Avalanche Offseason
Room for Blackwood? Team Canada GM Says Goalie Competition Is ‘Wide Open’ for Olympics
Mackenzie Blackwood likely has a better chance to earn his way onto Team Canada’s roster than was initially thought.
During an appearance on Sportnet’s The FAN Pregame, Team Canada general manager Doug Armstrong said the battle for the three goaltending slots for the upcoming Winter Olympics are wide open.
Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill, and Sam Montembeault represented Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off with Binnington playing ever minute of action. They were also the only three goalies invited to Hockey Canada’s orientation camp next week.
“It’s the opposite of what people think,” Armstrong said on Wednesday. “I’ve told the other goaltenders that I’ve talked to that this is the most wide open competition on our team right now. There are probably eight or nine goalies that are fighting for three spots.”
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Those other goalies weren’t confirmed, but it’s likely a list that includes Logan Thompson, Darcy Kuemper, Stuart Skinner, and Blackwood. If you’re stretching it out, a strong start for Cam Talbot or a breakout for Devon Levi could possibly put them into consideration, too.
So why no invites for the rest? For example, USA Hockey added Joey Daccord as a fourth invite to their camp in Plymouth, Michigan. Canada stuck to the same three from 4 Nations.
“It just didn’t make any sense to bring that many. So instead of picking one or two guys (that weren’t on the 4 Nations roster) and separating them from the other five or six not invited, we decided just to bring the three (from 4 Nations) but let everyone know that this is great competition,” Armstrong said. “It’s the most wide open part of the competition.
“I talked to those other goalies that aren’t there. They understand that, and they understand that being on the long list is like being at camp. If they’re the best goalies come January 1, they’re going to make this team.”
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Armstrong also noted that his longer list of possible goalies are doing paperwork behind the scenes in order to be eligible to be selected for Team Canada. I’d suspect Blackwood can work his way onto the roster with an excellent early part of the season. Albeit, even if he does, I’m not sure what it would take to unseat Binnington from the starters position.
Armstrong and Binnington are both part of the Blues organization, and the goalie’s performance at 4 Nations was not surprising to the GM, even after a tough start to his NHL campaign. He noted that part of the reason why Binnington’s numbers have dropped over the years is because the Blues are not as strong as they were, as a roster, before COVID.
Binnington finally got to play for a strong team again with Team Canada, and showed why he was the backbone of their 2019 Stanley Cup championship.
“It’s easy to forget, but pre COVID (in 2019-20) we were the best team in the Western Conference,” Armstrong said. “And he was leading us.”
I think, if all the goalies mentioned do have a legit chance of making the team (and there’s no “my team” bias for the coaches and GMs) they’ll take Binnington, Blackwood, and Thompson (in that order), with Kuemper and Hill in reserve for injuries.
Probably in the minority. But I don’t want Blackwood & Landeskog anywhere near the Olympics. Obviously there’s always a risk if injury. But with those two specifically. Blackwood as a guy who has never experienced being a legit #1 on a good team. Doesn’t need MORE of a workload.
And Landeskog after missing 3 years needs to prioritize staying healthy & available for the team that paid him 7 million a year to rehab. He owes them. And that’s not a sentiment I often feel, regarding modern sports.
Landeskog does not “owe” the Avalanche anything. He stuck with the team during the worst years and played with a severe injury most of us couldn’t walk on to help the team win the Cup. So tired of people rolling out that garbage take.
How many organizations would’ve allowed a guy to rehab an injury that nobody ever has come back from? For 3 years in the apex of their cup window? All while not knowing at various points if they would or wouldn’t have that 7 million to spend elsewhere or not? Most organizations (Vegas immediately comes to mind). Would’ve been trying to coerce the guy into retirement. Or have told him you’re on LTIR for good & if you want to try & play go do it elsewhere. The garbage take is he stuck with them through the “bad years”. He was… Read more »
Am I the only one who thinks that Darcy was a bigger snub than Blackie?
No. Kuemper has had a pretty schizophrenic career. But there’s a much larger sample size with him versus Blackwood. And the guy is a cup winner. Regardless of whether or not he was a big reason for that win or not, in one’s opinion.
Blackwood has never even won a playoff series.