Among those who have made at least five starts this year, Colorado's Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood are leading all Canadian goalies in almost every category you can think of.
The best team in the NHL also happens to have the two best goalies in the NHL.
If you’re Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar, who has seen Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood combine for three straight shutouts and the fewest goals allowed this season, this is a great problem to have. But if you’re Team Canada GM Doug Armstrong, whose initial plans are crumbling in the crease, it poses a complicated question:
Which of the Avalanche goalies should you take to Milan for the Olympics in February?
Is it Wedgewood, who has come out of nowhere and is now leading all NHL goalies with 13 wins in 17 starts? Or is it Blackwood, who, since returning from a lower-body injury that kept him out for the first month of the season, has posted back-to-back shutouts?
Maybe Team Canada should take both.
After all, it's not like the options Canada had at the 4 Nations Face-Off have shown that they are deserving of a spot on the Olympic team.
St. Louis' Jordan Binnington, who was in net for Canada's win over Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off, is 5-5-5 with a .881 save percentage this season. Vegas' Adin Hill, who was Binnington's backup at the 4 Nations Face-Off, hasn't played in over a month because of a injury. And Montreal's Samuel Montembeault, who was the third-string goalie at the 4 Nations Face-Off, is 4-5-1 with an .852 save percentage.
Forget about being the best in Canada. By the time we get to the Olympics, Binnington, Hill and Montembeault might not even the best goalies on their respective NHL teams.
Meanwhile, among those who have made at least five starts this year, Wedgewood and Blackwood lead Canadian netminders in goals-against average and save percentage.
Wedgewood is 13-1-2 with a 2.09 GAA and a .918 SP, while Blackwood is 4-0-1 with a 1.98 GAA and a .938 SP. Combined, the pair is the early front-runner for the Williams M. Jennings Trophy, with a league-low 2.09 goals-against average.
Blackwood Makes History And Delivers The Perfect Response To Critics
Mackenzie Blackwood earned his second consecutive shutout and became just the third goaltender in franchise history to reach the feat twice with the Avalanche—yet he carried it with characteristic humility.
"I can’t recall another time in NHL history when two goaltenders from the same country, playing on the same team, were simultaneously vying for an Olympic roster spot," tweeted The Hockey News' Colorado Avalanche site editor Ryan O'Hara, calling the situation "Captain Canada: Civil War, but in the friendly competition sense."
Indeed, this has been anything but a goalie controversy. The Avalanche have the best record in hockey so far this season, having lost just once in regulation. Much of that is because of Wedgewood, who wasn't on anyone's radar for the Olympics at the start of the season but was recently added to Team Canada's long list of available players because of his strong start, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.
"If you're (Canadian), you want someone who's doing it at the current time," Wedgewood, who last represented Canada internationally at the 2012 world juniors, told reporters. "And right now, I'm in that conversation, and that's cool enough."
Blackwood has also put himself in the conversation, though his journey to get here has been a bit different. After undergoing off-season surgery, Blackwood didn't play at all in October and then gave up seven goals in his first three starts. But after posting back-to-back shutouts against Nashville and San Jose, The Hockey News asked Blackwood about potentially playing his way onto the Olympic team.
Scott Wedgewood Joins Team Canada’s Expanding Long List
Team Canada has added Scott Wedgewood to their list of possible participants for the roster in the upcoming Olympics
“Two games ago you guys were talking about me not having my best stuff,” Blackwood, who last represented Canada at the 2016 world juniors and at the 2019 world championship, said. "So I don’t think it’s going to happen that quickly. But hopefully I can steamroll that into a little bit of momentum and keep going.”
Indeed, there's still another month to go before final rosters have to be submitted on Dec. 31. That gives Wedgewood and Blackwood more time to battle it out for who should go to Milan.
But based on how good they're playing — and how poorly some of rest of the Canadian goalies are playing — don't be surprised if one or both end up representing their country.
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