One of the biggest question marks for Team Canada heading into the 2026 Winter Olympics was their goaltending situation. It’s not that the Canadian side had a poor crop of goalies. It’s that its most tenured netminder remained a major “if” as a result of a subpar NHL season.
All of that talk went flying out the window on Thursday. Jordan Binnington slammed the door shut on Team Czechia, earning his first shutout of the Olympics.
Had this performance come against a seemingly inferior team, there could still be room for criticism. But Czechia is about as good as they come. They hung tough against Team Canada, but just couldn’t hang on long enough. The Canadian side eventually pulled away, notching a convincing 5-0 win.
Binnington, meanwhile, made 26 saves for the win. While he wasn’t overly tested, he made timely saves when he had to in the first period. He provided the Canadians with the stability they needed to go out there and win the game.
Following the game, the Team Canada netminder declared his high spirits.
“Felt good. Every team, every country has some star players, so we know they’re going to come at some point. And I think we did a good job holding them down and letting me see pucks, getting me access to play my game.”
Contrary to what Binnington has seen with the St. Louis Blues this season, he had an elite blueline playing in front of him. Plus, the overall dominant performance by the Canadian side helped ease the pressure on him later in the game.
It remains unclear whether Binnington will get some time off during the round robin. Team Canada will play again on Friday against Switzerland.
Binnington Making Case to be “The Guy”
One of the paths forward for Jon Cooper is to ride Binnington as “the guy.” The veteran netminder is a proven commodity. So, there’s no real concern about having him play multiple games in a short span.
That said, the next two games for Canada shouldn’t be overly complicated to win. Or at least that’s the perception. Team Canada shouldn’t rest on its laurels. If there’s one thing the first batch of games has shown, there are no easy opponents at the Olympics.
Team Canada Should Still Consider Giving Thompson or Kuemper a Start
With Canada playing on back-to-back days, Cooper should still consider giving a start to either Logan Thompson or Darcy Kuemper. The next game against Switzerland is certainly a winnable one. Thus, Binnington will likely get a day off.
That said, Team Canada might want to consider splitting the game between Thompson and Kuemper as a means of giving their goalies some reps in the tourney. The Canadian squad will have a day off before facing France in the final game of the round robin portion.
Assuming Team Canada earns a bye to the quarterfinals, the team will have some time for Binnington to regroup before the medal round begins.
Team Canada Netminder Slams Door on Talk with Shutout