We’ll have video up next hour of our interview with Kings goalie Jonathan Quick from today’s Media Day in advance of the NHL Awards from Las Vegas. For now, here are selected quotes from the Q&A with Quick and Rangers goalie – and fellow Vezina nominee – Henrik Lundqvist…
Q. Would you rather have your next contract done before next season starts or…
JONATHAN QUICK: That’s obviously a different side of the game. Right now, I know today it’s about the players here. Just trying to enjoy this for the next couple days.
Q. You have to be pretty excited about the future?
JONATHAN QUICK: Absolutely. You look around the locker room, you think about the guys (in there) everyone is fairly young. So you just hope and pray that everybody stays together and we keep this group together.
Q. What do you need to do to keep rolling right into the next season?
JONATHAN QUICK: I think you just go about it the same way you prepared last season. You’re not going to take as much time off the ice as you usually do. When the time is right, you start preparing as hard as you can, start fresh. You put this season in the rearview mirror and start focusing on the next season.
Q. What would make you happy tomorrow?
HENRIK LUNDQVIST: Winning the Vezina has been a goal for a long time, so it would mean a lot. Just being here, it’s a good feeling.
Q. Would it help ease the feelings from being eliminated?
HENRIK LUNDQVIST: No, that would still hurt. But now you’re at a point where you took a step back, learned something from it. Train in the summer, got to get better.
Q. Did you watch the Final at all?
HENRIK LUNDQVIST: The last game. That’s the only game I watched. It was a weird game. L.A. played well the whole playoffs.
Q. Can you talk about Steven Stamkos as a scorer. HENRIK LUNDQVIST: Well, his release. You have so many guys that can skate fast, can shoot far. Just the quickness of the release and always being in the right place. You can just tell he wants to score all the time. You respect that. You have to be on your toes all the time. He’s the whole package. He was unbelievable this year. It’s always a challenge.
Kopitar Out, Can Watch His Son Against Arizona
Per recent tradition, it will be the Kings and Coyotes in a pair of split-squad games to open up preseason on Tuesday night. LA captain Anze Kopitar will not suit up, but he will get a chance to watch his son … [Read More...]