Maple Leafs legend Curtis Joseph touts Jordan Binnington’s confidence as a model for young goaltenders

Canada is off to a hot start in Milan at the Olympic men’s hockey tournament, with two wins in two games.

Entering the tournament, the biggest question mark for Canada was the situation in between the pipes. Jordan Binnington led the team to victory at 4 Nations, but has been shaky for the St. Louis Blues this season, with Logan Thompson and Darcy Kuemper brought as the other two options. Binnington was ultimately given the first start in Milan, silencing his critics with a shutout against Czechia.

On Friday, legendary Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph joined Leafs Morning Take with Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill following Canada’s tournament-opening win. A native of Richmond Hill, he was proud of how Canada, and its goalie in particular, showed up to play.

“It was flawless,” Joseph said. “They played great defensively, Binnington had a great game. There were some detractors coming into the game. He handled the puck extremely well, helped the D out.”

While Binnington has posted poor numbers in the NHL this season, he also doesn’t have the strongest blue line in front of him in St. Louis. Considering that, Joseph broke down what he was watching for as Binnington took to Olympic ice.

“Yeah, he hasn’t had a great season, and obviously his team is a little suspect defensively,” Joseph said. “So what I was looking for was that he didn’t have any bad habits coming into the game. His mindset must have been, I’ve got a great defence in front of me, I’m just gonna make sure I stop that first shot, be square, and he was square to every puck. I think I knew he was gonna be okay when he got the puck behind the net, he kind of looked one way, the other way, then he went backhand sauce up the wing. I was like, oh, that’s a confident play. Okay, this kid’s feeling it. It feels like with Binnington anytime you say he can’t do anything, he’s able to rally and be good.”

Binnington may not have the strongest record this year, but he’s proven time and again that he’s a big game goalie. From the Stanley Cup to 4 Nations, he’s stepped up to the task at crucial moments, and for Joseph that’s the mark of a great goalie.

“He’s got that swagger, which more goalies need in the league,” Joseph continued. “If I were to give my younger self some advice, it’d be to have more confidence early. And that’s easy to say and hard to do when you’re a young guy coming into a team full of veterans. But I would tell myself, be more confident early, what do you got to lose?”

Check out Alberga and Rosehill’s full interview with Joseph here, and be sure to tune into Leafs Morning Take weekdays at 11am!