WINNIPEG — When Martin Brodeur signed with the Blues in December 2014, Jake Allen was the starting goalie and a 21-year-old prospect was the emergency backup.
Still a few days from actually suiting up, Brodeur took that backup, Jordan Binnington, out to lunch.
“We were staying at the same hotel,” Brodeur recalled this week. “He probably drove me because I didn’t have a car. So we had a bite and I got to know him a little bit.”
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Brodeur wound up playing seven games with the Blues over a month-long span and then retired from the NHL, taking a management position alongside GM Doug Armstrong. And as part of his job description, Brodeur was often the one who notified young goalies they were going back to the team’s former American Hockey League affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.
“I think I cut ‘Binner’ like five or six times,” Brodeur said, chuckling. “Like, ‘All right, that’s enough buddy, you’re going to Chicago … sorry!'”
The Hall of Famer is no longer with the organization, leaving last summer to take a business development position with the New Jersey Devils, but he’s certainly aware that his one-time chauffeur has driven the Blues into the playoffs this year.
A 25-year-old who began the 2018-19 season fourth on the Blues’ depth chart, Binnington is No. 1 in the NHL in goals-against average (1.89), fourth in save percentage (.927), and he set the franchise record for wins by a rookie (24-5-1). And Wednesday night he’ll be in net for Game 1 of the team’s Western Conference best-of-seven quarterfinal series against Winnipeg at 7 p.m. at Bell MTS Place.
“I mean … listen, nobody expected that,” Brodeur said. “When you get to that age, you move onto the next guy. I didn’t see him much, especially the last few years, because it was all about (prospect Ville) Husso. But for me, the thing I could tell you about Binner is just how competitive he is. He never accepted not to be the top prospect, like he didn’t believe it, even though that’s what was going on, and I think that was to his benefit.
“He had that chip on his shoulder, and he just kind of plowed through all the adversity that got in front of him, and that’s why he’s successful right now. You look at the stats — they’re not just amazing, they’re unbelievable. I’m sure everybody is really excited about the situation that he’s in. It’s well-deserved on his part.”
Indeed, Blues fans are excited about Binnington, but despite having a season that has put him into the conversation for the Calder Trophy, the NHL’s rookie of the year award, few can tell you how the Ontario native will handle the pressure of his first playoff series. They might tell you how they think he’ll handle it, but not even he can predict how it will turn out.
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“It’s been a pretty wild second half here,” Binnington said this week. “I just tried to do whatever I could to be ready for an opportunity at the NHL level and thankfully it came this season. I for sure used the (delay in getting a chance) as motivation, people not believing in me … it kind of fueled me. It’s how you handle it and I think I handled this one well. I stayed humble, I stayed quiet, and just did what I could to be prepared for the opportunity. But I just take it day by day and do what I can to feel prepared. I believe confidence comes from preparation, so that’s what I’m focused on. This team is really strong and deep, and I’m just going to continue to work hard every day, and hopefully have a good playoff run.”
In the past 13 NHL seasons, only two of 38 rookie goalies — Carolina’s Cam Ward and Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray — led their teams to a Stanley Cup.
Ward won his as a 21-year-old, playing 28 games as the Hurricanes’ backup in the regular season and then being thrust into the playoffs when starter Martin Gerber got hurt. He played 23 games in the postseason, going 15-8 with a 2.14 GAA and a .920 save percentage. His first series was against the Montreal Canadiens, and after winning that, he met New Jersey and Brodeur in the second round.
“I remember as a rookie going into Montreal,” Ward told The Athletic. “In Game 3, it was my first start and I remember standing at center-ice and just soaking it all in and just thinking ‘How cool is this?’ It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. Then, for me, playing against a childhood idol, being able to share the ice with some of the guys I was able to share it with, was a very cool experience.”
Carolina eliminated New Jersey four games to one in the conference semifinals, with Ward impressing the three-time Stanley Cup and two-time Vezina Trophy winner.
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“I think Cam, in that series, he was just solid,” Brodeur said. “He didn’t really need to be unbelievable because he had a really good team in front of him, but as a young goalie, you cannot be the reason why the team is going to lose. You just don’t give the other team any kind of life the whole series and every single bad goal you allow, that allows the team to believe in themselves. That’s where you see young goalies are able to be successful because they don’t know better. They don’t feel the pressure and they just make the saves they need to make.
“I actually thought it was pretty easy after two years, like, ‘This is nothing.’ I was young, and to me, everything came easy. I played on a good team and I felt that I could beat anybody I wanted. Then we never won a series for the next four or five years after that. There’s that innocence when you’re a rookie, you don’t know any better. You feel that a loss is a loss and you move on. You don’t put extra pressure on yourself. Like I said, there’s that innocence. I think you have more of an issue when you get older because you understand the pressure of it.”
Murray won two Cups with Pittsburgh, one in 2015-16, and because he played in just 13 regular-season games that year, he was still considered a rookie when he helped the Penguins to another championship in 2016-17. (Chicago’s Scott Darling was a first-year goalie on Chicago’s Stanley Cup-winning team in 2014-15, but he was just 3-1 in four decisions.)
From 2006-2018, the combined playoff record of rookie goalies was 123-113 with a collective save percentage of .915. But after Ward and Murray, no other netminder in that stretch had more than 11 playoff victories, meaning they either split time or didn’t make it out of the second round. Here’s a look at the list from the last three seasons, in which only Murray, in his first Cup run, had more than seven wins.
But many around the NHL believe that Binnington’s situation is different.
First of all, he is a rookie, but he’ll be 26 in July. The average age of those 38 rookie goalies to appear in the postseason since Ward is 22.6 years, and only seven of them were 25-plus. Secondly, he’s played in 204 AHL games.
“He’s definitely paid his dues, and worked his way up, so good for him,” said Philadelphia goalie Carter Hart, a 20-year-old rookie who went 16-13-1 this season, helping turn around the Flyers’ season. “He’s done well and he’s getting a chance and he’s doing well. It looks like he’s just been trusting his game. That’s the biggest thing, just believing in yourself.”
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They bring up his technique: calm, smart, compact.
“I just see a very structured, simple game, not trying to do too much, not trying to over-dive or over-challenge,” said former NHL goalie and ex-Blues goalie coach Corey Hirsch, who is now a TV analyst for the Vancouver Canucks. “And it’s not just a flash in the pan. When you do it for as many games in a row as he’s done, it’s not just a flash.”
They point to the fact that in 30 starts this season, Binnington lost six times, but never in two consecutive games. He was 6-0 in those situations with a .935 save percentage.
“I have a saying that I use: control-alt-delete,” said former NHL goalie and current Blues TV analyst Darren Pang. “I think he does a real good job, not just game to game, but shift to shift, just making sure that he’s ready for the next shot. I don’t think there’s any part of his personality or demeanor during the course of a game that tells me that he’s going to change at any particular point.”
Binnington may not win the Calder, despite the endorsement of two rival players from the Chicago Blackhawks, but that won’t have a bearing on his postseason.
His chief competitor for rookie of the year is Vancouver forward Elias Pettersson, who had 28 goals in 71 games. But 22 of Pettersson’s goals came in the first 37 games of the season, and he had just six in the final 34 games.
“I know they were kind of giving it to Pettersson halfway through the season,” Chicago forward Patrick Kane, who won the Calder in 2007-08, told The Athletic. “But it seems like (Binnington) has been a big reason why (the Blues) are turning it around and had a lot of success. His numbers are pretty impressive, especially for a rookie goaltender, to give them that jump-start that maybe they needed. He’s a worthy candidate.”
Since former Columbus goalie Steve Mason won the Calder in 2008-09, Detroit’s Jimmy Howard placed second in 2009-10, but no other netminder has finished higher than fourth.
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“It doesn’t happen often,” Chicago center Jonathan Toews said. “I think everyone always wants to look at the guys that are scoring points. There should be some conversation as to what value that player has to their team, and if they’re in a playoff spot, and obviously (the Blues) made a huge surge from the beginning of the season. It’s not easy for a young guy to step in and make a difference like that, especially a goaltender.”
In addition to Pettersson, however, there are Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who both played 82 games to Binnington’s 32.
“He should be nominated, no question,” Hirsch said. “Will he win? I don’t think he should win. I think if he had 30 wins, 10 more games, I think it would be different. I’ve seen Pettersson do things that are just special, like he’s a special talent. You guys got to see him get five points in (in St. Louis) one night. Like I said, if Binner had 10 more games, I think we might be looking at a different result.”
The other argument is that Binnington is 25 years old, while Petterson is 20, Heiskanen is 19 and Dahlen is 18. NHL rules say that to be considered a rookie, a player must not have played in “more than 25 NHL games in any preceding seasons, nor in six or more games in each of any two preceding seasons.”
“I didn’t make the rule — a rookie is a rookie,” Binnington said. “It’s a tough comparison. I think the record speaks for itself in that situation, but it’s a great honor to be even mentioned in that category.”
In St. Louis last week, Pettersson was asked about the battle for the award, which is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association.
“Of course, he’s a really good goalie and he showed it this year,” Pettersson said. “I’m not going into that conversation. I’m just trying to play my best out there, he’s trying to play his best out there. He’s played a good season, I’ve had a good season … so it’s not up to us.”
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But Binnington’s season is still going, and after receiving several encouraging text messages, he’s got even more confidence.
One came from Brodeur.
“I was fortunate to do what I did and I know a lot of guys looked up to me,” he said. “I know when I had success, and certain goalies took their time to give me a call and congratulate me … it means a lot. I was pretty happy for him and sending a text is an easy thing and I know it means a lot to people. It’s important for me to give back because a lot of the great goalies were unbelievable toward me, too.”
Will there be any more messages of congratulations?
Only if Binnington is able to handle the spotlight, something several of the goalies who came before him offered their advice on.
“Seize the opportunity, enjoy the moment,” Ward said. “As the playoffs approach, the mindset doesn’t really change. You want to be in the net and thrive off that atmosphere once the postseason hits. It seems like he likes the big games and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him do real well. It could be a bit of a roller-coaster, but as long as you keep a level head and stay humble, that’s very key.”
“Here’s what I would tell Jordan Binnington: He’s got nothing to lose,” Hirsch said. “I think with a goalie, you want to take the pressure off. You tell him, ‘You’re going to play … if you play bad, we’re going to throw you back in there again.’ Just say, ‘We’re going to play as hard as we can in front of you, just do the best that you can.’ It’s just letting him know that you have confidence in him.”
“He’s never gone through really a hard time yet, but from the outside, he looks pretty unflappable,” Brodeur said. “It’s all good for him and he’s playing in front of a team that gives him that opportunity to be himself. I think that’s what kept me grounded. Every time I was struggling, guys were there for me, they take responsibility. They say, ‘He’s our young guy, he’s given us a chance, let’s do it for him.’ That’s what I felt when I played, everybody wanted me to be successful, and that really helps when you’re a young guy.”
(Top photo: Jared Silber / Getty Images)
