MILAN — It wasn’t just the puck that was on Marty Nečas’ stick. It was the game — 73 seconds left in a tied game in the Olympic men’s hockey quarterfinals against mighty Canada. It was history — a chance for the Czechs to pull off a monumental upset over possibly the most talented hockey team ever assembled. It was the well-being of a nation — some 40 million deeply stressed Canadians holding their collective breath.
And it was Jordan Binnington — his reputation and that of his backers after years of hand-wringing north of the border over the embarrassing state of Canadian goaltending compared with the embarrassment of riches in other countries, particularly the United States.
All of that flashed in the minds of nearly everyone in the hockey community in the four seconds it took for Nečas to grab the puck and outrace Devon Toews — whose blocked shot triggered the breakaway — to Binnington’s net. Binnington came well out of his crease before backtracking to the top of the blue paint as Nečas barreled in. He had spent much of the game settled deeper in his crease than usual, choosing conservatism over aggression. But this was aggressive. Nečas said he was tired at the end of his shift, and he knew Toews was right on him. Binnington got down low, and when Nečas went to his backhand, Binnington went hard to his right and made a clean save with his right pad, calmly covering the puck with his left hand and stopping play.
“Tried to go backhand five-hole and kind of missed the window there,” Nečas said after Canada went on to win 4-3 in overtime on a Mitch Marner goal, sending the Canadians into the semifinals.
Had Nečas been wearing a Colorado Avalanche jersey and Binnington been in a St. Louis Blues sweater, maybe that play ends differently. But with a Maple Leaf on his chest?
Binnington just wins.
“He’s a gamer,” teammate Brandon Hagel said. “We knew that from the 4 Nations. It’s not just a one-and-done. When big games come around, Jordan Binnington comes around.”
It’s hard to overstate just how bad Binnington has been this season for the Blues. And “bad” might sound harsh, but it’s the only appropriate word. He hasn’t struggled a bit. He hasn’t been scuffling. He hasn’t had an up and down year.
He’s been bad. Real bad. Worst in the entire NHL, actually. He’s allowed 20.61 more goals than expected, per Evolving Hockey. That’s 86th out of 86 goalies, and he can’t even see 85th from down there. He has an ungodly .864 save percentage. He’s won eight games all season. He’s been nothing short of a disaster.
And yet Hockey Canada general manager Doug Armstrong — who happens to be Binnington’s GM in St. Louis — didn’t hesitate to put him on the team. And Canada head coach Jon Cooper didn’t think twice to make him the starter over Logan Thompson, who’s been outstanding for the Washington Capitals. And his teammates didn’t blink when asked to play in front of him.
This isn’t the NHL, these aren’t the St. Louis Blues, and this isn’t Jordan Binnington, NHL goalie. This is Jordan Binnington, international tournament goalie.
That guy’s great.
“I love that guy,” Tom Wilson said. “He’s a gamer. We’re confident in him coming up big in that moment. He made two or three that saved our tournament.”
Wilson was actually underplaying it. Binnington saved the Canadians’ bacon a whole bunch of times.
There were the two stops he made on Czech captain Roman Červenka early in the third period on a harrowing shift that seemed like it would never end. There was a point-blank Radko Gudas shot midway through the third. There was a reflex stop on a David Kämpf flash rebound in the second period. There was the Nečas breakaway with 1:13 left in regulation.
Then in three-on-three overtime, Nečas found a trailing Radim Simek all alone in the slot. Binnington came way out and met the moment, as he always seems to. At least, on this stage.
“Massive, some massive saves there,” Marner said. “When we really needed him, he was there, and that’s something that you can always trust in Binner. You love to see that out of your goalie and the confidence he’s rolling with.”
Binnington is no stranger to big games, of course. He led the Blues from last place to the Stanley Cup as a rookie, posting a .914 save percentage in 26 playoff games. But it’s been a rocky road since. He followed that up with two straight poor postseason performances in two first-round exits. And after a strong 2023-24 season, his play has deteriorated over the past two seasons, to the point that he’s fallen into a full-blown timeshare with Joel Hofer.
Binnington was seen as a liability going into the 4 Nations Face-Off last year, but he clawed his way to three wins in four games, outdueling Connor Hellebuyck in an overtime win over the Americans. In that overtime, Binnington robbed Auston Matthews of the game-winner twice. Even after that performance, there was endless gnashing of teeth and garment-rending over who should be Canada’s goalie, the man who could counter the three-headed American monster of Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman. Czechia had better goaltending with Lukas Dostal, Karel Vejmelka and Dan Vladar. Sweden had better goaltending with Jacob Markström, Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt. Finland had better goaltending with Juuse Saros. It seemed like everyone had better goaltending than Canada.
At various points in this Olympic cycle, the conventional wisdom was that it should have been Thompson. Or it should have been Mackenzie Blackwood. Or it should have been Scott Wedgewood. Or Darcy Kuemper. Sam Montembeault. Jet Greaves, even. Anyone but Binnington.
Hockey Canada never budged. Binnington showed why on Wednesday night at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Again and again and again and again.
In that moment, in that jersey, Binnington is the man Canada wants between the pipes. No matter what happened in the NHL, no matter what happened in the group stage, no matter what happened earlier in the game.
“That’s Binner for you,” Drew Doughty said. “Big saves, big times. And that’s why he’s our goalie.”