‘What a brilliant career’: Rangers, Panthers honor Quick after NHL finale
All you had to do to understand the respect Jonathan Quick commands around the NHL was to see the Florida Panthers waiting for the 40-year-old goalie to come back onto the ice after defeating him and the New York Rangers 3-2 on Monday night at Amerant Bank Arena.
Quick headed to the dressing room with his disappointed teammates shortly after Florida’s Cole Reinhardt broke a 2-2 tie with 1:50 remaining in regulation and the Blueshirts couldn’t get the equalizer. But he returned after word reached the Rangers that the Panthers wanted to congratulate him.
“What a brilliant career, such a competitive athlete to be as good as he was for as long as he was,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said of Quick, who told the media after the morning skate that this would be his last NHL game. “It was an honor to be on the ice against him tonight.”
Rangers coach Mike Sullivan was equally laudatory.
“Obviously, tonight was about a celebration for him,” Sullivan said postgame. “As we talked about after the game, he is an inspiration to all of us, just in his example and the way he carries himself. In a lot of ways, he personifies what we hope to become as a group – his work ethic, his attention to detail, just an incredible attitude. His professionalism is second to none.”
The first Panthers player to greet Quick was goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who asked the Rangers to send Quick back to the ice. The longtime rivals embraced.
“We had some good battles over the years,” Quick said afterward. “Obviously, great to catch up with him and share some words with him.”
Quick’s teammates all honored him by donning his No. 32 jersey during warmups. “That was special from those guys,” he said.
They rallied from an early two-goal deficit and evened the game 2-2 on goals by rookies Matthew Robertson and Gabe Perreault. They controlled the third period, battling like a team contending for a playoff berth rather than one that’s assured of finishing last in the Eastern Conference.
The only thing they couldn’t do for Quick was get the winning goal. Instead, Reinhardt spoiled the going-away party.
“The team played great,” Quick said. “I wish I had a couple more saves for them to finish it up. But they deserved to win. I should have had a few more, but it was still special to see the way these guys played. It’s an honor to play my last game with this group here.”
Rangers come up short in Jonathan Quick’s NHL finale
His teammates were disappointed that they couldn’t find a way to send Quick into retirement with a win.
“It’s unfortunate some of the chances that we had, we couldn’t get that goal and let that last game be a win for him,” center Mika Zibanejad said. “It was definitely the motivation that was in the locker room, for us to make sure that he gets a good finish like that. It stinks.
“An unbelievable goalie — but the way he is as a person, it’s amazing.”
The native of Milford, Connecticut, grew up as a Rangers fan, idolizing Mike Richter (who sent him a congratulatory video). But he was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the third round (No. 72 overall) in the 2005 NHL Draft and led them to the only two Stanley Cup championships in their history. Quick won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2012, when the Kings defeated the New Jersey Devils in a six-game Final. Two years later, he and the Kings knocked off the Rangers in five games to capture their second championship.
The Kings traded him to the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 1, 2023; one day later, the Blue Jackets sent him to the Vegas Golden Knights, with whom he won the Cup again as a backup. The Rangers signed him on July 1, 2023, and he played his final three seasons in New York as the backup to Igor Shesterkin.
Quick was 35-30-6 with the Blueshirts despite an underwhelming 6-17-2 record this season. He finished his career with a 410-307-90 record, 2.51 goals-against average, and .910 save percentage in 829 regular-season games. He’s 12th in NHL history and first among United States-born goaltenders in wins, and his 65 shutouts are also tops among U.S. goalies.
But the impression he made on his Rangers teammates went far beyond anything he did on the ice.
“A guy like him — he’s as good a teammate as you can find,” center Vincent Trocheck said. “When you have a career as long as his, you come across hundreds of different teammates. Before being lucky enough to play with him a few years ago, you talk to guys that he played with, and every single one of them says the same thing. ‘He’s the best teammate, an unbelievable guy.’ He’s always trying to set things up to bring the guys together. He is the definition of a glue guy.
“He was — is — a Hall of Famer. Three Cups. He was the starter in L.A. for 17 years, and he comes here, and he’s the backup to ‘Shesty,’ and it doesn’t change a thing. He’s still the greatest guy. He’s so excited to be at the rink, and the guys are excited to come to the rink and be with him. So, you can’t say enough good things about him. He’s the kind of guy that you need on a team in order to have success.”
Sullivan admitted that No. 32 will be missed.
“He’s a terrific guy,” the coach said. “Certainly we’re all better that we’ve had the opportunity to work with him.”
The affection flows both ways.
“Very fortunate to play as long as I did and with the people I did,” Quick said. “Great people, great teammates, great families. Very fortunate for the relationships I was able to make throughout my career.”
