"To Be Or Not To Be -- Igor Shesterkin or Jonathan Quick?" Who'll be the Blueshirts goalkeeper tonight at Chicago's United Center?
Here's a question I never thought I'd ask at the beginning of the season -- but applies right this second:
"To Be Or Not To Be -- Igor Shesterkin or Jonathan Quick?"
Who'll be the Blueshirts goalkeeper tonight at Chicago's United Center?
It's a key query for the pure and simple reason that one time Vezina winner Shesty has been playing goal like he's trying out for the Mimico Midgets.
By contrast, Jovial Jonny has proven not only that he was not a washed-up Chris Drury pickup, but a three-time Cup-winner tired of being two-timed by Iggy.
Quick has won the starting job on merit, he wins games; but that does not mean he should start against the feeble Blackhawks who still will not be able to dress the injured wonderboy Connor Bedard.
Allowing Shesterkin to rust on the bench is not the best prescription to get the guy back on a winning track. Not good for his style nor for his head.
I mean how much teaching does goalie professor Benoit Allaire have to do with this guy. "You see the puck; you stop it! No?
So, logic dictates a Shesty start and that's that.
Ah, but it's not that.
Out there in medialand, the talk is that Quick will go for three in a row and the "rest" will do Iggy good.
"Applesauce," I say
Benching Shesty again will be a gratuitous kick in the pads.
That's why tonight's seemingly meaningless game in the Windy City means so much.
If William Shakespeare were covering it, and not The Maven, he would have written:
"To be or not to be -- Shesterkin or Quick?"
But today I beat him to it.
P.S. Good luck on your quick pick, Lavvy!