Cooper still to announce Canada's starting goaltender for 4 Nations Face-Off
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Team Canada's head coach Jon Cooper has yet to reveal who the starting goaltender will be when Canada opens its 4 Nations tournament against Sweden in Montreal.
“Can you see deep into my soul who it is?” Cooper said to reporters after practice on Monday. “They’ll know tonight, and everybody will know after that.”
Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues, Adin Hill of the Vegas Golden Knights and Sam Montembeault of the Montreal Canadiens are the three goaltenders Canada has chosen to roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Hill was the first to take the ice at Monday's opening practice, but goaltender usage has been an important talking point leading up to the tournament.
“It’s not like World Championships where there’s a whole bunch of prelim games and you can put guys in and out,” Cooper said. “I think for everybody, that includes forwards, defensemen, everybody, this is it. You lose your first game, now what? And so, everybody’s here to perform and everybody’s going to try to do their best.
“And as a coaching staff, if we don’t feel it’s getting done, then we’ll make a change. But it’s not like anybody can’t do it; somebody’s got to be put in the net first, but I don’t see it being a rotation.”
Montembeault has been the busiest goaltender of the three this season, playing in 42 games with the Canadiens, and has a .897 save percentage and a 3.00 goals-against average.
Hill, who won the 2023 Stanley Cup in Vegas, has been the most consistent performer of the three this year. In 34 games, the Comox, BC native has a 2.64 GAA and a .900 save percentage.
Binnington won the Stanley Cup in 2019 with the Blues, and has a 2.89 GAA and .896 save percentage this season.
“We have three really good goalies, that’s the great part about it, but the good thing for me is I don’t have to make that decision,” Blues defenceman Colton Parayko, who was with Binnington on that 2019 Stanley Cup-winning squad, said. “As far as Jordan, it’s been a pleasure to play with him for numerous years and he’s a true gamer and comes to play when he’s on the ice. So, I’m looking forward to whoever plays.”
Montembeault, the least experienced of the three, may receive a boost in that he is playing in front of his home crowd in Montreal for the first two games of the tournament.
“I know it’s going to be electric there,” Montembeault said. “The fans are going to show up to support the team, so that would be really fun.”