As evident in his time with the St. Louis Blues, as well as his participation with Canada for the Four Nations Face-off and these Olympic Games in Milan, Jordan Binnington is a special kind of goaltender. He is one that might not "Wow" you with his overall numbers and stats, but has a particular gene that is very hard to find in goaltenders.
He is clutch.
As he prepares to lead Team Canada to another gold medal in the Olympics, this being his first go-around at it, he must go through the United States to do it. With Colton Parayko by his side, the stakes have never been higher, as this is one of the most anticipated hockey games of all time.
With a win this morning, there is no doubt that Binnington will catapult his career into a higher tier than most. Let's talk about it.
Most clutch goaltender of all-time?
In big game scenarios, there is nobody who has held his team down more than Binnington. It started with the Game Seven victory over Boston in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2019, and then transcended into the Four Nations Face-off Championship victory last February over the nearly same USA squad.
When the moments get larger and the pressure heats up, Binnington has always found a way to keep cool. That is why Canada chose him, because of how well this roster was constructed with Connor McDavid, Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, and Macklin Celebrini, to name a few. They needed a clutch goaltender, for when their star power would lead them to the Gold Medal game.
Hall of Fame-worthy?
With a Gold Medal added to his trophy shelf, there is now an argument to be made that he is a Hall of Fame-worthy goaltender. He is the Blues' all-time winningest goaltender, a Stanley Cup winner, and his international accolades should give him some votes as well.
Sure, he never won a Vezina, or even got relatively close enough to garner any real votes for it. But, in terms of giving his team more of a chance to win, versus crumbling under the pressure, he is one of the best to ever do it.