Quick on the way

Sounds like he had better numbers at least than Bernier did...let's see what the kid can do!

Quick, eh? Neither he nor Bernier have been very impressive this year. On the other hand, Zatkoff has been darn near stellar in Ontario. Before any one goes off on me for suggesting a goalie from the ECHL, I would like to remind you that Ontario's defense is rather suspect and Zatkoff's save % is awesome. Logistically speaking, he is closer; albeit, the Kings are heading east after tomorrow's tilt. It was rumored at an earlier point in the year that Zatkoff was left on the West Coast for this exact situation. Ranford gets to work with him more frequently and he was a more viable option than Dan Taylor on a relatively weak Ontario Reign team, thus allowing Quick and Bernier to compete at Manchester. It wasn't so much that Zatkoff was the loser in the competition as it was finding each goalie a place to play as many minutes as possible.

Nevertheless, I am confused because I believe the best goalie is being left in Ontario where a developing goalie controversy is brewing. The Kings should have acted in support of Zatkoff and called him up. His stats are the best; and, considering the circumstances, he has performed the best of the Kings goalie prospects.

I don't think Zatkoff's ECHL performance proves much of anything in terms of a statistical competition between himself and the two guys in Manchester, BUT... it makes NO sense at all to fly Quick from New Hampshire to California on a Tuesday, have him sit on the bench on Wednesday, only to fly to New York State the following day. The more fiscally prudent move would have been to have Quick meet the team in Buffalo and never leave the eastern timezone, and have Zatkoff drive the hour or so from Ontario to participate in today's practice and the single home game tomorrow.

Oh well, I'm not making the decisions, but this one seemed like a no-brainer.

Ooooo, slap in the face for Bernier. I like that they are avoding Storr-like entitlement with him and think Quick is probably the more NHL-ready prospect. He looked really good in his previous call up. I hope he gets atleast one start, but I also hope that Ersberg is healthy very soon. Maybe we get the best of both worlds here. Quick comes in and dominates, proves better than Labs, Ers gets healthy, who we all know is better than Labs, forcing the Kings to go with a Quick/Ersberg tandem, giving Bernier the lions share in Manchester for the remainder of the year, which is the best thing for him. Taylor can back him up, screw Reading.

How old are Jones and Rowat? Are they AHL eligible?

This stinks, I was hoping we could beat the Rangers. Now with Labs in goal, well...

Or they just don't want to sit Bernier on the bench, which is most likely what would happen. Hard to say what it means, but Quick seems like the obvious choice.

Marc, are you really worried about a team with a 44m payroll splurging on a cross-country flight for Quick? Sometimes you act sarcastic or facetious and it's hard to tell when you're actually being serious.

Jones is 18, not eligible for pro hockey. Rowat is 19, I think he's pro-eligible next season.

This makes perfect sense. Bernier seems to need a little more time to develop in Manchester, and from the reports we've seen here Quick is playing better hockey at this point. Let Bernier spend the season in Man and give him a shot out of camp next season.

I'd bring up Quick and start him tomorrow vs. the Rangers, see how he does in a big league game and then decide on a game by game basis between him and JL. Then hope that Ersberg is back from his injury soon. I would not just hand the starting job to Labarbara, simply stated, he is not good enough.

And certainly the economy of a flight from the east coast is not a consideration. That was a lame statement.

Too bad we don't have a website content producer to dress. That would save the kings the big $$$ that Marc is worried about and we have a backup goalie for the Rangers game.

Calling up Quick and not Zatkoff is a matter of proper protocol. Quick is playing for the top Kings minor league affiliate and has the best stats on the Monarchs, so he deserved the callup. While Zatkoff has good stats and calling up Zatkoff might make financial sense, think about how Quick would feel. He has busted his butt this season playing in a league one step below the NHL, and here the Kings go and call up a guy that has been playing in the ECHL, bypassing the AHL entirely. The message the Kings would be sending is that they only care about the bottom line and not about who has played the best.

I think the bigger question is, should we be concerned with Bernier? Is he just having a bad year because he missed a lot of time at training camp, is he injured, or is Quick just better than him?

There's no reason to second guess the call up. They're aware of each point made here but still called up Quick. Obviously there's a logical reason. Maybe Zatkoff's not feeling well in some way, who knows? But it's safe to say they did NOT think, "Zatkoff's playing great, he can be here in an hour, so let's bring up Quick instead just to make it more complicated."

It's a bitter sweet day for me. I really enjoyed watching the Kings skate with el numero uno. It was a great test and they passed with flying colors. For much of the game, they bent but didn't break and when they did break down, they recovered quickly. It was really nice to see.

But it was a bummer seeing the Iceberg melt. The concern about whether he can hold up or not was realized last night. He can't. I'm just hoping it's a small set back for him and not a sign of things to come. Also a bummer is Bernier is not playing well enough to get the call. I was really hoping we'd see a lot of him this year.

Anyway we can get an interview with Ranford? I'd love to hear his thoughts on all the goalies.

Dang it! The unfortunate thing about the injury is that Ersberg was starting to prove the point that he was number one. He had a string of bad games as was fatigued but he was showing that he could rebound quickly.

Once and for all this should the opportunity for Labarbera to prove he is number one. If he falters then that should be the clear cut sign for the Kings to re-think their plans for him. No more mincing words and walking the middle. For his and the teams sake I hope he shines and does well. They will need it.

Consequently I hope Ersberg's injury is minor and he is back on the ice in no time. The trouble is that groin pulls are tricky and aggravating it will probably be the Kings' untmost concern.

there's a huge difference in the level of play between the AHL and the ECHL...just like in baseball between A, AA, AAA, and the majors.
I'm not saying Zatkoff is or isn't ready, but you can't go by stats when deciding whether a player is more deserving..when the players are playing at different levels.
I'm sure the coaching staff has taken everything into account.

I have a thought on why they brought up Quick instead of Bernier...

I wonder how much playing time Quick will get while he's here? I'm going to assume that for the most part, he'll be platooning with Barbs..(excpt hopefully they switch during the shootout if Barbs starts)
Since Quick is older, maybe he's more apt to handle not playing on an every game basis while he's up here.
As for Bernier..now he gets a chance to play every day in Manchester. From what I read, he's the kind of goalie that thrives on playing as many games as possible.
I don't know...just one man's opinion.

I have to laugh at people's perceptions of my observation.

It would hardly be a slap in the face to Quick, to be told, "you're the guy, but why fly 6,000 miles in 72 hours to sit on the bench for the Rangers game. Meet us in Buffalo, and Zatkoff can back up LaBarbera for the next two days."

No... it's not about the 44mill either... it's about logistics and making sure you have the guy fresh. Say Labarbera gets beaten soundly by the Rangers, you'd probably think about throwing Quick in on the road in Buffalo... but, coming off two 5+ hour flights in three days, vs. a short hour flight? Again, I say... it seems like a no brainer to me.

Not facetious. Not sarcastic. Logical.

P.S. The facetious, sarcastic part would be if I cited the fact that the Kings could make more money auctioning off the game-worn Zatkoff in addition to the game-worn Quick ;)