So far, so good: Canada’s goaltending hasn’t been a problem at the Olympics
Goaltending is often cited as a concern at just about any national team event for Canada. And yet, it’s rarely the reason the team falters.
World Juniors. Olympics that. Yeah, sure, Canada might not have any future Hockey Hall of Famers in their crease in Milano this year. We aren’t watching peak Carey Price. But there’s something about playing on the world’s biggest stage that brings the best out of anyone who dons the red, white and black.
Turns out, even when the top teams have elite-level offense, Canada has star defending, too. The worst Canadian defenseman, whoever you think it is, still plays north of 20 minutes a night on a top pairing somewhere. Travis Sanheim is going to allow fewer high-danger opportunities than Matthew Kessel on a given night.
So, while Jordan Binnington might have the worst numbers in the NHL, and Logan Thompson might not be a Vezina candidate this year, goaltending clearly hasn’t been a problem yet. Czechia and Switzerland aren’t gold medal favorites, but they’re formidable opponents with a ton of built-in chemistry from years of competing for medals at the World Championship. Through two games, they’ve stopped 50 of 51 shots, with Binnington picking up a shutout against the Czechs. The lone goal against? A power-play marker off a funny bounce.
It’s hard to beat that.
Binnington looked a bit scrambly early in the game, but figured it out quite quickly. In reality, Game 1 wasn’t overly difficult with just nine slot shots. But Binnington has proven in St. Louis that he’s fully capable of losing momentum off a bad goal, and it just never happened. In the end, Binnington put up a goals saved above average of 2.02 (according to HockeyStats.com) – that’s the third-best performance of the tournament.
Thompson had a bit more competition against a Swiss team that came out flying much quicker. His first save of the game – and the first in a game in eight days – was a sprawling save on Nino Neiderreiter. He’d ultimately allow a goal on the power play midway through the first, but it was a bounce that turned into a solid rebound effort from Pius Suter. That ended Canada’s shutout record with NHLers in the crease at 237 minutes and one second dating back to 2014. Fun fact: the last goal before that came in the quarterfinal against Latvia – the Kristers Gudlevskis game.
It’s one thing if the goaltenders allowed a couple of weak goals and forced the offense to pick up the slack. That simply didn’t happen. So it’s hard to have any real knock against the two tenders right now. Canada’s so-called weak point has been a strength so far.
Binnington played every minute of the 4 Nations Face-Off and had some of the best analytics of any goaltender. Sometimes, players just elevate their game when the moment matters. Nobody knows that better than Binnington. Thompson put himself on the Olympic radar when he won silver at the 2022 World Championship. And that was before he was even a full-time NHLer – his career has come a long way.
The goaltending discourse has been loud for, frankly, a few years now. So many stories have been written about Canada’s goaltending pipeline being a disaster. And fair enough, the NHL results haven’t been too sexy in recent years. There might be something to it. But the topic, regarding this Canadian hockey team boasting one of the best forward groups this tournament has ever seen, always felt overblown.
Goaltending is voodoo. You could probably find the most average Canadian goaltender in the NHL, put them on this team and they’ll be fine. They’re playing behind an all-star team, after all.
Binnington has built a reputation for winning big games. He’ll likely be tasked with the starter’s gig the rest of the way. Thompson doesn’t have the same résumé (he was injured during Vegas’ 2023 Stanley Cup), but he has the far better numbers this season. And then there’s Darcy Kuemper – a Stanley Cup and World Champion. He knows a thing or two about thriving in big games. Canada’s trio might not have the star power that the United States (or Russia, had it not been banned) has. But all three of the goaltenders have a Stanley Cup to their credit.
So, relax, Canada. Trust the goaltending until it gives you a reason not to. We’ll see if the team can handle the games that really matter. But for now, they handled the two toughest tasks of the round robin with ease, and that’s all you can ask for.
PRESENTED BY DAILY FACEOFF’S OLYMPIC COVERAGE
Catch Every Goal from the 2026 Milan Games! The 2026 Milan Games are almost here, and the world’s best men’s and women’s hockey players are ready to battle for gold! The Nation Network is bringing you every game, every jaw-dropping save, and all the drama with live reaction streams and full recaps. Don’t miss a moment of Olympic hockey action—men’s, women’s, and everything in between—on the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel. Subscribe now and stay on top of every play!