Going into the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off, there was much talk about who should be the starting goalie for Team Canada. Many analysts and fans believed Canada's goaltending situation was the worst position group out of all the nations in the tournament. There was also some noise that perhaps Canada left their best goalie options at home, with Logan Thompson, Darcy Kuemper, and Mackenzie Blackwood having career-best seasons. With all that, Jon Cooper and his coaching staff have decided to roll out and stick with St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington through the highs and lows of the tournament.
After three games and just the final left, Binnington's play has been received with mixed emotions online. It seems that no matter how he plays throughout the game, making key saves when it matters, Binnington has almost been used as a scapegoat for Canada if they do not win the tournament. When he pulls off a big save, it goes unnoticed. However, when the team struggles, he takes most of the blame. Binnington seems unable to do anything right for the fans. Maybe it is because he isn't a Vezina-caliber goalie like Connor Hellebuyck, Juuse Saros, or Linus Ullmark. Yet, he is a fierce competitor and a proven champion.
In game one against Sweden, the second goal is the only one that should have been a routine save for Binnington. While the shot on the first goal was in an area where you would expect a goalie to save, it was a well-timed screen by Rickard Rakell, which impaired his sight on the puck. The third goal was a complete team meltdown, leaving Binnington and Colton Parayko against two Swedish forwards in front of the net. In the overtime, that is where Binnington is at his best, making a couple of big saves before Mitch Marner scored the winner.
Against the United States, the reaction to the game seemed as though Binnington let up five goals, and the team got blown out. In reality, he let up two goals, both not of high quality but not something you would expect an overaction about. Binnington kept them in the game in the third period, but it is almost impossible to win the game when you only score one goal. Hellebuyck being in the other crease did not do him any favors, only allowing one goal. The biggest reason Canada lost that game was turnovers, and they struggled to break out of their defensive zone. They struggled to complete a string of passes to create any danger in the offensive zone, and the chemistry within the lineup did not look like it was meshing. However, the blame fell onto the goaltender's lap.
The matchup against Finland started great for Binnington. He was sharp and in the zone the whole game—until the final two minutes changed everything, according to the fans. Canada was up 4-1 with less than two minutes left to play when it looked like they took their foot off the gas. Mikael Granlund's first goal was off a rebound in front of the net that all five Canada skaters were around, and none of them were able to clear it out before it fell to Granlund, and he put it in the back of the net. Granlund's second was more of the same dysfunction, with four out of the five skaters pushing to the right side of the net, leaving him alone in front to bring the lead down to one. Once again, the talk after the game was of Binnington being the player holding the team back from having a chance of winning the tournament.
That can all change overnight with how he performs against the USA in the finals on Thursday night. If Binnington shows out and plays fantastically, he can go from villain to hero in just one night. If he does play great in the final, maybe he can bring that momentum into the rest of the year and help the St. Louis Blues make a legitimate push for the playoffs. It looks like we will have to wait and see.