Adam Proteau analyzes Jordan Binnington's suspension, the QMJHL further curbing fighting and the Vancouver Canucks going 7-2-1 in their past 10 games.
Welcome, once again, to Screen Shots, an ongoing THN.com column in which we delve into a few different hockey topics, and offer some thoughts on them in shorter paragraphs. We also don’t go deep in our introductory paragraph, so let’s get right to it with Jordan Binnington, the QMJHL and the Vancouver Canucks.
So, St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington is suspended two games for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct after his overzealous antics in a game.
On Wednesday, in St. Louis, Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman scored to give the Wild a 5-4 lead, and Binnington wigged out and went after him.
It’s true Hartman clipped Binnington on the way past him after the goal, but a more balanced goalie would’ve left that action to the NHL’s department of player safety, and Hartman could’ve been disciplined the right way.
What Binnington did was not the right way, and he’s becoming infamous on the regular for his over-the-top actions.
In early December, Binnington lost his composure and went behind his net to attempt to strike Carolina forward Jordan Staal. Two nights later, in Pittsburgh, Binnington went after Penguins forward Jason Zucker, shoving Zucker’s head into the boards with his glove. In the same game, Binnington was pulled from action after allowing four goals on 17 shots, and as he left the game, Binnington took off his helmet and yapped at the Penguins’ bench. Consequently, Binnington was assessed a 10-minute misconduct penalty for “inciting.”
And now, this.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ9DtnfF55o[/embed]
Frankly, it’s getting embarrassing for Binnington. And it all comes down to not doing well as a goaltender at the moment – virtually every incident he seems to be central in comes after he’s failed to stop the puck.
Indeed, Binnington’s individual numbers this season – including a 3.39 goals-against average and .892 save percentage – are certainly not what you’d expect out of a goalie with a $6-million cap hit like Binnington’s. While the NHL could use more players with some on-their-sleeves passion, Binnington is just looking like a one-man circus.
Goalies should be off-limits when it comes to contact in their zones. It’s not smart for any crucial asset to endanger themselves in a fight.
But if we are treating goalies as off-limits, goalies need to be more disciplined in their responses to collision plays. The moment they remove their helmets to fight ought to result in an automatic match penalty, and repeat removals of helmets should result in notable suspensions.
There’s no room in the modern NHL for this silliness to flourish, and Binnington needs to change his act and show the restraint almost every other netminder shows every night of the season.
After the game against Pittsburgh in December, Blues coach Craig Berube did not attempt to justify Binnington’s actions. To the contrary:
“It’s got to stop,” Berube told reporters at the time in regard to Binnington’s actions. “It doesn’t help anything. Just play goal, stop the puck.”
Exactly, Mr. Berube. Pay attention to your coach, Mr. Binnington.
Speaking of fighting, we got news in the past week from Le Journal de Quebec and THN.com about the QMJHL’s decision to crack down further on fisticuffs.
First of all, you’ll note we’re not using the term “ban” because, to many people, that word connotes a total absence of fighting from this point on. You can no more ban all traffic accidents than you can ban all hockey fights.
However, you can do your best to prevent traffic collisions and hockey fights, and the QMJHL should be applauded for continuing to push the hockey culture toward the inexorable conclusion that fighting in the game is a relic that ought to have more dirt tossed upon it as it gets buried.
The QMJHL had taken steps in recent years to limit fighting. In 2020, the QMJHL added a 10-minute misconduct to the five-minute major for any fight. Now, there are no decisions made yet on punishment, but the Quebec sport minister is calling to eject fighting players and assess them with a subsequent one-game suspension.
That will not stop some players from deciding a fight is worth the suspension, but it will curtail many other players from choosing to drop their gloves. That is progress.
The debate over fighting’s place in hockey often is pushed toward the “fewer fights” camp. Whether it’s because the research on traumatic brain injuries casts fighting in a less acceptable light or because owners are paying big-time money to players who could be sidelined for a long time – or forever – because of a hockey fight, there’s never going to be a strong enough movement that pushes the debate back in favor of the “more hockey fights” camp.
Twenty-five or 30 years from now, hockey fans will look back on this issue and wonder why fighting in the sport was ever encouraged. They will almost inherently understand and accept there is no benefit to fights. With every passing day, they have less and less of a place in the modern game. Remember the wisdom of Berube. “Just play,” he said. And we agree. Just play.
Finally, we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that the Vancouver Canucks, typically, are getting hot at a point in the season when it doesn’t make a difference in the standings and hurts their chances of landing a top player in the NHL draft.
The Canucks are 7-2-1 in their past 10 games and 6-1-0 in their past seven. Ten of their remaining 16 games are also against non-playoff teams, suggesting they could stay hot.
Still, they’re 16 points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, they’re the sixth-worst team in the West and the ninth-worst team in the NHL.
In sum, they’re going to finish this season in the mushy middle of the league, and there’s no good reason for it besides giving hope for next season. They don’t have the depth of talent to be a good team, and they have a distinct habit of not winning games when it really counts.
This is what happened to them last season, and they’re probably destined to occupy the same mushy-middle standings position for the foreseeable future. This falls on the front office, and it’s exasperating to watch, and we say this as someone with no emotional connection to the Canucks.
We can't imagine the frustration of Canucks fans at the moment. It’s all too painfully familiar.