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The last time NHL players competed at the Olympics in 2014, Canada rolled out a goaltending group headlined by one of the calmest players to ever work between the pipes: Carey Price.
He was backed up by Roberto Luongo and Mike Smith. The well of talent in net was so deep then that Braden Holtby and the recent Stanley Cup champion, Corey Crawford, were left at home as Canada went on to win gold in Sochi, Russia.
Before that, Canada had future Hall of Famers Patrick Roy, Ed Belfour and Martin Brodeur stopping pucks at the Olympics.
As NHL players make their long-awaited Olympic return at Milano Cortina 2026, Canada will roll with a trio led by 4 Nations Face-Off starter Jordan Binnington, along with Logan Thompson and Darcy Kuemper.
Canada will face Czechia to start the preliminary round on Thursday (10:40 a.m. ET), followed by Switzerland on Friday (3:10 p.m. ET) and France on Sunday (10:40 a.m. ET). You can watch all the Olympic hockey action on CBC and CBC Gem.
Many people see goaltending as a weakness on the star-studded Canadian team — a potential road block between Canada and the gold medal.
But Brodeur, who knows a thing or two about backstopping Canada to gold, isn’t buying it.
Host Karissa Donkin is joined by Jeff Marek to discuss how Hockey Canada will approach their goaltenders at Milano Cortina 2026.
“I don’t see it as a weakness,” the two-time Olympic gold medallist told CBC Sports. “There’s winning pedigree. They’re goalies with experience. They’re big factors in each of the teams that they’re playing in.”
That doesn’t mean he hasn’t taken note of the concern around the development of goaltenders coming out of Canada.
“There’s something going on, for sure,” Brodeur said. “If you look at every other country, it was pretty clear who the goalies were going to be. And obviously from just the past experience of the Olympics, while the pros were there, it was kind of pretty obvious who the goalies were going to be. You could pick any of those and you’re pretty confident. Now, it’s a little different.”
It bothers Brodeur, who retired in 2015 and is now the executive vice-president of hockey operations with the New Jersey Devils.
“I don’t like it,” he said. “I don’t like to talk about it. Everybody’s asking the same questions.
“It’s the same thing for players coming out of Quebec. It’s the first time we’re not going to have a French Canadian player on the Olympic team. It’s kind of sad because we take a lot of pride in being a good province for hockey.”
‘It’s what we do when we get there’
One thing that could be a strength for Canada’s goaltenders? The experience of playing well when things get tense. All three Canadian goaltenders have Stanley Cup rings, something no other country can boast.
“I’m comfortable with our goaltending,” Canadian GM Doug Armstrong told CBC Sports on the day the team was named. “I think it’s stronger than maybe they get credit for. But I’m a big believer [that] no one really cares, it doesn’t matter what I think. It’s what we do when we get there.”
Much of that belief rests on the shoulders of Binnington, the 32-year-old goaltender who led Armstrong’s St. Louis Blues to a Stanley Cup in 2019.
It was Binnington who Canada turned to when the stakes were highest for the country at last year’s 4 Nations tournament. He emerged a winner.
Binnington’s statistics have been underwhelming in the NHL this season. He’s saved more than 24 fewer goals than expected, which is dead last in the league, according to Moneypuck. He’s allowing an average of 3.65 goals per game.
But the Canadian management group hasn’t been deterred by Binnington’s performance on a basement-dwelling Blues team. He’ll also be playing in front of a lot more defensive talent on the Olympic team.
“His name never came up as a question mark,” Armstrong said. “I think what everyone saw from him at the 4 Nations cemented his legacy for this tournament. What I’ve seen over his career made it easy for me to go in that direction.”
Calm under pressure
The pressure didn’t seem to get to Binnington at 4 Nations. He started every game in a tense tournament that was about a lot more than just hockey.
It’s that sense of unflappability that stood out to former NHL goaltender Corey Hirsch when he scouted a teenaged Binnington. He was the Blues’ goaltending coach when the team selected Binnington in the NHL Draft’s third round, 88th overall, in 2011.
“His ability to stay calm under pressure is his greatest asset,” Hirsch said. “He doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low, and [is] able to keep that even keel. That’s what really helps him.”
While some of Binnington’s on-ice antics may make you think otherwise at times, Hirsch can see calmness in the way the goaltender from Richmond Hill, Ont. faces a shooter.
“Players are always trying to get you to move first,” he said. “That’s how you get scored on. He’s got the right amount of patience.”
Hirsch knows what it’s like to represent his country at the Olympics. He won a silver medal in Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994, before NHLers went to the Games. He’s also coached Canadian goaltenders at the world junior touranment.
When they’re picking a goaltender to wear the maple leaf, Hockey Canada is looking for a player who can make a big save when it counts, even if they’ve not seen many shots in the game, Hirsch said.
A big test in Game 1
The biggest early test could come in the first game against the Czechs, when Canada faces the likes of David Pastrňák and Martin Nečas.
The Team Canada forward sits down with Karissa Donkin to discuss what wearing the maple leaf means to him.
If Binnington plays and falters in that game, who’s up next? Based on NHL performance, it could be Thompson, the 28-year-old Washington Capitals netminder from Calgary.
Thompson, who won the Cup with Vegas in 2023, has saved more than 18 goals above expected this season, per Moneypuck. That’s better than all but two NHL goaltenders: Russians Ilya Sorokin and Andrei Vasilevskiy.
At six-foot-four and 207 pounds, Thompson boasts size and one quirk that could throw shooters off: he’s one of only six right-catching goaltenders to play in the NHL this season.
“I think sometimes that throws off shooters a little bit,” said former NHL goaltender Chris Mason, who’s now a colour analyst on FanDuel Sports Network with the Nashville Predators.
There’s also the veteran, Kuemper, who won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022 and is the largest of the three goaltenders going to Italy. Now with the Los Angeles Kings, the 35-year-old from Saskatoon has a save percentage of .900 in 36 games.
“He’s very calm and cool and reserved in the net, and relies a lot on his structure,” Mason said.
Like Hirsch, Mason understands the pressure that comes with playing for Team Canada.
He owns two world championship medals: gold from 2007 and silver from 2009. He also came close to going to the 2010 Olympics. Mason was the fourth goaltender behind Brodeur, Luongo and Marc-André Fleury.
Embracing the moment
Some players get overwhelmed by the enormity of representing Canada.
Others use it as inspiration to dig a bit deeper.
That’s why you want a goaltender with a winning pedigree, Brodeur said.
“You’re going to get into those games that it’s going to take a lot of concentration and a lot of guts,” he said.
“You want to embrace that moment, so you want to make sure you get goalies there that are not scared to be in those positions. It’s kind of funny to say, but a lot of guys are at times. The bigger the moment, the tougher it is for them. So I think with the three goalies we have in Canada, I think we’re pretty well served in that department.”