in his last start. remember he was pulled out of the game.
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LVKINGS88 Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:54 pm
@brian spain, On a back to back,but the funny thing is I didn’t read anybody defending him like they do Quicks last outing,sure Quick didn’t have the best D in front of him the last game but 2 of those goals are JQ stoppable.JB gave up three deflection goals with no D in front of him, and it’s his fault.Lets be fair here folks when it comes to both of our goalies, JQ is not playing like JQ of 8mo ago, JB has a better record, either way we need both goalie’s playing great as well as the rest of the team and coaches as well.
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NOW IMPRESSED Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:00 pm
@LVKINGS88, The voice of reason, thank you.
Robbie Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 5:11 pm
@LVKINGS88, Bernier gave up one goal a game in five games prior to getting the early hook after the three freaky redirects, one off of his defenseman, and hasn’t played a minute since. Lombardi is moving goalies around down in the minors. Look for Bernier to be gone unless Ranford comes to grips with the fact that Quick’s glove problems might be related more to the after effects from his back surgery than with what playing shape he is in. Quick deinitely has been overcompensating with his chest and mask to make saves lately.
JD Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 6:48 pm
@LVKINGS88, well done, excellent post
Kings x Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:53 pm
@NOW IMPRESSED, who ever is the hot goalie will be ridden in the playoffs. That’s all that matters
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NOW IMPRESSED Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:02 pm
@Kings x, That’s all I’m asking, but Bernier will not be given the chance to be the hot goalie. You’ll are kidding yourselves if you think Bernier is going to re-sign with the Kings only to sit on the bench.
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HockeyNerd Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:09 pm
@NOW IMPRESSED, I don’t recall anybody here claiming that.
Forum67 Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:08 pm
@NOW IMPRESSED,
No rebuttal from me, just agreement.
Sutter is the coach so he gets to make the decisions. As a fan, I get to disagree with some of his decisions if I so choose. My issue is not understanding how Sutter’s actions match up with his comments. He said he’d go with the hot goalie. Well I know we don’t have a hot goalie right noe but Bernier is a lot closer to that description than Quick. Sutter said Quick’s save percentage had to improve. Since that comment it has gone even lower.
What I, and some of the others have to get our arms around, is that Sutter is a coach that basically is going to rise or fall on the shoulders of his No. 1 goalie’s performance. Some Calgary fans, when Sutter was the coach there, supported his overwhelming use of Kiprusoff in the nets (some would say overuse) to the fact that Calgary never had a reliable backup goalie during his tenure. Well that’s not the case now. So whether we like it or not (and I don’t), we will rise or fall on Quick’s performance.
Sutter’s lack of use of Bernier seals the deal, this Bernier’s last season as a member of the Kings.
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LVKINGS88 Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:32 pm
@Forum67, Concur, some of what Sutter says he doesn’t follow through with…right…We all want our goalies/team and even our coaches, I think go with the hot goalie but do not over work them,I don’t like the back 2 backs with our goalies, it looks like so far we don’t have a goalie who can do it. If JQ comws out and plays JQ lights out then sure he plays Saturday,if it’s a b2b night I’d say no.
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Whoever is in net, the Kings need to play their game for the full 60. That’s the recipe for success for this team. JB or JQ should make the saves they need to make if the rest of the team plays the way they are supposed to.
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HockeyNerd Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:51 pm
@vplaza, I think we may be unrealistic here. It would be nice if we played every minute of every period of every game like we played in the playoffs, but we now know that isn’t going to be so. Particularly without Greene and Mitchell. Any half component Goalie in the NHL can win if the team in front of them “plays like they are supposed to”. Unfortunately this is the real world and there are picked off passes, missed assignments, tired players, etc. Top tier goaltenders need to WIN GAMES BY THEMSELVES that the team had no business winning. We know Quick has that in him. He needs to get it back.
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Kings x Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:53 pm
@HockeyNerd, we need a stay at home d man
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HockeyNerd Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:58 pm
@Kings x, That will not happen unless we give up something valuable and it may not happen at all. We’re going to have to deal with that, and part of that means Quick playing a lot better.
HockeyNerd Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:00 pm
@iPhone that needs to stop thinking it knows what I meant, “Half Competent”
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Duncanz Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 4:39 pm
@HockeyPhone, That iNerd of yours is giving me fits!
What about Bernie’s confidence? He proved he was the better goalie this season and then never played again. If Quick does not pan out this season, we will have nothing.
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shiny Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:39 pm
@WTF, in all honesty, I think Quick is the better goalie in general. But, it’s possible he tries to overcompensate for the D’s mistakes and he still has a habit of sliding out too far from the net while Bernier just waits for the puck to come to him and is doing a better job this season in controlling rebounds, which killed us in the Coyotes game.
I just hope someone reminds Quick to keep his 5 hole shut tonight. Squeeze like ya gotta pee
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HockeyNerd Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:44 pm
@WTF, No, we will still have Bernier assuming we do not trade him.
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Robbie Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 5:29 pm
@HockeyNerd, If Bernier goes through the UFA route a number of clubs will give him more money than stingy Lombardi will or can offer. Unless Quick gets injured Bernier’s gone. Like Camalari, Simmonds, Schenn, Johnson, Boyle, Hanzeus and Loktionov, may he prosper elsewhere.
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Duncanz Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 6:02 pm
@Robbie, I’m thrilled Dean Lombardi is so stingy.
His sly thriftiness has put the club in a brilliant position for several years out.
And I’ll happily put up my current Kings vs a team based around the exes you mention – any week, any time!
Gustavo Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:01 pm
@WTF,
Yeah, right…Last time JB played, Quick had to replace him to save the game,
Quick is the #1 goalie. Get over it.
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NOW IMPRESSED Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:05 pm
@Gustavo, And the last time Quick played he gave up 5 goals. Look at the stats, Sutter himself talked about the importance of save % which Bernier has and Quick does not.
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OT
If the Vancouver repeat riots of 2011 were not a governmental fiasco big enough enough to shame every public official, this certainly is, lol…
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/03/14/11-hockey-rioters-break-court-conditions/UPI-39971363263308/
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Alright, well Hope JQ gets a shut out!
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Shotongoal Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:48 pm
@Lake Forest, the dreaded “S” word before the game is over…..UGH!
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Lake Forest Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:52 pm
@Shotongoal, sorry dude, I totally forgot, but technically i used two words so the curse doesnt apply.
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shiny Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:57 pm
@Lake Forest, great, not only will he NOT get it, but now we’re doomed to lose all because you had to go and use the dreaded S word as TWO words! Quick, someone get a virgin… there’s lots of work to be done here
(Just messing with ya)
Shotongoal Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:15 pm
@Lake Forest, we can only wish it were that easy! Lol
Kings x Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:54 pm
@Lake Forest, jinxer what’s your problem?
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LVKINGS88 Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:03 pm
@Lake Forest, Of his locker?,the bathroom?.
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Lake Forest Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:08 pm
@LVKINGS88, IF anyone remembers, when my daughter was born JQ had 3 consecutive shut outs.
I didnt see any presents from anyone for my daughters control over those shut outs…..
…but suuuuure, let’s concentrate on the negatives!
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LVKINGS88 Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:20 pm
@Lake Forest, How well I remember that,not the shot outs, but your daughters being born,lol. Yes three shutout by Quicky and then coach puts JB in,sheesh.
Duncanz Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 4:46 pm
@Loose Bloggest, That post might have been singularly more dangerous than 378 posts last night …. just sayin’.
[crosses all fingers and toes while unsuccessfully trying to throw salt over shoulder]
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Read an interesting article online earlier. Pretty much was about how dominant of a puck possession team the Kings are and they are reaching record highs with possession. Basically said how dominant the Kings have been this year playing wise without solid goaltender contributions. Just imagine how good they can be if they continue scoring at their current pace and Quick picks it up in goal. They could be downright scary.
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FKA PakiFro Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:54 pm
@Ryan,
The broadstreet hockey one? It was good.
Really supports the dominance we see in the cycle and forecheck with hard numbers. Like you said, if Quick picks it up…even to just a .910 sv pct, this team will be hard to stop.
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Kings x Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:55 pm
@Ryan, add another stay at home d man to the fold without giving up a roster player and goaltending will be that much better
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shiny Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:59 pm
@Kings x, I’m still holding out hope that Matt Greene comes back soon
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HockeyNerd Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 5:32 pm
@Kings x, “Add another stay at home D Man…. WITHOUT giving up a roster player”.
Right. Sounds easy enough. DL what on earth are you waiting for? I’m sure 29 other teams would live to help us plug our biggest weakness without us giving up an asset! Why didn’t you think of that????
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Summary: when a Goaltender gives up a goal and a half on average in 20 games against the league’s elite, then has back surgery and starts off a little slow I am not going to throw him under the bus just yet.
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Kings x Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 2:57 pm
@HockeyNerd, quick is really only as good as he is because of the defense and team in front of him. Same with pekka Rinne. The defense first based teams make the goalies lights out. Makes the defense worse and the goalies seem worse.
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HockeyNerd Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:07 pm
@Kings x, So did he not deserve the Conn Smythe? In your mind is he playing just as well as he did last season
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HockeyNerd Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:41 pm
@HockeyNerd, that was meant to be a question, I apologize. Do you think Quick is playing just as well as last season?
Duncanz Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 4:57 pm
@HockeyNerd, By the same token, overplaying him early could be considered throwing him under the bus.
We can’t be sure whether or not he’s still recovering, but I’ve said before, I almost hope he is still feeling lingering effects because his timing and positioning are slightly off right now and it looks as if he’s not picking up the flight of the puck.
Even for the coaching staff’s decision to run with him, the jury’s still out at the monent, only time will tell.
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Duncanz Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 5:00 pm
That is to say, I hope it’s simply the process of recovery that’s inhibiting JQ and not a hard-to-dig-out-of drop-off in form.
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Folks, it is not our goalies, it is our defence. The 5 new defencemen (5 of 7 have played less than 150 games) are still learning. They need experience and they are getting it. the key is making the playoffs with these guys. They will gain experience and confidence.
The competition enviroment with young players does not promote the team mentality. Players start to think of themselves first.
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LVKINGS88 Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:14 pm
@jet, Not true, look at JB’s #’s he basically had the same D, he had the same D on the b2b games,the first game he gave up one goal,the next he gave up four and three of them were deflections.JQ on his b2b gave up 1 or 2 against Cal and 4 against the Yotes, one was a deflect while 2 of them were stoppable by JQ standards.The D needs work, yes , but JQ is having problems as well.
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jet Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:45 pm
@LVKINGS88, the defence is inconsistent at best. They play well some games and poorly others. The defence or lack thereof is independant of the goalie. If they give up 6 shots in the middle of the ice then we will have a higher GA and a lower S%. Both Goalies are playing very well. We need have tighter coverage between the circles and be more physical in the blue.
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LVKINGS88 Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:57 pm
@jet, True about the D but I think JQ is playing inconsistent, I’m hoping, as we all do that he plays light out tonite,I’m not liking the b2b for either goalie, it hasn’t worked out.
jet Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 4:42 pm
@jet, Look, in a normal season I would agree with you with regards to b2b, but one important part of becoming a solid defence unit is the communication between goalie and defencemen. Part of that is verbal, but another part is faith, or trusting your teammates will cover your (exposures). Quick needs to learn the new5′s vulnerbilities as part of the growth process. Typically, you only want one defenceman with fewer than 150 games played, so that this understanding has time to develop. 5 of our 7 defencemen are new. This puts great stress on the growth which will be incredibly challanging. Sutter is doing everything he can given the situation. He is even showing extreme patience with this group and you may have noticed patience is his challange.
HockeyNerd Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 3:54 pm
@jet, I know save percentage can be misleading but Quick under .900? That MUST improve.
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LVKINGS88 Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 4:08 pm
@HockeyNerd, I wonder if Quick is having a hard time with the surgery, SC hangover or the fact that we don’t have MG or WM back there, or all the above. Last year when there was a defensive break down, Quick stood on his head,this year he gives up what I call, a JQ stoppable goal, something you know he would have stopped last year. I don’t know about you but I cringe every time a shot come in on JQ,the end of the season and most of the PO I didn’t have that problem and it’s not from the alcohol either,lol. I don’t know if it’s confidence issue, I get that he has a young D but still he’s not the same.
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jet Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 5:05 pm
@LVKINGS88, I do not have time right now, but let me ask you one favor. go back to the last two seasons and find the games that big willie missed. There were maybe a dozen each year. Then compare the team’s win % with him as compared to the team’s wim % without him. I would venture to guess we are over 100 points better with him.
Second, consider that we had to bring in someone with little experience to replace him. Again, I am not bashing DL, who has done more than any GM to insure we are well supplied on the back end.
finally, I would suggest that making a great save once, maybe twice a game is different than knowing you have to make 5 or 6 a game for your team to have a chance.
jet Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 4:58 pm
@HockeyNerd, agreed, but realize there are two components that go into save percentage. One is the goalie and his atributes, position, quickness, absorbtion ratio, vision including hand-eye coordination. Two is the quality and number of shots the opponents put to you. I would suggest that Quick’s attributes have not decreased. I would also suggest that the number of shots against have not increased in a meaningful way. But, the quality of shots against are up over last year. So, for example, if you take a shot from between the circles you will see 3 times as much net as you will shooting from a dot. This still may not seem like much of a difference, but now multiple it by 5 or 6 times a game. This will make or break most teams.
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Duncanz Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 5:12 pm
@jet, The second half of your post is all true and excellently reasoned.
The first part is very sympathetic to JQ.
I’ve no doubt that sooner or later he’ll be great again, but it just is.
A slight drop-off in each of those four fundamentals you mention has actually been quite perceptible in his game this season.
The umbrella summation of JQ would be that his timing and precision (maybe also concentration) is currently not quite what it was last season.
jet Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 5:29 pm
@duncanz, Okay, we just disagree. The first part (JQ) is subjective if the second is accurate.
Duncanz Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 5:46 pm
@jet, I just think everybody looks back at our defense last season with rainbow colored glasses and almost forgets how JQ was regularly called on (and responded) to make stellar saves on multiple Grade ‘A’ chance, moreso during the ‘dark period’ of the first 3/4 of the regular season.
He’s just not putting up that same ‘wall’ that he did last season and, even shifting the stat sheet aside, it shows to the naked eye.
Go Kings Go!
Cannot wait until we can hear Daryl and Nick
call the game soon
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JQ is our #1 so he plays and I have no problem with that and thats what I want. Just play Bernier on back to backs, end of story.
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LVKINGS88 Reply:
March 14th, 2013 at 6:23 pm
@wobsse6, Concur.
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