NHL Awards: 3 Reasons the LA Kings Jonathan Quick Deserves the Vezina

According to NHL.com, the Vezina Trophy is an annual award given to the goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at this position as voted by the general managers of all NHL clubs.

Los Angeles Kings' goaltender and 2012 Vezina Trophy nominee Jonathan Quick finished the 2011-2012 NHL season with 35 wins (fifth overall), a 1.95 goals against average (second overall), a .929 save percentage (fifth overall) and a league-leading 10 shutouts.

The 26-year-old's record suffered significantly as the Kings' streaky scorers failed to bail out the goaltender in eight 1-0 losses over the course of the season.

Quick represented the Kings at the 2012 NHL All-Star game in Ottawa.  The Connecticut native beat Detroit Red Wings' goaltender Jimmy Howard in the goaltender version of the the fastest skater race in the Skills Competition and allowed only three goals in one period of the high scoring contest.

With his team fighting for a playoff spot late in the season, the former UMass Minuteman helped Los Angeles earn eight of a possible 10 points in the final five games of the regular season and secure the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

Neither fellow Vezina Trophy candidates Henrik Lundqvist, the New York Rangers' highlight machine, nor Pekka Rinne, the Nashville Predators' 43 win netminder, played behind the inconsistency that defined the Los Angeles Kings' season.  Both candidates contributed significantly to their team's success, but not to the extent of Quick's season-saving play.

Quick's efforts to secure a spot in the NHL Playoffs and lofty stat totals make him the runaway winner of the 2012 Vezina Trophy.

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