In 50 days the St. Louis Blues will raise their first Stanley Cup banner. What better way to highlight that, then a profile on number 50, Jordan Binnington.
The lore of Jordan Binnington and the St. Louis Blues has been discussed so many times by now, that even the most remote corners of Earth surely have heard of the goalie known as Winnington.
Just in case you have been under a rock, or on a mission to Mars, let’s do a quick recap. Binnington burst onto the scene with a 25-save shutout against the Philadelphia Flyers on January 7, 2019.
He would go on to post a 24-5 record with a 1.89 GAA, and a .927 save percentage. Not bad for a goalie that started the season as the backup in San Antonio.
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If you talk to the players and the coaches, they will tell you that Binnington mental toughness and his confidence brought the team together.
No one in the St. Louis organization saw this coming. So now, the question becomes, can Binnington repeat this performance, or was this just one heck of a hot streak?
Goalies are a different breed of hockey player; they have to have a mental toughness like no other. Binnington has that toughness; he showed that throughout the regular season, and throughout the playoffs.
He did not suffer his first back-to-back losses of his career until the first round of the playoffs, and then turned around and one the next two.
During a full 82 game schedule, I look for Binnington to get somewhere in the 60-65 start range. During the course of a full seasons grind, that mental toughness will be tested more than ever.
Some of you will say last year’s playoff run will be the biggest test he has, and I agree the playoffs are an intense grind on the mind. The Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in sports for a reason. This occurs over a two-month window, with a max of 28 games played.
During the regular season, so many different variables happen throughout the season. Long road trips, back to back games, and the inevitable losing streak. How will Binnington handle these over the course of a full season?
No one can really expect Binnington to match last year’s regular-season numbers over a full season. That would mean if Binnington starts 60-65 games, he would end up with a 48+ win season. The record for most wins in a season is 48, set by Martin Brodeur and Braden Holtby.
If you look at the top ten goalies for wins in one season, all of them have 70+ games played except one, Holtby had 66. Therefore, 48 plus wins could be a possibility, but cannot be expected. If Blues fans are expecting Binnington to break Brodeur and Holtby’s record. They are going to be disappointed.
I think a win total more around 40 should be expected, with a GAA around 2.15 and a save percentage around .920. Even with these numbers being higher than last years, they will be good enough to allow the Blues to fight for the Central Division and make another deep playoff run.
This will be the year that Binnington will prove that he was not just a temporary success and not only a goalie that got hot at the right time. If he comes close to the projected numbers, he will earn that long-term contract that fans wanted this summer.