The Rangers gathered in the locker room at Madison Square Garden after 80 minutes of play in the second game of their second-round series against the Hurricanes.
Some players went to get hydrated. Others went to get nutrition. No one said much.
Just before the Rangers returned to the ice for the second overtime period, Jonathan Quick, dressed in full goaltending gear and not having played in a game since April 11, stepped up.
“And he just praised us,” said the 30-year-old forward, who scored the winning goal to end a thrilling double-overtime game and put the Rangers in the Eastern Conference finals against the Panthers. Vincent Trocheck told the Post on Tuesday, two weeks after it was reached.
It wasn’t the first time, and likely won’t be the last, that Quick said exactly what the Blueshirts wanted to hear at that exact moment.
The future Hall of Fame netminder is a pillar of the locker room in more ways than one.
When Quick speaks, everyone listens.
That may be possible with a resume that includes three Stanley Cups, two William M. Jennings Trophies, a Conn Smythe and more wins than any U.S.-born goaltender, but Quick’s impact goes far beyond his 92 playoff games of experience, his Xs and Os and the insight he has into opposing goalies.
Quick took the initiative to foster team camaraderie from day one of his tenure with the Rangers, and that seemed to be the thing that meant the most to his teammates. Team morale is extremely valuable and Quick has done everything in his power to boost it.
Even though he can’t make a direct impact on the ice, you better believe that Quick will still find a way to make an impact on the Rangers.
The role is familiar to him, having served as the Golden Knights’ third-string goalie during their Stanley Cup win last season, and the Kings traded him to Columbus in March, ending Quick’s 16-year stint in Los Angeles. The play came to an end. before turning to Las Vegas the next day.
“Throughout the year, whether it’s in net or not, through the playoffs, I just do whatever the team wants me to do on that day, right?” Quick said last year’s postseason and this postseason. He made this comparison: “You’re just trying to help in any way you can. Especially in this time of year, you need 20 to 25 people with a similar mentality. Whatever you want me to do today. , people with a similar mentality.
“I think it’s pretty similar for sure and I’m just trying to do the same kind of things that I felt like I contributed to the team last year.”
It goes without saying how difficult it is for a player of Quick’s caliber and stature to be forced to the sideline.
Not only did this man serve as the face of the franchise for years, leading the Kings to two Cup appearances, but he also had plenty of time to retire and settle down in Los Angeles before a storied career slump suddenly hit. He’s also the player I expected. face.
Whether he was thrown into the role in Las Vegas or volunteered to take the job in New York, Mr. Quick approached it in the same manner as the consummate professional.
“What is particularly difficult is [the] No.2 [goalie] “Sometimes,” Artemi Panarin said. “You can’t bring the best energy to a room if you’re not a great person. Quick doesn’t have that. [that]. He’s doing it like a real man. ”
Quick had no passengers on this playoff ride.
He asked the skaters what kind of practice they were having and whether they needed a goalie before or after practice. He spoke candidly about what he saw between periods and on the bench during games. He is always available to answer any kind of questions.
Igor Shesterkin, who played backstop in all 10 of the Rangers’ postseason games, said Quick pushes him every day in practice.
Quick’s words of encouragement are endless, and his presence is calming.
“I forget what game it was, but we didn’t play as well as we wanted in the first game,” Braden Schneider said.[Quick does] Simple things like that that calm you down and remind you of what a good team we are. We know how to win and when we feel like we’re going backwards in games, it reminds us that we’re a great hockey team.
“Everything he says is so simple, but if you just pay attention, everything he says is right.”
Quick’s commitment to the Rangers at this point in his career has not gone unnoticed by his teammates.
Like the other players who wear sweaters with letters on them, Quick was instrumental in establishing the Rangers’ newfound spirit and standards this season, according to those in attendance.
What’s more, Quick, who started 26 games in the regular season, looked almost like a modern-day version of himself in 2014, when he stood on his feet to deny the Rangers a Stanley Cup berth.
“For everything he’s accomplished, for him to be here, for the buy-in, the care, the passion, the desire to be here, he deserves to be here,” captain Jacob Trouba said. “I don’t think it has to be that way for a guy like him, but it is. I think that’s why he is who he is and why his teammates love him. Everywhere he’s been. He’s loved. That’s how he works and how hard he tries. He makes incredible saves in practice. He doesn’t care or doesn’t want to try. Or if you don’t want to be that good, you don’t have to do that.
“I think you see that as a player and as a teammate. I think it makes you want to bust your butt a little bit more. You see guys like him doing that. It raises the level of everyone. go up.”
When the season started in earnest in August, Quick and his wife, Jaclyn, immediately started texting the team about dinner plans and dinners they were planning to host.
One of their family traditions is to compete each year to see how many teammates they can invite to Thanksgiving dinner.
They planned a New Year’s Eve party for the team. In general, on most holidays, it feels like Quick is always reaching out to try and bring everyone together.
Will Quill, the only rookie on the roster to start the season, said he didn’t know what to expect from the older players, but said he thinks Quick is the nicest guy on the team. . He said Quick was his first choice for the Player’s Player Award, which is voted on by the team, and that No. 32 was the clear winner.
And when Blake Wheeler suffered a gruesome injury just days before the Stadium Series Family Skate at MetLife Stadium, Quick made sure to bring Wheeler’s son, Louis, with him.
“I can’t stress this enough that it’s no coincidence that success followed him,” Wheeler said. “I feel like I’ve learned a lot from him this year. The way he and his wife Jackie bring people together, that’s what winning looks like. When I say it’s no coincidence, I mean last year in Las Vegas. I believe his success, even when he did, was so significant.
“I can’t praise him enough personally, but collectively, their family is winning. The definition of winning is their family.”
