How in the Blue Hell is Jordan Binnington the best Canada goaltender?

[ORRFForever]

Binnington did counter Finland's dump and chase. Can't really blame the coach for picking him. He was another defenseman for Canada.

Don't expect him to make any game-changing saves though.

Yes, his ability to move the puck is impressive.

 

[Chaos Giraffe]

I'm Canadian and obviously want Canada to win on Thursday, but getting rocked by USA might ironically be the best thing to happen for the team moving onto the Olympics next year.

Jordan Binnington is a joke of a goaltender and shouldn't represent the country at any level.

 

[JoeSakic13]

I'm Canadian and obviously want Canada to win on Thursday, but getting rocked by USA might ironically be the best thing to happen for the team moving onto the Olympics next year.

Jordan Binnington is a joke of a goaltender and shouldn't represent the country at any level.

He could be a decent backup for the Spangler cup

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Because Canada goaltending hasn't been the caliber since 2014.

If Canadian goaltending was the caliber none of the guys at the 4 nations tournament would be there.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Canada's goaltending isn't great overall, but there are 13 Canadian goalie who have played in 20 games this season.

Hill, Binnington and Montembault rank 8th, 10th and 11th respectively in save % among those goalies.

This is the case of the guys selecting the team not picking the best guys available plain and simple.

Logan Thompson is 24-2-5 with a .921 sv% and if not for an incredible season from Hellebuyck would be the Vezina favourite this year. It's downright comical he didn't make the team over any of the three goalies selected.

They went out of their way to pick the worst goalies available. One of the worst cases of nepotism I've seen.

 

[Divine]

Because of this, I think that the coaches and management should not be from current NHL teams. In Finland, the national team's coach is the national team's coach. He doesn't coach a club team at the same time. Why is it so in NA?

They believe the best coaches and GM's in the world are coaching in the NHL. It wouldn't be a bad idea to get a former non-active coach/GM to manage the team - but the NHL believes the best are currently within the NHL.

They should at least make the player selection process a panel. Get every Canadian coach/GM, or a group of 5 of them and have them anonymously create the team. The players with the most votes are selected. Instead, it's very political because no coach/GM of the team wants to forego their players due to the possibility of the player requesting a trade again like St. Louis did when his GM who was managing the team didn't pick him for the Olympics.

The current ideology is they always want the coach to have the kind of players they want and the GM to have the kind of team they want so they can best manage them. However, it basically means any player that has any possibility of making the team will be picked if their coach/GM is managing the team - which is how Tampa got a whole line of players (Cooper coaching the team) and Binnington got on the team and is the starter (Armstrong managing the team).

 

[Gaud]

People comment that Binnington wasn't the best in canada... I'm not even convinced he is the best in the three they picked. Monty was on fire when they announced he'd be in , but hasnt been as great since - not sure how much can be put on him over the rest of the habs, but whatever. Thompson sure seems like he deserved a try but who knows how good he would be on a team like the habs ? it is hard to compare.

I think this is probably one of those things where you take a known entity over the evil you dont now and try to fix the shortcomings.

 

[Divine]

People comment that Binnington wasn't the best in canada... I'm not even convinced he is the best in the three they picked. Monty was on fire when they announced he'd be in , but hasnt been as great since - not sure how much can be put on him over the rest of the habs, but whatever. Thompson sure seems like he deserved a try but who knows how good he would be on a team like the habs ? it is hard to compare.

I think this is probably one of those things where you take a known entity over the evil you dont now and try to fix the shortcomings.

And then you leave Marc-Andre Fleury off the roster despite having the best season and more experience than all 3 and a career .912 goalie over 1000+ games. Makes no sense, it's a 4 game tournament. He could have played every other game if you're worried about his age.

 

[King Woodballs]

He isn’t. Team Canada doing team Canada things.
Not taking the best players available and going with your buddy instead is a tail as old as time.

 

[Toby91ca]

Because Canada goaltending hasn't been the caliber since 2014.

If Canadian goaltending was the caliber none of the guys at the 4 nations tournament would be there.

The caliber? What caliber?

 

[Stealth JD]

Don Sweeney is the Canadian GM; not Doug Armstrong. All the folks claiming nepotism or blaming Doug Armstrong for being loyal to his guy are flopping and flailing worse than Binnington. The guy could still win the tournament for Canada, yet the incessant babies here will cry about not doing it with enough style or dominance. Get a grip fanboys, completely shutting down the best players in world is no small task. With the chips down and the tournament title on the line I’d be surprised if Binnington let in any softies. Guy is a big game goalie who has historically delivered when it mattered. Quit yer bitchin’.

 

[PaulD]

This guy is a sieve PURE AND SIMPLE. What in the world happened that this is the best Canada has to offer at the goaltending position? He is downright atrocious and almost cost Canada the game AGAIN if it wasn't for the Finns playing a game of cross eyed chicken at their blue. Unbelievable. He should be playing for some thirld world country, he has absolutely 0 business starting for TC.

How has Canada allowed its goaltending to go straight down to the dumpster?

Carey Price retired early.
Thomson and Hill are better.

 

[PaulD]

Don Sweeney is the Canadian GM; not Doug Armstrong. All the folks claiming nepotism or blaming Doug Armstrong for being loyal to his guy are flopping and flailing worse than Binnington. The guy could still win the tournament for Canada, yet the incessant babies here will cry about not doing it with enough style or dominance. Get a grip fanboys, completely shutting down the best players in world is no small task. With the chips down and the tournament title on the line I’d be surprised if Binnington let in any softies. Guy is a big game goalie who has historically delivered when it mattered. Quit yer bitchin’.

Sounds like you are the one bitching.
Canada has to win inspite of very average goalie who has been giving them just that...... very average goaltending.
In 96 States beat Canada with Richter standing on his head while Joseph was Binnington like. Average.
Pump his tires all you want but the Americans are the favorite in this big match up because Binnington is in the crease for Canada. Outside the crease they match up pretty even. In the crease - disadvantage Canada

 

[bov]

It's the Martin St. Louis effect.

Martin St. Louis got his feelings hurt when his GM didn't pick him and requested a trade.

Now, every coach and GM picks their own guy(s). Tampa's coach took 3 players from Tampa to not offend them. St. Louis' GM took their goalie to not offend him.

It's not based on talent, but feelings.

Marty was snubbed twice by team Canada (once with Yzerman as TB GM), and was thinking about the Rangers long before Yzerman was involved with TB. But yes, that didn't help, there's just more to it.

 

[Mad Dog Tannen]

To answer OP question - he isn’t.

One could argue he is the best on team Canada, but I would say he’s most experienced. I think it was a mistake not riding with Hill from day one.

This whole roster is head scratching. No Logan Thompson is criminal though.

 

[jbeck5]

Over the last 4 years he's:

3.11 GAA
.902 sv%

He's 88-100 (plus some loser points) in the that span.

He's as average as they come.

And he's the best our nation has??? Brutal.

 

[Divine]

Marty was snubbed twice by team Canada (once with Yzerman as TB GM), and was thinking about the Rangers long before Yzerman was involved with TB. But yes, that didn't help, there's just more to it.

He immediately requested a trade after Yzerman snubbed him. He even said when he requested it that it was because of Yzerman not valuing him by excluding him from Team Canada.

The more to it might be the team he went to was a team he wanted to go to (full NMC) but I’m not sure it happens if not for that.

 

[zenator]

They should have gone with Kuemper as starter with Thompson backup.

Kuemper is a vet who has won a cup, and is having a great season.

Thompson is also having a great season, but it is his first great season.

Thompson has faltered a bit, Kuemper has been better the last month.

That being said, Binnington is capable of having a huge game. He played the best hockey of his career at Boston, although that was over 5 years ago.

 

[LaCarriere]

For two and a half periods it looked like Binnington was in top form. Then that near collapse with allowing three goals. Yes the team didn't play well and mailed it in in front of him when they figured they had it in the bag. But they didn't. This team makes me nervous where as they don't seem to put the nail in the coffin when they get the chance. If it was 3-0 instead of 4-0 the game is probably tied. MacKinnon did miss a good chance to seal it with an empty netter but the team - including Binnington - shouldn't let Finland back in the game so easily. I think there was plenty of opportunity to put Hill in there and see how he would do. Today would have been a good chance for that. They can't put Hill in cold now, they have to go with Binnington. This handcuffed them. So Binnington is our guy now and needs to pull out a big stop. Look, he can do it, he won a Stanley Cup in the rink he is going to play in. That helps. But I liked it better when Cujo would get benched in 2002 by his OWN NHL coach just based on national pride.

Can we stop making up non-existent narratives? Him winning a cup in Boston 6 years ago has nothing to do with a one-off, Canada/USA game that just happens to be in the same building.

He's let in soft goals every game. Cooper and management don't want to go against their original choice of Binnington, for the simple reason that they would maybe be admitting that name recognition and relationships to management played a role in roster selections, and then having to worry about doubling down on explanations if Hill or whoever doesn't work out.

If Binnington doesn't have the performance of a lifetime or costs them the game, they can just spin the same old rhetoric of "we will have to go back and have some discussions, and re-evaluate and come back strong for the Olympics" nonsense. They are praying for Binnington to pull a game out of his *ss, so they can look like they made the "right" decision, even if any choice of Hill, Blackwood, Kuemper, Thompson, Montembeault, etc could have provided a better outcome if given the chance.

 

[JackSlater]

This is a list of the goaltenders who have played significant (knockout) games for Canada in best on best (or similar enough) situations since 1972:

Ken Dryden
Tony Esposito
Rogie Vachon
Gerry Cheevers
Mike Liut
Grant Fuhr
Bill Ranford
Curtis Joseph
Patrick Roy
Martin Brodeur
Roberto Luongo
Carey Price
Jordan Binnington

There are clear ebbs and flows, but Binnington is the worst goaltender on the list. The thing is that while he isn't the best goaltender Canada has, it isn't like there is a great option out there.

 

[NyQuil]

At this level, Canada is not going to dominate the opposition for 60 minutes and that's when you need your goalie to make some huge saves (as well as some easy saves).

I don't take the argument that "if only Canada had played a mistake-free perfect 60 minute game you wouldn't be blaming Binnington right now" with a lot of credence.

Virtually every goal could be prevented by the players playing in front of the goalie but you have a goalie anyway for insurance purposes.

It's not entirely fair but that's the job.

What's funny about Binnington is that he can make huge saves, great saves, spectacular saves, game-changing saves, but he also lets in inexcusably soft goals which are crippling at a tournament like this.

Now, it's not an easy situation for Canada right now like in the old days, where you just write in Roy, Brodeur, Price, Luongo etc. on the top of the list regardless of what is really happening in the NHL. They are the acknowledged elite.

There are a good half-dozen goalies who are playing much better than the three we chose, but none of those half-dozen guys were automatic selections a year ago.

Obviously I wish the brain trust had picked the hot hands but it still reveals a weakness at the position for our national team.

 

[HabzSauce]

According to MoneyPuck he's #46 in the league in GSAE. He's a replacement-level goaltender. Not NHL starter. And not middle of the pack. He's bad.

Way too many variables with goalies to say that based off one advanced statistic.

I think hes definitely starter material - middle of the pack quality. If you haven't noticed, there's not a lot of good goalies outside the top 5-10. Bunch of average joes/scrubs. Id easily take binner over alot of guys

 

[Kranix]

There is no "Brodeur/Luongo" option for Canada. They're all mid. There's only like 3 workhorse number 1s in the league anyway, and they aren't consistent either.

 

[cptjeff]

It's the Martin St. Louis effect.

Martin St. Louis got his feelings hurt when his GM didn't pick him and requested a trade.

Now, every coach and GM picks their own guy(s). Tampa's coach took 3 players from Tampa to not offend them. St. Louis' GM took their goalie to not offend him.

It's not based on talent, but feelings.

St. Louis was the *reigning Art Ross winner*. He flat out was entitled to a spot, and omitting him was in fact an insult. Was Binnington the reigning Vezina winner?

 

[JackSlater]

At this level, Canada is not going to dominate the opposition for 60 minutes and that's when you need your goalie to make some huge saves (as well as some easy saves).

I don't take the argument that "if only Canada had played a mistake-free perfect 60 minute game you wouldn't be blaming Binnington right now" with a lot of credence.

Virtually every goal could be prevented by the players playing in front of the goalie but you have a goalie anyway for insurance purposes.

It's not entirely fair but that's the job.

What's funny about Binnington is that he can make huge saves, great saves, spectacular saves, game-changing saves, but he also lets in inexcusably soft goals which are crippling at a tournament like this.

Now, it's not an easy situation for Canada right now like in the old days, where you just write in Roy, Brodeur, Price, Luongo etc. on the top of the list regardless of what is really happening in the NHL. They are the acknowledged elite.

There are a good half-dozen goalies who are playing much better than the three we chose, but none of those half-dozen guys were automatic selections a year ago.

Obviously I wish the brain trust had picked the hot hands but it still reveals a weakness at the position for our national team.

I am hopeful that this serves as a further wake up call for how bad Canadian goaltending has gotten. Just think about say 2002. You had Brodeur, Joseph, and Belfour, any of whom would be Canada's mortal lock as a starter this year. This was after Roy turned the opportunity down, and he would also be a lock to start. Theodore won the Hart that year and didn't make the team. Sean Burke was a legitimate Vezina and Hart contender with lots of international experience and couldn't sniff that team. In the 2010s things were a lot weaker already, but you had a historically significant goaltender in Price available so it didn't matter. Even then you still had guys like Crawford and Holtby who would be starting for this team.

As for Binnington he is so erratic and that is the problem. He can make some big saves, but he also blows what should be easy saves and turns relatively easy situations into scrambled messes. His puck handling is an asset and has been on display in this event, but he makes every lead feel unsafe and has given up at least one weak goal in each game.

St. Louis was the *reigning Art Ross winner*. He flat out was entitled to a spot, and omitting him was in fact an insult. Was Binnington the reigning Vezina winner?

Canada has cut better players than Martin St. Louis and won. Sometimes it is a mistake and sometimes it isn't, but no one is entitled to a spot on the team just because. In his case we even got to see him on the team after his tantrum and he proved that Yzerman was right to cut him in the first place.