Jordan Binnington

Jordan Binnington: biography

Jordan Binnington is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who's currently performing for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). Earlier, Binnington performed for Canada in the 2013 Globe Junior Championship.

Childhood and youth

Jordan Binnington was born on July 11, 1993. He comes from Richmond Hill, Ontario – there he passed his childhood. He became interested in playing hockey for real as a child – his parents enrolled him in a local hockey club.

Hockey career

Binnington played main junior hockey for the Owen Sound Attack in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) from 2009 to 2013. 2010-2011 OHL season happened to be very strong for him – his postseason stats were 27–12–5 throughout 46 games. During the 2011 OHL Playoffs, Binnington led the Attack past the London Knights, the Plymouth Whalers, and the Windsor Spitfires to end up in the John Ross Robertson Cup final versus the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors. The seven-game series was won by the Attack, with Jarrod Maidens scoring the series clinching goal in overtime. The Owen Sound Attack also competed in the 2011 Memorial Cup tournament as OHL champions.

NHL debut

Being the OHL's best 2011 NHL Entry Draft eligible goaltender (NHL Central Scouting Bureau's Final Rankings), he was chosen by the St. Louis Blues.

On November 26, 2014 Blues goaltender Brian Elliott got seriously injured, and Binnington was subsequently called up from the Kalamazoo Wings of the East Coast Hockey League. January 14, 2016, was marked by Binnington's in-game debut – he fought against the Carolina Hurricanes, coming in to relieve starter Elliott in a 4–1 loss. In summer 2016, Jordan Binnington and St. Louis Blues signed a one-year, two-way deal.

In October 2017, the sportsman was sent to the Providence Bruins on October 9, 2017. He closed the 2017-2018 season with 17 wins in 28 games and was not sent to the NHL. He was named to the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic alongside teammate Austin Czarnik.

The player was recalled by the Blues to the NHL on December 9, 2018. On January 2, the franchise showed the worst NHL record. Several days later, Jordan became a starter for the first time, scored 25 saves (it was the 3-0 match against the Philadelphia Flyers). Due to it, Binnington became the 35th NHL goaltender to earn a shutout in his first start.

On April 4, 2019, Binnington's team faced and beat the Philadelphia Flyers with the score 7-3. It was Jordan's 23rd season win - a record for a Blues rookie goaltender.

Eventually, the Blues advanced to the NHL play-off. On April 10, Jordan took part in his first play-off game – they fought against the Winnipeg Jets and won 2-1. In one game Jake Allen replaced the sportsman because of his injury. After knocking out Winnipeg in six games, the Blues defeated Ben Bishop’s Dallas Stars in a seven-game conference semi-final series.

In 2019 Jordan's team got to the Stanley Cup Finals and had to fight against Tuukka Rask’s Boston Bruins, the Eastern Conference champions. June 12 was marked by Blues' victory over the opposers. As a result, the Blues became the winner of the Stanley Cup – for the first time in their 52-year history.

The Blues also won a title for Laila Anderson, the 11-year old superfan who travelled from St. Louis for Game 7. She is suffering from HLH, but has survived the disease longer than most.

AHL Experience

Before the 2018-2019 season, Jordan was signed to the Blues again for one year. He was assigned to the St. Louis Blues AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, to begin the 2018–19 season, where he and Pheonix Copley were teammates.

Binnington’s base salary on a one-year deal was $650,000 in 2018-2019 season. His net worth is evaluated at $5 million.

Personal life

It's entirely possible that Binnington is dating someone, but he prefers to keep his private life out of the public eye. Besides, Binnington doesn’t like postgame interviews, avoids communicating with journalists. For this his feature he was named «the man of few words.»

Achievements

Binnington's 16 wins in an NHL postseason are the most for a rookie goaltender. He was named to the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic alongside teammate Austin Czarnik. He was named the NHL Rookie of the Month in February and March 2019.

On May 19, 2019, Binnington became the first rookie goaltender who had ever recorded a shutout in the Stanley Cup playoffs: he succeeded to do it in a 5–0 win against the San Jose Sharks. The match gave the Blues a team-record 11 playoff victories.