I don’t want to exaggerate …
OK, I’ll exaggerate.
In reading and listening to the coverage of the Four Nations Face-Off Tournament, I was fascinated by the sweeping criticism of Team Canada goaltender Jordan Binnington.
It was so widespread and withering, I had to ask myself a question: who is the most unpopular person in Canada right now?
Binnington – or the current president of the United States?
I don’t think it was Binnington … but it might have been close.
From a national standpoint, the goaltending in Canada is a little thin. It’s why Binnington got the call to start for the Canadians in this wonderfully exciting and popular tournament that pitted Canada vs. the U.S. in the championship game.
Our Canadian friends were sweating maple syrup. Binnington had allowed a couple of softies along the way, and there was biting criticism of his performance after a 3-1 loss to the U.S. on Feb. 15.
In the aftermath of that event – which included Binnington getting badly outplayed by U.S. goaltender Connor Hellebuyck – I expected to hear something about Binnington being put on an airplane with a ticket home to St. Louis.
Sure, Binnington would get a warm welcome home by Blues fans. Hey, there’s always going to be memories of 2019 to soften our hearts. Binnington was slumping as he headed to the Four Nations competition, having gone 4-5-1 with an .889 save percentage in his previous 10 games for the Blues. For the season, Binner’s .896 save percentage ranked 38th among 51 NHL goaltenders that had protected the net for at least 1,000 minutes of game action. And his deeper metrics were terrible.
Oh, Canada! Where was young Logan Thompson and his glistening 24-2-5 record for the Washington Capitals? Where was Colorado goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood and his .922 save percentage? Adin Hill was injured earlier this season, but he was back in the Vegas lineup and ready to go for duty in The Four Nations showdown. Hill was magnificent in net when the Golden Knights rushed to the Stanley Cup in 2023, and was 12-6 with a .932 save percentage in two postseasons with the franchise.
Team Canada Coach Jon Cooper didn’t buckle when the media repeatedly hounded him for his logic behind starting Binnington.
“Pedigree,” Cooper said in one of his answers. “Winning pedigree.”
Cooper referenced the 2019 Stanley Cup run numerous times, and I believe we still recall what happened. I’m kidding. For a half-century of NHL hockey, the Blues had failed to win a Stanley Cup. And in a Kurt Warner II type of story, Binnington arrived from a poor place on the organizational depth chart – also known as “oblivion” – and took care of this desperate mission.
Want the Stanley Cup?
Can’t get the Stanley Cup?
Well, in Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Binnington all but snatched it by himself and put the sacred chalice on the team charter for the joyful ride home to The Lou.
Since the NHL expanded to a 16-team postseason format for the 1979-1980 season, the only two rookie goaltenders to lead their teams to a Stanley Cup and get credit for at least 10 postseason wins were Binnington in ‘19 and Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray in 2016.
Both had identical .943 save percentages. Binnington had 16 postseason wins in 2019, which was one more than Murray’s total three years earlier.
Binnington’s epic performance in Game 7 at Boston, was remarkable. He was a thief in the first period, demoralizing the Bruins at every turn, making ridiculous saves to frustrate the home team. The rest of the Blues took it from there, opening a 2-0 lead through one period. The Blues made Boston mad and sad with his sensational acrobatics in a 4-1 victory.
These recollections are important because the events of the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs directly formed Cooper’s steadfast faith in Binnington … and led to Thursday’s triumph by Canada … and Stanley Cup Game 7 and the 2025 Four Nations championships were won in the same arena in Boston … by the same goaltender … Binnington.
As you know by now, Cooper’s confidence in Binnington was on the money, and Binnington beat the U.S. in Thursday’s championship by denying everything the Americans slapped, shoved and wristed at him.
Overall, Binnington rejected 31 of 33 shots that infiltrated his zone, the shots coming at him like flicks of flames. And because of that Canada emerged from overtime with a 3-2 victory that turned the anti-Binner trashing into pro-Binner tributes.
This wasn’t a Game 7. But Thursday’s winner-take-all showdown, which was as pressure-packed and huge as any Game 7.
If we add Binnington’s Game 7 in Boston with his hockey-hero performance in the Four Nations final, this is what we have: 66 shots on goal, 63 stops, and a .955 save percentage.
Maybe Binnington should wear No. 33.
The Bruins had 33 shots on goal in Game 7.
Team USA put 33 shots on goal against him Thursday night.
In Game 7 in 2019, Binnington kept the Bruins off the board for the first 57 minutes and nine seconds of the 60-minute game.
Thursday night, Binnington kept the U.S. off the board for the final 35 minutes and 49 seconds.
“Binner’s a winner and that’s ultimately what it is,” the overtime goal scorer Connor McDavid said, per NHL.com. “He’s won a big game in this building before in 2019. He’s played in big moments. The moment doesn’t get to him. He probably made three or four all-world saves early in overtime to allow us to score the goal. All credit to him, honestly. Hopefully some of those haters will back off him because, honestly, he played great.”
Binnington was truly spectacular in overtime.
Without Binnington doing his how-did-he-stop-that routine, McDavid and teammates wouldn’t have had the opportunity to celebrate the golden goal – the biggest by a Canadian in men’s international play since Sidney Crosby beat Team USA in overtime to win the gold in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Auston Matthews, the Arizona native, is a three-time NHL scoring champion winner of the 2022 NHL Hart Trophy as league MVP. Including the postseason Matthews already has scored 411 times in eight-plus seasons. The Toronto Maple Leafs’ star centerman and team captain is still only 27 years old.
Matthews is at the top of his game. He had Binnington lined up three times in overtime. A close-range target, in the extreme-danger zone.
Binnington rejected three chances that would have made Matthews and Team USA winners on a glorious night of hockey. And when Brady Tkachuk swooped in on a rebound, Binnington made the shape-shifter move and repelled the shot with his left skate.
There were at least two other “Grade A” American shots that could have gone in, and no one would have blamed Binnington for being less than perfect in those moments. But he was perfect. Again. And all of Canada could breathe.
Team Canada regrouped from these scares during the siege on Binnington’s net. McDavid scored the goal after Binnington refused to break and allow Matthews or any other yankee get past him to produce a dramatically different outcome. Binnington preserved Canada’s historical dominance over Team USA.
“When it came to overtime, when we needed him most, make the saves he was supposed to, and maybe make a few that you’re not, he saved his best for last,” Cooper said. That’s what winners do, and there wasn’t a chance I was not going to back the winner.”
The great Sidney Crosby added: “I don’t think I have enough words, to be honest with you. He was incredible. So much poise.”
Binnington is the Blues’ all-time leader in wins by a goaltender. And he’s the only goaltender in franchise history to raise the Stanley Cup. He’s had his ups and downs. But if you put a good team around Binnington and trust him in the big spots that make other goaltenders shake and teeter, he’ll take care of the rest.
We saw it in Boston on June 12, 2019 when he did it for the Blues and their fans. We saw it in Boston on February 20, 2025 when he did it for Canada. And I hope we can see him get the chance to do it again for St. Louis one day.
Thanks for reading … and have a great weekend.
–Bernie
