Jordan Binnington made 21 saves, including this one in overtime, to help Canada advance to the Olympic men's hockey semi-final with its 4-3 win over Czechia.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
No matter what he does on the ice for Canada, Jordan Binnington seems to get hit with as many doubts as he does pucks.
Heading into last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, the idea of the St. Louis Blues goalie starting for Team Canada was the subject of much national debate. Was he the guy? Was the country’s goaltending up to the task?
Connor McDavid will be the first to say that if it wasn’t for Binnington’s heroics in the deciding game of that tournament, McDavid himself wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity to score the biggest overtime goal of his career. Things would have never gotten that far.
Soon after that tournament, though, the questions revved up once again: Sure, the 4 Nations was impressive, but could he handle the Olympic pressure?
And having battled through a subpar season in St. Louis, would those struggles follow Binnington to Milan?
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On Wednesday, facing a Czech team that took Canada to the brink of elimination in the quarter-finals, Binnington did exactly what he had done a year earlier: he simply kept Team Canada alive, turning aside 21 shots and making a several key saves in overtime until Mitch Marner scored the game-winner.
In sudden-death, Binnington is Canada’s life support.
“Every time there’s a big moment, he’s right there,” defenceman Thomas Harley said.
“That’s when we needed him. We needed him to make those saves,” Macklin Celebrini said. “He did an outstanding job being the brick wall.”
With the pressure off, Binnington celebrated Canada's overtime victory against Czechia with Sam Reinhart. They'll play in the semi-final on Friday.Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
“Binner gave us a chance,” head coach Jon Cooper said. “I’ll give the Czechs a ton of credit. They played us hard.”
In the often oversimplistic parlance of hockey, Binnington is simply known in the room as Binner. Despite leading teams to a Stanley Cup championship in Game 7 in 2019 and the 4 Nations win last year, his teammates have yet to bestow a more imaginative nickname on him, such as Brick Wall or anything else.
That suits Binnington just fine, probably. He’s not an overly flashy guy. In interviews, he is straightforward and to the point, and seems to rarely blink.
After Wednesday’s heart-stopper in Milan, Binnington said he wasn’t bothered by another high-stakes overtime.
“You’re just trying really not to think about it,” Binnington said.
“Just play and see what comes your way.”
There was a moment, down 3-2 late in the third period, that the tournament might have seemed over. But the only thing coming his way now is a trip to the semi-final – and at least one more game to deflect the questions he never seems to escape.
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