King on CHL: The backstop to success

Opportunities present themselves in strange ways.

Take Jordan Binnington, for instance. The sophomore goaltender with the Owen Sound Attack knew his time would come to backstop the team as a full-time starter. He just never knew it would come so soon.

Binnington became the Attack’s secret weapon after a late November hip injury sidelined regular starter Scott Stajcer. The team’s starting goaltender hasn’t played since, giving Binnington more than enough time to showcase his skills in his National Hockey League draft eligible season.

“It has given me tons more chances to shine,” said Binnington. “Coming into the year, I was hoping for 20 or 30 games so I probably wouldn’t have been able to make many mistakes out there. But with all this time I have, I can just prove myself and show everyone what I can do.”

Binnington more than proved his worth with the extended audition between the pipes. He essentially became one of the league’s brightest surprises on one of its most surprising teams.

The devastation of losing a starting goaltender could have crippled most teams. The Attack were on a mission to prove their skeptics wrong this season after missing the playoffs a year ago. Losing Stajcer, a proven starter who is by most accounts the league’s top goaltender, could have taken the wind out of Owen Sound’s sails.

It didn’t, and Binnington has done more than simply prevent the boat from rocking.

“For (Stajcer) to go out early in the season after getting off to such a great start, it was definitely tough,” team captain Garrett Wilson acknowledged. “We had faith in Binner from day one and we knew he could win us hockey games and he has done that so far.”

In spite of all his success, Binnington wishes it could have come under different circumstances. Perhaps since they’re not fighting for the crease, the duo maintains a healthy relationship.

“He’s an incredible guy,” Binnington said of Stajcer. “We get along great. He’s a great mentor for me, showing me a lot of stuff, taught me a lot of stuff and it’s just been great.”

Stajcer began practicing with his teammates recently and is ahead of schedule in his recovery. Head coach Mark Reeds listed his injured goaltender’s status as day-to-day.

Stajcer is admittedly frustrated to have missed the majority of what is likely his final season in junior, but can share happiness in his successor’s ascension. He remains hopeful he will be ready when the playoffs begin in two weeks.

For the time being, Reeds is pleased with his young goaltender’s success, but preaches a team game without overstating the importance of any single player.

“I’m very confident,” Reeds said of going with Binnington. “He’s played very well for us. It’s a team game. (But) goaltending obviously can take you a long way.”

And it has. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. Binnington is a big goalie with a sometimes timid crease presence, an area his coaching staff tried to address.

“That’s one of the things that he really needed to work on is being stronger in the crease and from post-to-post and not getting pushed off the post,” Reeds said.

The Attack, however, haven’t been pushed off the top of the Western Conference mountain. The common theory is that the Ontario Hockey League’s Western Conference is open for the taking this season.

Owen Sound usurped the previous kings of the castle, the Saginaw Spirit, when it began to falter following the trade deadline in January. Since then, the Attack remained in front, but don’t have to turn their heads far to see the group of teams nipping at their heels.

Among those are the Kitchener Rangers, who trail by just three points heading into Friday night’s pivotal matchup. The game could dictate which team finishes in first place in addition to giving the Attack its first exposure on Rogers Sportsnet this season.

“It’s going to be the biggest game of the year,” Wilson said.

“It’s like a must-win,” Binnington said.

The Attack has the luxury of playing in those must-win games in part because of the steady and reliable goaltending from its unlikely starter.

“A couple nights he’s bailed us out and stood on his head so we probably wouldn’t be up this far in the standings if he hadn’t stood on his head and played such good hockey throughout the whole year,” Wilson said.

The players are looking at a win against Kitchener to help legitimize its status as a contender.

“Prove that we’re the real deal here,” said Binnington.

In the process, Binnington is proving that of himself.