With the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics over, the focus for hockey fans shifts back to the NHL. Can the St. Louis Blues make a push to the playoffs? Unlikely, but the Blues involved in the tournament will likely come back energized since the tournament went about as well as we, as fans, could hope for.
Going into the 2026 Winter Olympics, the main hope for most fans, including Blues fans, is just to get everyone through the tournament healthy. The Pittsburgh Penguins weren't so lucky as Sidney Crosby missed the gold medal game with an injury, and a few other random players from throughout the league also missed a game here or there, but overall, there wasn't anything catastrophic.
Unless we hear differently prior to the February 26 game against the Seattle Kraken, it looks like the Blues got through the tournament unscathed. For a team that has already had too many injury problems, that's a big thing.
As an added bonus, just about everyone that went not only played, but contributed.
Pius Suter just returned to health prior to the games. He was a pleasant surprise for Switzerland as he scored two goals and had three points in their round-robin games, where his team finished a surprising second in Group A.
Sweden didn't do nearly as well as they hoped, getting knocked out in the quarterfinals by the United States. Nevertheless, Philip Broberg did pick up an assist in the tournament and played plenty of key minutes against the US in that knock out game.
Perhaps the surprise of the tournament for Blues fans was Dalibor Dvorsky. The Blues rookie scored the most points of any NHL rookie at an Olympic Games, netting three goals and six points in six games. He was a big reason why the Slovakian team made it to the semifinals, even if they finished fourth. Dvorsky finished 12th in goals and 16th in overall scoring in a tournament that had some of the biggest names in the world.
Last, but not least, we were shown again what the actual minds from around the league think of much maligned Blues players. Jordan Binnington started five out of Team Canada's six games, including the gold medal game, and Colton Parayko was often put on the ice against some of the American's best scorers.
It should be noted that Parayko left Italy without any points. However, the Canadians used him in solely key defensive spots. He was more physical than we usually see him, which was also something many fans noted during the Four Nations tournament. He also showed a different offensive side. In the game against the US, he attempted two one-timer shots from the left circle. Blues fans have been dying to see him unleash that shot with regularity, so if he can carry that over to the NHL, the team will be better for it.
Binnington, once again, showed why he is considered one of the best big-game goalies in the NHL today. Nobody can deny that this season has not been good for him and, overall, he's not a great regular season numbers kind of goalie.
I'd rather have the guy that will win you the important games when the lights are the brightest. In two international competitions, Binnington has shown he's that guy. He stole the gold for Team Canada at Four Nations. The Americans had several golden opportunities to win that in overtime and he shut the door.
It looked like he would do it again in Italy. His glove save on a two-on-one seemed destined to be his signature highlight of a big night, but Jack Hughes spoiled that for Binner. Nevertheless, the guy everyone thinks stinks managed a .914 save percentage and a goals against of 1.78. He was a big reason Canada even got to the gold medal game as he bailed them out in two other overtime games.
Of course, being as St. Louis is in America, most Blues fans got what they wanted in the end result too. The Americans won the gold medal - their first in the Olympics since 1980 and first in a major international tournament since 1996.
The game was everything I wanted. It was exciting, it was nail-biting, the two Blues players (Binnington in particular) played well and the United States ended up winning.
I'd love for the Blues to get the same boost this season that we saw after the Four Nations tournament in 2025. I'd love for them to shock the league and silence the haters and make another run to a playoff spot.
The reality is that's very unlikely. St. Louis currently sits 14 points behind the wild card spot and some of those wild card teams have games in hand on the Blues.
Still, things are set up for a decent finish even if they can't make the playoffs. Robert Thomas is practicing and might play in one of the two remaining games in February.
Suter, Dvorsky and Broberg gained valuable experience and should come back re-energized by getting to play high quality hockey. Hopefully, that can help erase some of the doom and gloom we've seen from the Blues locker room.
Parayko earned his spot on Canada. There's a reason he keeps getting selected for their roster and it's not because Doug Armstrong is involved. If we stop trying to compare him to Chris Pronger, maybe we can see the talent that actually is there. He's never going to be that nasty, but he's still a top-flight right handed defender.
Binnington did exactly what I hoped. Of course, you'll have those that say he did the Blues a favor and raised his trade value. Personally, I'm not ready to hand the reigns to Joel Hofer, so my hope is this just propels Binner to a much better end to the NHL season and a rebound in 2026-27. Regardless of how it plays out, traded or not, this tournament should have reinvigorated the Blues goalie.
It would have been nice to have a Blues member on the American roster, just for that extra little cherry on top. However, even as well as he's played, nobody thought Justin Faulk was a real snub, and he was the only real option.
I'll still take the gold, some St. Louis guys playing a key role even if they're not on the Blues and the Blues members of Olympic rosters doing themselves proud. Let's hope it has even a small impact on the franchise and we can at least see competitive, fun games down the stretch.