The St. Louis Blues and Team Canada goalie has had doubters once again question his selection for a grand stage, yet here he is with a chance at achieving one of hockey's holiest grails representing his country playing for Olympic gold
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- For any athlete that represents their country, there comes with it some amount of pressure to perform at the Olympic level.
In the case of St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington, who will once again be the goalie that looks to lift Canada to the promised land against the United States in the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic men's ice hockey gold medal game, nobody has more pressure than he does.
And it's nothing new.
From the guy that burst onto the scene for the Blues in 2019 and helped fuel a run to the franchise's first Stanley Cup in their history to being questioned and scrutinized as to whether he should be on Canada's roster going back to the 4 Nations Face-Off last year.
In Canada's run to the final matchup on Sunday (7:10 a.m. CT on NBC), the comments during games have been raised.
But in the end, even if the numbers don't look pristine, and they certainly haven't for the Blues, especially this season (8-17-6, 3.65 goals-against average, .864 save percentage), when the moment presents itself, when that 'it' save needs to be made, Canada has benefited from it. He did it against Czechia in the quarterfinal matchup that ultimately led to a 4-3 overtime win, and again in the semifinal against Finland, a 3-2 win.
How about the flurry of saves made in overtime that ultimately led to Canada's 3-2 win over USA in the 4 Nations championship when he stopped 31 of 33 for the game:
The Blues know a thing or a multitude of big saves at crucial moments. Go back to Game 7 of the Western Conference second round series against the Dallas Stars (29 saves in a 2-1 double overtime win), and obviously the first period of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins when the Blues could have been run out of TD Garden early had it not been for their goalie to settle things down, ultimately leading to a championship 4-1 win (32 of 33 saves).
It's just in his DNA.
"Some guys have it, some guys don’t with the gamer mentality stepping up in the big moments," said Blues captain Brayden Schenn, a Saskatchewan native. "He seems to seize the opportunity. I think he obviously relies on past experience to get him in the mindset where he feels comfortable. He has the most pressure on him by a mile of any guy in that tournament. They all have pressure, don’t get me wrong, but he was the guy that had question marks around him going into that tournament if he was No. 1 and he’s delivered. Just hoping they get the job done."
But here is Binnington, having to prove himself again on the grandest stage, and one he most definitely relishes.
"He’s got the reputation of being a big time goalie and big time situations, he’s proven it his whole career," Blues defenseman Cam Fowler said. "I haven’t spent that much time with him, but it seems when the game is on the line or the biggest moments in the games, he steps up and is always there. He’s got that in his DNA. He just seems to prove it time and time again and he’s doing it again this Olympics."
The pressure of not only performing well but being on top is so high in Canada, one can only wonder how it feels to either be loved if you come through, or hated if you don't. And with this being a Canada vs. USA matchup, one that everyone anticipated, that pressure is only everything one could imagine.
And for Binnington, his only loss in a winner-take-all game came last spring when Connor Hellebuyck, USA's starting goalie, and the Winnipeg Jets downed the Blues 4-3 in double OT when Binnington stopped 43 of 47 shots.
But yet again, Binnington has the weight of a country on his shoulders.
"Paul Kariya is a close and dear friend, and I remember calling him after they won the 2002 Olympics," Blues coach Jim Montgomery recalled on Saturday. 'Here’s a guy that dealt with pressure mentally that taught me a lot from the time he was 18. Like, ‘I stay in the moment, I focus on what I do well.’ A lot of stuff I’ve learned, you learn from different people, right? But he told me he has never felt pressure like he did in the 2002 Olympics because you feel the whole pressure of Canada on your whole back. The Americans have to provide that for themselves because it’s coming from 10 states. Maybe the sport has grown to 22, that’s great for the sport, but it’s not the same. People in Canada are nervous about the game right now about the game tomorrow. They can’t wait for it, and there might not be a whole lot of people sober about it tonight waiting for it, but still, they’re going to be up and they can’t wait for that puck to drop."
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