It was hard to ignore the role Jordan Binnington played in helping the St. Louis Blues turn things around when he made his NHL debut in 2018 before serving as a major contributor during the team’s unlikely Stanley Cup run.
Based on how he played that season, it looked like the goalie had the potential to be The Next Big Thing, but it’s safe to say the past few years have not exactly panned out as he hoped.
In 2021, Tom Wilson was dubbed the NHL’s most-hated player by fans, but I have a pretty good feeling Binnington would take the top spot if that unofficial vote was held today.
The hot-headed netminder has repeatedly been at the center of various controversies over the past couple of years thanks to the short temper that led to him trying to fight multiple members of the Sharks after being pulled from a game, throwing a water bottle at Nazem Kadri during the playoffs, and
In December, Blues head coach Craig Berube called Binnington out in a very public manner to make it clear he was tired of his antics.
Blues coach Craig Berube on Jordan Binnington's antics:
"It’s got to stop. It doesn’t help anything. Just play goal. Stop the puck.”
— Seth Rorabaugh (@SethRorabaugh)
However, it doesn’t appear the player took that criticism to heart.
On Wednesday night, Binnington once again made headlines for all of the wrong reasons when he drilled Ryan Hartman with his blocker after the Wild forward netted a goal to give Minnesota a 5-4 lead over St. Louis in the third period.
That development did not sit well with Marc-André Fleury, who attempted to fight Binnington before the referees stepped in to deprive us of the goalie fight where the latter likely would’ve been on the receiving end of the frontier justice the vast majority of fans would’ve loved to see.
Jordan Binnington loses it after getting scored on, Marc-Andre Fleury wants to fight him pic.twitter.com/Ddy6HvpU0I
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett)
Alex Goligoski pulled out the perfect troll job when he mocked Binnington’s attempt to pump up the crowd after he was ejected from the game when the Minnesota defenseman scored later in the period.
Still laughing at Alex Goligoski scoring and mocking Binnington firing up the crowd pic.twitter.com/1H16xeKJb9
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett)
Hartman and Fleury were more than happy to call out Binnington for his behavior after the Wild walked away with the 8-5 win in a game where Binnington was ejected for his short-sighted outburst.
Marc-Andre Fleury was disappointed he got held back from fighting Jordan Binnington. Said Binnington hit a #mnwild player between the legs earlier + then when he punched Hartman. “I felt that was my guy. I had to take care of him.”
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL)
Ryan Hartman on Binnington: "Nothing new from him. He's been doing stuff like this for a while. He was talking to our bench five minutes leading into that. You just knew he was going to do something at some point." #mnwild
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL)
The Wild and the Blues will face off again on April 8th, which is a date hockey fans may want to circle on their calendar.
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