The contest between Canada and the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off was an even split on paper. If anything, Canada had the home-ice advantage playing in front of the Bell Centre crowd in Montreal. Despite this, the United States silenced the Montreal crowd and defeated Canada by a score of 3-1.
There are plenty of takeaways from Canada's loss, but the one that continues to pop up is their poor decisions in goal. Hockey Canada's management group selected St. Louis Blues netminder Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill of the Vegas Golden Knights, and Sam Montembeault of the Montreal Canadiens for their goaltending trio. After the first round-robin games, Canada needs a win in regulation to clinch a rematch with the United States in the finals.
Some smarter roster decisions regarding goalies would help this team tremendously. Binnington has been decent in his two starts, but it hasn't been enough to steal victories for Canada. Instead, he has been the one needing to be bailed out in games.
Meanwhile, there are three Canadian goalies who they could have brought to the tournament who are enjoying their nice vacations. Washington Capitals goalie Logan Thompson is in the mix for the Vezina Trophy in his first year with the Caps. He's 24-2-5, with a 2.23 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage. He's playing at an extremely high level this season and could have given Canada a red-hot netminder for the tournament.
If that doesn't make Canada kick themselves, what about the exclusion of Darcy Kuemper? The Los Angeles Kings veteran is a Stanley Cup winner and enjoying a resurgent campaign in California. He has a 16-6-6 record and a 2.19 GAA. With his success in big moments and elimination-style hockey, why was he left off the roster in place of a rising but unproven goalie like Montembeault?
Canada also relied on the Colorado Avalanche to build their roster. Forward Nathan MacKinnon, along with defensive pair Cale Makar and Devon Toews were all selected to the roster. Their selections were unquestioned, but why wasn't their recently acquired starting goalie, MacKenzie Blackwood, not considered? He's been excellent since arriving in Colorado and would've been another familiar face in a locker room trying to build chemistry quickly.
Hindsight is 20/20, so it's easy to see these errors with Canada's recent loss. But even before this tournament, fellow Breakaway On SI writer Nick Horwat and I banged the drum for these three options.
Regardless of how they've arrived here, Canada's goaltending continues to haunt them. Especially as their super powered offense falters, their poor evaluation and decisions regarding goalies is costing them gold at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
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