NHL Awards 2012: Jonathan Quick Should Win Vezina and Be Up for Hart Memorial

The regular season means nothing.

Henrik Lundqvist led the New York Rangers to the best record in the Eastern Conference with a campaign that was widely considered the best by any NHL goaltender. His performance this year was so impressive that he’s not only a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, but the Hart Memorial as well.

Not Lundqvist, though, but Jonathan Quick should be in such a position because he proved to be the best goalie in hockey when it mattered most.

According to the Associated Press, Quick said after the Los Angeles Kings won the 2012 Stanley Cup and he took home the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP (via Fox News):

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"It's outstanding. I couldn't be more proud of this group. We had to fight for everything. Nothing was given to us. I think it's all about competing. You have to compete, always. That's something this organization preaches, and it makes us all feel so good to be on top now."

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But those honors shouldn’t be the last Quick shelves in his trophy case this season. He was so dominant in the playoffs that the Vezina and Hart Memorial should both be his. No goalie was even on his level in the postseason.

He led all goaltenders in save percentage at 94.6 percent. Quick allowed a jaw-dropping 1.41 goals per game. Lundqvist was the closest goalie to Quick on the GAA leaderboard, but he still gave up 0.41 more goals per game than him.

It wasn’t like Quick just miraculously turned it on in the playoffs after a mediocre regular season either. Among goalies that started at least 40 games, Quick finished first in goals-against average and third in save percentage. And he was only .01 percent behind Mike Smith and Lundqvist for the save percentage lead.

There isn’t any doubt that Quick’s the NHL’s best goalie.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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