The reality is that Binnington had only one good game in the tournament and Canada no longer has Hall of Fame goalkeepers like in the past. Oettinger has performed much better than Hellebuyck in his career in the playoffs, yet it was Hellebuyck in the net for the United States. Binnington has probably secured his selection for the Olympic Games, but I don’t believe he is guaranteed to be the number one goalie. An Olympic gold medal is more valuable than a medal at the Four Nations Cup, and the duration of the tournament is not the same either.

Since he started playing with the Avalanche, Blackwood has been among the best NHL goalkeepers statistically. If he had started the season with the Avalanche, Blackwood would likely be competing with Hellebuyck for the Vezina Trophy.

Connor Helleybuck remains the most overrated & over hyped player in the national hockey league. Has this guy ever been great in anything other than a regular season game.

As Aarif said, there was no doubt that the 3 Avs’ players represented themselves well. I do not see how you could not watch the Canadien games and not come across after in marvel of how good and important those three were to the team’s success. I do think MacKinnon and Makar’s performances will rub off on MVP voters even though it should not. McDavid was basically a ghost except for being in the right place at the right time. No Quinn Hughes allowed Makar to highlight who he is. Binnington outplayed Helle.

American defenseman were tough, mean, skilled, and big and for the first half of the game it looked like a typical Avalanche vs. Vegas playoff game. Jacob Slavin is the man and easily the best pure defender in the game.

Speaking of the Tkachuck’s, very selfish by Matthew to suit up for the game. It was clear from the first game the two met that he hurt his groin and couldn’t’ finish the game. Not sure on what planet a player believes a groin injury will heal itself in less than a week, but he is an idiot so makes sense.

There’s zero chance after last night that Binnington barring injury or his game completely falling off a cliff. Didn’t lock up the #1 job for the Olympics.

I don’t care for the guy but his performance last night for Canadian hockey fans is going to live in lore. He single handedly delivered them a victory they didn’t deserve.

And honestly as much as I’ve liked what I’ve seen from Blackwood. People within the Avs fanbase need to chill. He needs to prove himself over a larger sample size or in the postseason. Before he should be considered for the Canadian Olympic team.

Blackwood & Necas both for that matter need to play excellent in meaningful games & consistently before people start anointing them stars. Sure it matters what you do in Jan, Feb, etc. But if you crap the bed when it matters, it doesn’t matter.

A goalkeeper or a player who does not perform well will be criticized. Players even get cut from the lineup when they don’t perform. That’s the way it is… Binnington didn’t play well in the first three games of the tournament, making many mistakes. Binnington’s performances almost cost Canada a spot in the final. No one has control over the players’ performances. Personally, I would have used Adam Hill in the first game against the United States or in the game against Finland. The line is very thin between a victory and a defeat. A bad goal conceded by Binnington in the final and it was over for Canada. I believe Blackwood is still a better goalkeeper than Binnington, and I hope he will get his chance at the next Olympic Games. But that doesn’t take anything away from Binnington’s accomplishment, who was good at the right moment.

He’s a good goalie who carried a mediocre Blues team to a cup. And has never been anything but consistent since entering the league. Don’t conflate his ability with his stupid tough guy antics.

Austin Matthews actually played a pretty good game. But I have zero clue what he was thinking on that OT winner.

All in all a great tournament, that I absolutely loved! Let’s do it again!