They only named three goalies to the orientation camp roster, despite naming as many as six in previous Olympic events that included NHL players.

At 4 Nations, Jordan Binnington — while having a bad first half of the season — stepped in for Canada, played every minute of the tournament, and walked away with a championship. He was excellent. He did his part and proved the doubters wrong.

But that doesn’t change the fact that the Canadians still made some pretty questionable decisions in the crease. Along with Binnington, Canada took Vegas’ Adin Hill and Montreal’s Sam Montembeault to 4 Nations.

They left behind Logan Thompson, who was having an excellent season with the Capitals, Darcy Kuemper, who ended up finishing second in Vezina Trophy voting and has a Stanley Cup, and the Avs’ new starter Mackenzie Blackwood.

It’s fair that Blackwood just didn’t really have enough time to set himself up for a roster spot. He had just been traded to the Avs two months prior. But Thompson and Kuemper both had solid cases.

Regardless, it’s been months since that tournament. Thompson went on to have a great ending to the season with the Caps, and won a playoff series. While Blackwood, despite falling in the first round, gave the Avs solid goaltending — something they haven’t had since Kuemper.

All three of those guys should be at the orientation camp. Even if Binnington is the undisputed starter. Even if another slow start to the season won’t matter when the Olympics begin, it’s silly for Hockey Canada to not bring others to camp to keep the competition open.

Ultimately, there’s no guarantee that attending the orientation camp automatically earns you a roster spot. In 2014, Team Canada’s gold medal-winning roster included Jamie Benn and Patrick Marleau, but neither was invited to the camp.

So it is possible to play your way in, or out, of consideration.

But why not bring them? Why make it clear that you want Hill and Montembeault as the two backups? What if injuries arise? There are no limits on how many players you can invite to this camp.

Blackwood was invited to the 2022 camp before the NHL eventually backed out of the tournament. He’s been on Hockey Canada’s radar before. So why put yourself in a situation where you’re calling him, Thompson, Kuemper, or someone else to step in for the Olympics after not inviting them to the camp?

It’s all very puzzling.

Canada won 4 Nations largely because Binnington made some great saves in key moments. I won’t take that away from him. But what if he completely blows it in the first game or two of the Olympics? Why wouldn’t you want the next best guy there?

Canada started with Martin Brodeur in goal in 2010 before shifting to Roberto Luongo after Brodeur’s bad start. If, after all, Binnington can’t lead the charge, are you comfortable with Hill or Montembeault stepping in, no questions asked, no competition, regardless of how their season’s have gone?

Blackwood should’ve been invited. I stand by that.

But now it’s up to him to have the type of start that changes management’s mind.

The post No Blackwood or Thompson? Canada Only Invites 3 Goalies to Orientation Camp appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

The post How Does Mackenzie Blackwood’s Contract Stack Up Against the Goalie Deals That Followed? (+) appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — January 28.

Colorado Hockey Now

The trade board I uploaded a week ago is already outdated following the mammoth trade on Friday. Have the Avs’ priorities shifted? I think so. Check out version 2.0 of the Avalanche trade board. I’ve added some pretty big names to the list.

Speaking of the Rantanen trade, did the Finnish forward force Chris MacFarland’s hand? I cover that, and more, on the weekly Monday Notebook.

Colleen Flynn has her take on the trade. What comes next?

Catch the latest episode of my podcast, Rinkside with Aarif Deen — Rantanen Trade Fallout | January 27, 2025.

Around the NHL

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Fenway Sports Group is reportedly looking to sell a minor stake in their Penguins ownership.

Montreal Hockey Now: Catch the latest Habs wrap, covering Ivan Demidov, Alexandre Carrier’s trade impact, and playoff talk.

Philadelphia Hockey Now: The Flyers beat the New Jersey Devils. Catch the player grades from the victory.

New Jersey Hockey Now: Speaking of the Devils, they are struggling big time. Especially their special teams.

NYI Hockey Now: It’s not quite Friday night’s blockbuster deal, but the Islanders traded for a defenseman on Monday.

Detroit Hockey Now: The Kings are struggling, and the Red Wings took advantage of that.

San Jose Hockey Now: Sidney Crosby is impressed by Macklin Celebrini — a player often compared to him. He even offered the young Sharks center some advice.

Vegas Hockey Now: Former Golden Knights goalie Logan Thompson signed a massive extension with the Washington Capitals on Monday.

The post Deen’s Daily: Avalanche’s Trade Targets After Rantanen Trade; Thompson Signs Extension appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

They almost blew it, but the Dallas Stars dominated the Golden Knights and were rewarded with an overtime win to get back into the series.

All that and more in this Sunday edition of Evan’s Daily.

Colorado Hockey Now

Has Mikko Rantanen gotten off to a hot start this series? Definitely not, but he did win some key face-offs to help the Colorado powerplay in Game Three.

The addition of Toby Petersen to the Avalanche staff really shows its value on days like Saturday.

Game Five Start Time

I don’t really root for teams in the NHL playoffs anymore, as I try to stay as unbiased as possible. That being said, I might have been rooting for the Hurricanes to pull off the sweep over the Islanders.

That didn’t work.

Matt Barzal scored the overtime winner, keeping the Islanders season alive. That means their Game Five on Tuesday will be the early one, starting at 5:30 PM MST. The NHL was waiting on that game to give a start time for the Avalanche/Jets, and with another Eastern Conference game taking place that day, Colorado will get a later start.

7:30 PM MST to be exact.

That’s not that bad, but for those of us going to Winnipeg, it’s actually 8:30 local time. If it’s anything like Game Two, it will be 8:50. Since we have to drive back to Fargo the next day for our flight, that means another night of very little sleep. The NHL makes the final call, but I’m sure folks in Winnipeg aren’t too happy about a late start like that on a Tuesday.

Eagles Do Or Die

The Avalanche aren’t the only Colorado team playing a playoff game on Sunday. The Colorado Eagles will play Game Three against Abbotsford at 3:05 PM MST, and the winner of that game will move on. It’s a best-of-three series in the AHL for round one, so there isn’t much room for error.

Chris Wagner won Game Two in overtime for the Eagles, with Nikolai Kovalenko, Cal Burke, Spencer Smallman, and Tanner Kero scoring in regulation. If the Eagles lose, I imagine the Avalanche call up a few guys to the NHL squad to become Black Aces. Kovalenko, Wagner, Tufte, Foudy, Malinski, Hunt, and Prosvetov would be my guesses.

Stars Bite Back

It would have been cruel for the Dallas Stars to lose on Saturday night, because they deserved to win, but Logan Thompson really made them earn it. Luckily for Dallas, they have one of the better young players in the NHL, and he came through in overtime.

Wyatt Johnston scored near the end of the first OT to get the Stars back into the series. Very pretty goal, and just a few moments after he was stopped on a different opportunity.

WYATT JOHNSTON IS THE OT HERO FOR DALLAS pic.twitter.com/RpV44M2BS8

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 28, 2024

The fact it got to overtime was a miracle in itself. Vegas gave up four breakaways in the first two periods, and at one point were being outshot 30-10. Thompson was the only reason it was close, and two quick goals in the second got the Golden Knights back in it. That wasn’t enough, and now the Stars will look to even the series up on Monday.

Leafs Crumbling

It wouldn’t be the NHL playoffs without a meltdown in Toronto.

Toronto looked lifeless for two periods on Sunday, and are now on the brink of elimination, having been shut down by Jeremy Swayman. He didn’t have to do a whole lot in the win, as the Bruins were far and away the better team. All the focus was on the Toronto bench, who didn’t seem to know how to handle the situation.

Stop fucking crying #LeafsForever | #MapleLeafs pic.twitter.com/gj30HuKzJK

— Missin Curfew (@MissinCurfew) April 28, 2024

This series is probably over, especially since Auston Matthews seems to be fighting some sort of illness. If they lose in round one, the Leafs have to make major changes, right?

National Hockey Now

Who knows what the Sharks will do, but Marc-Edouard Vlasic doesn’t think he’s going to get bought out.

The Lightning avoided a sweep on Sunday, beating the Panthers and forcing a Game Five. I’m sure the NHL appreciated that.

A great tribute to the legend, Bob Cole.

Surprise! An NHL team is baffled by reffing inconsistency in the playoffs. This time, it’s the Predators.

The post Evan’s NHL Daily: Game Five Time Set, Stars Bite Back appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.