Despite the extremely small gap between Jonathan Quick and his competition for Team USA's starting goalie job, there seems to be an emerging consensus that Quick is far and away the favorite to win the role.
The Associated Press regards Quick as the most probable candidate for the starting role and wrote that incumbent Ryan Miller might not even make the team. Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston called Quick the “natural successor” to Miller, ESPN’s Craig Custance pegged Quick as the Americans’ likely starter, and his colleague Scott Burnside went further, identifying Quick as the No. 1 reason Team USA would win gold.
The odd thing is that, by the numbers, it isn't certain that Quick should even be on the team, let alone the starting goalie. Looking at 5-on-5 save percentage, the fairest measure of goaltending performance, over the last three seasons Cory Schneider is the runaway leader, while the other contenders for the position are tightly grouped:
Given those numbers, why is Quick seen as the favorite? In another piece, Burnside identifies the reason:
Jon ...
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Article written by Jonathan Willis
Jonathan Quick Is Far from a Certainty as Team USA’s Starter in 2014 Olympics
September 5th, 2013 by Jonathan Willis Leave a reply »
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