The familiar refrain among Canadian hockey fans was regurgitated heading into Milano Cortina: “Who will be Canada’s starting goalie at the Olympics, for the men’s team?”
It was hardly a new quandary. Following the historical careers and retirements of legends who have proudly worn the maple leaf in the crease, Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy, Carey Price, and Marc-Andre Fleury, there was no clear and obvious emergence of the next goalie to carry the torch. As recently as last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, there were doubts – especially from this author – as to whether Jordan Binnington was up to the task.
All that Binnington did in the epic final against the United States was place the country on his shoulders, making clutch save after clutch save – particularly in overtime – to help lead Canada to victory. Take that, Auston Matthews (rinse, repeat three times in the extra session).
But wait, the skeptics said. Binnington has been atrocious for St. Louis this year, a shadow of the version of himself that guided the Blues to the Stanley Cup in 2018-19. In 32 appearances so far in 2025-26, the Richmond Hill, Ont. native has posted abysmal numbers: a record of 8-17-6, a GAA of 3.65 and a save percentage of .864, outclassed by either of his teammates Logan Thompson and Darcy Kuemper, also vying for the number one job.
Doesn’t matter.
If Canada’s opening game against Czechia on Thursday is any indication, the starting job is clearly Binnington’s to lose. While he didn’t need to stand on his head in a 26-save shutout performance, he posted a goals saved above average of 2.30 according to HockeyStats.com, good for third overall so far at the Olympics.
Binnington’s intangible veteran presence was also in view on the world’s stage after the goalie was bowled over in the crease by Czechia’s Radek Faksa. The netminder – who has developed somewhat of a short-fuse reputation – could ill-advisedly have taken matters into his own hands, but instead, we saw Binnington advise defenceman Thomas Harley against taking a retaliatory penalty.
Wait, what? The same oddball whose meltdown after being pulled in a game is the subject of a YouTube video with 1.1 million views, the basket-case who played all these mind games after hiding Alex Ovechkin’s 900th goal puck, is suddenly the voice of reason? What has the world come to?
Quite simply, there’s nothing to dissuade the notion that when the pressure is at its peak, when the championship is on the line, when the world is watching, Binnington comes through. In the silence of his critics, he has a Stanley Cup ring and a 4 Nations Face-Off title to show for his efforts.
Canadian fans should feel confident that Binnington can complement those achievements with an Olympic gold medal.
