Canada goalie projection for 4 Nations Face-Off hard to predict, Brodeur says

NEW YORK -- Martin Brodeur is much like the rest of the hockey community in that he too can't predict with confidence the goalies Canada will select for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

The Hockey Hall of Fame goalie doesn't even seem to have a preference among the candidates, a list that at minimum includes Logan Thompson of the Washington Capitals, Adin Hill of the Vegas Golden Knights, Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues, Cam Talbot of the Detroit Red Wings, Sam Montembeault of the Montreal Canadiens and Stuart Skinner of the Edmonton Oilers.

"I'm not saying they can't be great goalies," Brodeur told NHL.com. "It's just that everyone is equal in a sense. It's like pick one or pick the other and I think you might have the same result."

Canada has made its selections and the balance of its roster, along with those from Finland, Sweden and the United States, will be revealed Wednesday.

Players selected to represent Finland and Sweden will be announced during a live show produced by NHL Network and made available globally. ESPN will also announce the remaining players during the 2 p.m. ET edition of "SportsCenter."

At 6:30 p.m. ET, the balance of the rosters for Canada and the United States will be announced during live pregame shows on Sportsnet and TNT leading into doubleheaders on each network.

The tournament will run from Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston.

"People early on, before I did my homework, they were asking me about Canadian goalies and I had a hard time naming three," Brodeur said. "It's unfortunate a little bit. Just for me I see it in a different way, not just for Team Canada, it's for the growth of our goaltenders in Canada, how much Europeans and the Americans took over the NHL stage. It happens. You know it swings back and forth usually, but it's been a while. Hopefully the guys that get picked will get hot on time and do the job for Canada."

Brodeur thinks they can. He believes Canada can win the tournament with whoever it has in net. There are quality choices, he said.

"Logan Thompson came a long way if you look at his career path," Brodeur said. "Adin Hill too. I mean, these guys have won, they've played on good teams. They'll be able to play. I'm not worried about how they play. It's just I can't believe we're not able to talk about one person or two guys. Like, the U.S., they've got [Connor] Hellebuyck and [Jake] Oettinger, so it's just a little different from past years when Patrick [Roy] was around, 'CuJo' [Curtis Joseph], myself, [Ed] Belfour, [Carey] Price and [Roberto] Luongo and [Marc-Andre] Fleury."

Brodeur said he recently heard a theory that had Canada selecting Fleury (Minnesota Wild) as its third goalie because of his experience and personality. He doesn't know if the 40-year-old would go to the tournament or take the time off instead, but thought it was an interesting idea, especially since Fleury is in his final NHL season.

"He still can play and he's so good at practices and challenging guys and keeping it loose," Brodeur said. "I don't think it's a bad idea. I agree totally with it. Guys are going to want to skate and practice and the guys that are in the one or two spot will want to save their energy.

"But the guys are hockey rats. They love to do skill stuff and that's the reason why they are so good, is they love practicing stuff like that. I'm sure the third guy will be there anyway, but Marc-Andre has the [Stanley] Cup, experience on the international stage. It's his last year and it could put a cherry on top of his career, another thing on his resume."

Regardless of who Canada has in net, Brodeur said the goalie's chemistry with the defensemen in front of him and understanding of the systems implemented by coach Jon Cooper will be key to success in such a short tournament.

"Not one defenseman plays a 2-on-1 or 3-on-2 the same way," Brodeur said. "They play differently from the corner, so you have to read a lot and there's a huge adjustment. You've got to do homework not just on the players you're playing against, you've got to do homework on the players that will be playing in front of you. And you've got to pay attention to systems. The system that 'Coop' is going to bring in, if you're not used to playing that system you've got to learn it because that's where you're going to see your chances come from. If every shot is a surprise, well, you're going to be swimming out there."

Brodeur said that's why it would be an advantage if Canada selected defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore from the Golden Knights, especially if Hill or Thompson gets the nod to play. Hill is Vegas' goalie and Thompson was with the Golden Knights until he was traded to the Capitals on June 29.

"That's a huge thing," he said.

Maybe that was enough to influence the goalie decisions already made by Canada's management team led by Doug Armstrong and 4 Nations general manager Don Sweeney.

It would make sense coming from Brodeur, one of Canada's most accomplished goalies. He is a three-time Stanley Cup champion with the New Jersey Devils (1995, 2000, 2003). He has the most wins (691), saves (28,928), shutouts (125) and games played (1,266) among goalies in NHL history, was a gold medalist at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and silver medal winner at the 1996 and 2005 IIHF World Championship, who wishes he could make an educated prediction for who they will be.

He can't.

"And that's just surprising," Brodeur said. "I talked to Doug about it and he's the same way, like, 'Can you believe we're here now? There are six goalies and they're the same.'"