Kings' Quick Still Low-Key On Eve Of Finals

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jonathan Quick sat with a hat on his head, and a hoodie pulled over it as he faced probably the biggest throng of reporters in his five NHL seasons.

The Los Angeles Kings goalie has been letting his stellar numbers do the talking all along as he posted a Vezina Trophy-caliber season, and he saw no reason to change on the eve of the Stanley Cup finals. He is certainly way more comfortable in his crease than in front of multiple microphones and cameras.

Quick, a Connecticut native who was a fifth-round pick of the Kings in the 2005 draft, is back home — sort of — as he prepares to face the New Jersey Devils in the finals.

His clearest hockey memory is of the 1994 Eastern Conference finals when the New York Rangers — with Mike Richter in goal — outlasted Martin Brodeur and the Devils in a classic seven-game series that truly launched that area rivalry.

"I was rooting against Marty in that one," Quick said Tuesday at media day. "It was a battle, though. That I remember well."

Now, he's in for a battle of his own against Brodeur and the Devils. Quick and the Kings will open the Stanley Cup finals here on Wednesday night.