"I didn't ask too many questions," Binnington said of his conversation with Armstrong. "…I'm just happy to get the call."
Binnington is 8-4-0 this season with the San Antonio Rampage, posting a 2.34 goals-against average and a .914 save-percentage. He won four straight games in November and is 6-1-0 in his last seven starts for San Antonio.
"If you look at his numbers and you look at the way we've played as a team, he's been instrumental in every single one of our wins down there pretty much," defenseman Chris Butler said of Binnington. "I think he's very deserving of getting a chance."
With his solid play, Binnington has wrestled playing time away from Ville Husso, who entered the season as the third goalie on the Blues' depth chart.
"It seems for whatever reason we played better hockey in front of 'Binner,"' Butler added. "I couldn't tell you why, but he seems to be getting the wins down there and like I said, he's deserving of a chance."
Binnington was drafted by the Blues in the third round (No. 88 overall) in the 2011 NHL Draft. He made his AHL debut with the Peoria Rivermen in the 2011-12 season, then went on to play for the Chicago Wolves, the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL and last season even played 28 games for the Providence Bruins when the Blues shared their AHL team with the Vegas Golden Knights.
Aside from playing 12 minutes and 47 seconds in a relief appearance in January 2016, Binnington hasn't gotten a real chance to prove himself in the NHL, but it also seems the 25-year-old is not content with being a minor-league goaltender.
"A couple years ago, it was in the summer and I sat back and saw where I was, and I didn't like where I was," Binnington said of spending a long time developing in the AHL. "I just wanted to prove to myself and my family that I could live up to my potential and I believed in myself. It's been an ongoing process… Day by day I'm feeling better and just becoming more of a pro, being more confident and consistent. I can feel it and it's exciting."
"I'm feeling good, that's all I can tell you," he added. "I'm just going to be myself and continue what I'm doing and see what plays out."
