How Canada will manage its goaltenders at 4 Nations Face-Off

Team Canada kicked off their first practice ahead of the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament on Monday, and quickly, it became obvious who was playing with who during their line rushes. In net, however, is a whole other story.

Head coach Jon Cooper has Vegas Golden Knights‘ Adin Hill, St. Louis Blues‘ Jordan Binnington, and Montreal Canadiens‘ Samuel Montembeault at his disposal, and from all accounts, the situation is very fluid with Canada’s first game coming Wednesday night against Team Sweden.

Cooper spoke with the media following practice and opened up about how things may shake up in the crease. “I think this is too short a tournament to make that call,” Cooper said on the topic of having goaltenders rotate in and out. “It’s not like World Championship where there’s a whole bunch of prelim games and you can put guys in and out. I think for everybody, that includes forwards, defensemen, everybody, you can lose your first game.

“So, everybody’s here to perform and everybody’s going to try and 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 like I said, I don’t see it being a rotation.”

As far as results so far during the NHL season, Hill has posted a 20-10-4 record, with a 2.64 goals against average (GAA), and .900 save percentage (Sv.%). Binnington has a 15-19-4 record, with a 2.89 GAA, and .896 Sv.%, meanwhile Montembeault has tallied a 18-21-3 record, with a 3.00 GAA, and .897 Sv.%.

On who will start game one of the tournament against Sweden, Cooper plans on making the call sometime Monday evening. “Can you see deep into my soul who it is?” Cooper said, with a smile. “They’ll know tonight and then everybody will know after that.”