LAS VEGAS -- From Patrick Roy to Martin Brodeur to Curtis Joseph to Roberto Luongo to Carey Price, goaltending has always been a position of strength for Canada in international hockey over the past three decades.
Until now.
When the first six players were announced for the Canadian roster for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off by the NHL and NHLPA on June 28, the wow factor was front and center.
Forwards Connor McDavid (three) of the Edmonton Oilers, Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins (two) and Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche (one) have combined to win the Hart Trophy as NHL most valuable player six times. Defenseman Cale Makar won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2019-20, the Norris Trophy as top defenseman in 2021-22 and Conn Smythe Trophy as Stanley Cup Playoff MVP that same season. Forward Brayden Point has 185 points (97 goals, 88 assists) in 163 games the past two seasons. And forward Brad Marchand, captain of the Boston Bruins, has 401 goals and is a plus-292 for his career. They’ve combined to win the Stanley Cup eight times.
There will be no issues for this group when it comes to putting pucks into the net. The biggest question is: Who will keep them out?
“Goaltending, obviously, is one (position) that’s always going to be under the microscope for any team, but especially with it being Canada and with Carey having been there previously,” Crosby said that day, noting that Price backstopped Canada to the gold medal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the World Cup of Hockey 2016. “He’s a guy that’s not easily replaceable, but I think there’s a lot of guys capable of doing that.
“I think that with any position, there’s always going to be hard decisions to be made but that one will be a little bit more, I think, more of a look at that one because of Carey being there previously.”
Who?
Could it be Jordan Binnington, who helped the St. Louis Blues win the 2019 Stanley Cup?
What about Adin Hill, who helped the Vegas Golden Knights win the Cup in 2023? Or Logan Thompson, who was teammates with Hill on that championshp team before being traded to the Washington Capitals on June 29?
Or how about Stuart Skinner, who backstopped the Edmonton Oilers to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final this season?
Or will another candidate emerge for the tournament, which will be held at Bell Centre in Montreal and TD Garden in Boston from Feb. 12-20. This will be the first best-on-best tournament since the World Cup of Hockey 2016 in Toronto.
“It’s definitely one of those things where Canada is skinnier there than it used to be,” Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur, the New Jersey Devils’ executive vice president of hockey operations who helped Canada win its first gold medal in 50 years at the 2002 Olympics, told NHL.com from the floor of Sphere at the 2024 NHL Draft. “But I do think Skinner did a great job and deserves to get a good look at that job. And there’s still a bunch of guys, like Binnington.
“I think it’s going to be different in past years but I think Canada is going to be just fine.”
Maybe so. But when you compare their candidates to, say, the United States, which can pick from a rich cache including Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins; Connor Hellebuyck, 2024 Vezina Trophy winner as the League's top goalie; Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars; and Thatcher Demko of the Vancouver Canucks, goaltending does seem to be Canada’s Achilles heel.
“We should be fine,” general manager Don Sweeney said. “We have time to figure it out.” Helping Sweeney figure it out will be associate GM Jim Nill (Dallas Stars), assistant GM Julien BriseBois (Tampa Bay Lightning) and director of player personnel Kyle Dubas (Pittsburgh Penguins).
In the meantime, Crosby already is pumped for the tournament.
"Obviously there is a lot of excitement getting to represent Canada best on best," Crosby said. "It's been a while since we've had the opportunity to do that. I think if you talk to all the guys who got named today, I'm sure they're all excited.”
MacKinnon certainly is, already having picked Crosby’s brain on what line combinations might look like.
"We were on a golf trip and he brought it up," Crosby said. "I think it was Day One. He was just kind of picking my brain. … Having the chance to play with him at the 2015 Worlds was a lot of fun. And it's been a while since then.”
Crosby, MacKinnon and Marchand all are from Nova Scotia and have heated practice sessions in the Halifax area during the offseason.
“It’s definitely intense when we get out there,” Crosby said. “But I think that’s the great thing about it. We all want to see each other do well but we’re all really competitive too.
“Hopefully we bring the best out of each other or, maybe, sometimes, the worst.”
For Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning, it is an opportunity to finally get another chance to coach Canada in a best-on-best tournament. He was poised to do that in the 2022 Beijing Olympics before the tournament was cancelled due to concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Being on the doorstep before and the feeling in the pit of your stomach when you’re not going to have that opportunity, well, it fuels you,” Cooper said.
“You’re representing your country. What more can you say?”
