Jonathan Quick

Amateur

Quick played travel youth hockey with the Mid Fairfield youth hockey association out of Darien Ice Rink. He carried his team to win a national championship and he was single time during his midget major year. His team also featured forwards Sean Backman, John Mori and Augie DiMarzo,Joey Sides, Joe DeBello, Chris Davis, Cam Atkinson who all went on to play professional hockey.

Quick played at Hamden High School in Hamden, Connecticut, before transferring to Avon Old Farms, where he was named to the 2002 New Haven Register All-Area Ice Hockey Team. Quick's number 32 Kings jersey is proudly displayed in the Lou Astorino Ice Arena of Hamden. He led Avon Old Farms to two-straight New England Prep Championships in his junior and senior seasons. He had nine shutouts during his senior year.

Quick played collegiate hockey for the University of Massachusetts Amherst out of Hockey East (HE). As a freshman, he earned his first victory by a score of 4–2 on October 15, 2005, in his first start against Clarkson University. He also appeared in one playoff game as a freshman, which the Minutemen lost 4–1 to Boston University. Quick scored his first goal January 6, 2007, against Merrimack College. In the 4–2 win, the unassisted goal came during a delayed penalty into an empty net at 9:31 of the second period; it was game-winning goal. While playing for the Minutemen, he led the team to their first-ever NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship appearance. In his first NCAA Tournament game, Quick shut-out Clarkson University, stopping all 33 shots he faced, in a 1–0 overtime victory. He appeared in five playoff games and posted a .944 save percentage. Quick is remembered as a standout figure on campus and was well known for hosting study groups in his dorm room of 418 MacKimmie Hall.

Professional

After losing in his first professional start, with the ECHL's Reading Royals, Quick made a statistically unlikely goal during a shutout in his second start, scoring an empty-net goal against the Pensacola Ice Pilots on October 27, 2007, at 19:25 in the third period.

Quick began the 2008–09 season with the Los Angeles Kings' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, sharing time with Jonathan Bernier. He was called up to the Kings on December 16 after goaltender Erik Ersberg suffered a groin injury. Quick played his first NHL game on December 6, 2007, against the Buffalo Sabres in an 8–2 win. He earned his first career NHL shutout on December 23, 2008, defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets in Columbus. He also received the NHL's Third Star of the Week honor for the week ending December 28. In three games, Quick posted a 2–1–0 record, with both victories coming via shutout, posting a 0.67 goals against average (GAA) and a .958 save percentage. On February 9, 2009, Quick was awarded the First Star of the Week by the NHL after stopping 95 of 100 shots in a three-game road win streak, which launched the Kings back into the 2009 playoff picture. He finished the season with a 21–18–2 record, with a 2.48 GAA and .914 save percentage. He earned his first career NHL Stanley Cup playoff shutout on April 17, 2011, against the San Jose Sharks, stopping all 34 shots for a 4–0 shutout win.

On April 25, 2012, after the end of the 2011–12 regular season, Quick was nominated as a Vezina Trophy finalist, along with Henrik Lundqvist and Pekka Rinne, the former of which ultimately won the award. Quick was also named a 2011–12 NHL Second Team All-Star. He led the League with ten shutouts (a Kings franchise record), had the NHL's second-lowest GAA (1.95) and posted a 35–21–13 final record. Quick gained much attention during the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, as the eighth-seeded Kings defeated the top-seeded and Presidents' Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks in five games, followed by the Kings' first-ever four-game playoff series sweep against the second-seeded St. Louis Blues.

On May 30, 2012, Quick set a new Stanley Cup playoff record after winning his 11th consecutive road game dating back to the 2011 post-season, surpassing the old mark of ten set by Billy Smith of the New York Islanders, and continued adding to the record. The streak ran from April 16, 2011, at San Jose to June 2, 2012, at New Jersey (12 games). Los Angeles qualified for the Western Conference Final for the second time in its 45-year history, and first time since the 1993 playoffs. The Kings ended its 19-year drought and made it to the Stanley Cup Finals after defeating the third-seeded Phoenix Coyotes in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final. Quick was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy following the Kings' first Stanley Cup victory over the New Jersey Devils, 6–1, taking the series four games to two. Quick posted a 16–4 record with a 1.41 GAA, a .946 save percentage and three shutouts along the way.

On June 28, 2012, the Los Angeles Kings and Quick agreed, in principle, on a ten-year contract extension. This will keep him under contract until the 2023 season.

In November 2012, Quick joined the AHL's Manchester Monarchs to continue rehabilitation from an off-season back surgery. Quick won his second career Stanley Cup on June 14, 2014, after the Kings defeated the New York Rangers. He had two playoff shutouts, including one in Game 3 of the Finals, while also posting a save percentage of .911.

Following the 2013–14 season, Quick was awarded the William M. Jennings Trophy, which is presented annually "to the goalkeeper(s) having played a minimum of 25 games for the team with the fewest goals scored against it." Because Ben Scrivens and Martin Jones had not played the required amount of games to qualify as co-recipients of the honor, Quick was named the sole winner of the trophy. Over the course of the season, Quick had compiled a 27–17–4 record with a 2.07 GAA, .915 save percentage and six shutouts in 49 appearances.

On October 16, 2014, Quick posted 43 saves on all 43 shots he faced in a 1–0 shootout victory over the St. Louis Blues. It was Quick's largest save percentage in a shootout win to date. On October 23, Quick surpassed Rogie Vachon as the Kings' all-time leader in shutouts by earning his 33rd after a 2–0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.

In the 2014-15 season Quick would go on to play 72 games, starting 71 of them. Quick would finish with a record of 36-22-13, with a GAA of 2.24 and a Save Percentage of .918 and 6 shutouts. The Kings would go on to miss the playoffs, losing the last playoff spot to the Calgary Flames by 2 points. After the 5-0 shutout win against the Blackhawks on March 14, 2016, he is now the all-time leader in shutouts out of American born goaltenders.

On April 27, 2016, Jonathan was nominated for the Vezina trophy, awarded to the league's best goalie, for the second time.

During the 2016-17 NHL season, Quick suffered a lower-body injury in the season’s first game on October 12, 2016 against the San Jose Sharks. He opted against surgery for what was believed to be a groin injury sustained in the final 30 seconds of the first period.. Quick was out for four and a half months (59 games in all) and returned with the team on February 25, 2017 in win over the Anaheim Ducks 4-1.

International play

On January 1, 2010, Quick was named to Team USA for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver as the team's third goaltender. He received a silver medal after the U.S. lost to Canada 3–2 in the gold medal game.

After his selection to Team USA for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Head Coach Dan Bylsma named Quick the team's starting goaltender over teammates Ryan Miller and Jimmy Howard. He would go on to start five out of the U.S.' six games (Miller would start the other). However, the U.S. did not medal, as Quick finished the tournament with a 3–2 record, a 2.17 GAA and a .923 save percentage.

Personal life

Quick is married to Jaclyn (née Backman), and they have a daughter, Madison Mychal Quick, born on March 12, 2010, and a son, born on April 10, 2013, named Carter. Jaclyn's sister Alicia is the wife of Buffalo Sabres forward Matt Moulson.

Quick was raised in Hamden, Connecticut, a major hockey town in the northeast and attended Hamden High School until eventually transferring to Avon Old Farms, a preparatory school known for its hockey program. His family still resides in Hamden today. Ray and Mike's Deli, a popular local deli in Hamden, named the "Quickwich" sandwich in Quick's honor after his 2012 Stanley Cup victory.

In media

Quick's youth hockey career is mentioned in the bestselling book Odd Man Rush: A Harvard Kid's Hockey Odyssey from Central Park to Somewhere in Sweden—with Stops along the Way by Bill Keenan. Keenan and Quick were youth hockey teammates on the Connecticut Yankees.