Walking to a media room at the Blues’ practice facility this week to discuss the difficulty and humility of his 2021-22 season, goaltender Jordan Binnington spotted a stray puck on the rubber floor. He bent down, picked it up and carried it into the room.

The puck would come in handy over the next 30 minutes, as Binnington searched for the right words to explain how he, a Stanley Cup champion, felt after essentially becoming the backup last season. He squeezed it, flipped it and caught it several times as he spoke.

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For a goalie, it was a comfortable crutch for some uncomfortable topics: What happened to his game? Did he get too cocky after having so much success? Is he the hothead that some around the NHL believe?

At one point early in the interview, Binnington took a long pause before answering a question: “I’m just debating if I should open up or not.”

He did.

After a collision with Colorado’s Nazem Kadri knocked him out of the playoffs, Binnington went to Toronto to rehab his knee injury for a month and a half. He then went to Greece with his fiance, Cristine Prosperi, whom he’s engaged to marry next year. They spent 12 days in Santorini, Mykonos and Athens.

“It was good timing,” Binnington said. “I think that’s important, a trip like that. You’re having dinner in the sunset, it’s incredible on the water, good music, and everyone is so happy. They’re just special moments that stand out and are so healthy in the big picture.

”When you’re in the middle of the season and you’re grinding …”

Few players in the NHL had to grind like Binnington last season. When he was on his way to winning the Stanley Cup and eventually signing a six-year, $36 million contract extension, his motivation was showing everyone, even in the Blues organization, that he could play in the league.

“I had a five-year plan,” Binnington said. “I had levels I wanted to reach. I wanted to make the NHL my whole life. I wanted to win the Stanley Cup. I made the NHL, we won the Cup, and I got a contract for two years. My next motivation: I want to be an All-Star. I was an All-Star. My next motivation: I want to earn another contract.

“You know that I love winning as a team and seeing the city come together, so all the while, being successful as a group. But on a personal level, I earn that contract, and it’s kind of like I’m climbing up this mountain and then the mountain just ended.

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“I was playing with so much anger and hate, and using that as my motivation. I was just out there to prove everyone wrong, and that was my whole identity. I hated a lot of people and I was angry. Did I actually hate them? Probably not. But I told myself I did. If you doubted me, I’m coming at you.”

Binnington was trying to use that feeling as fuel last season, but it wasn’t working.

“The emotion was empty,” he said. “I just wasn’t being energized by the anger anymore. I didn’t want to stick with that same mindset if I didn’t feel that way.”

The 29-year-old said that he could see it coming, and there was no panic.

“I was just kind of looking in the mirror and saying, ‘OK buddy, it’s not working right now. What can we do? How can we pivot? How can we find a new way?'” he said. “I had to re-evaluate and rediscover my purpose, my goals.

“I’m a person. I have to believe in what I’m doing and feel good about it. It’s not going to be perfect, and all you can do is put yourself in the best situation you can. For me, motivations change and you need to see clearly, and however you do that, just find a way.”

The goalie wanted to play with “love,” not hate.

“I put my head down and worked to have the confident feeling of being in control again,” he said.

Binnington’s season started off 6-1-1, but he was 8-5-3 when he went on the COVID-19 list in late November. He returned on Dec. 19, and in his next eight starts, he went 3-5 with a 4.52 GAA and .872 save percentage.

“All accountability, it’s on me,” he said. “But it was a strange time. I was away from the team for 15 days, then I’m trying to hop back in on the schedule, but they’re going on the road (for a nine-day bye week). That’s part of it, but as an athlete, it’s our job to find a way.”

Backup Ville Husso, who had his own bout with COVID-19 in early November, was finding a way. From the time Husso took over the net in early December through the end of February, he was 10-2-2 with a 2.10 GAA and .935 save percentage.

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Binnington was in the first year of his new contract, and while guaranteed a big paycheck every two weeks, he wasn’t sure if he’d get a start in that span.

On Jan. 17, Husso made 32 saves in the Blues’ 5-3 win over Nashville, and with Binnington planted on the bench, the Enterprise Center crowd chanted: “Huuuus!”

There was no way for Binnington not to hear it, so what was going through his mind?

“It was just kind of, ‘Alright, be patient and keep working.’ That was my outlook.” Binnington said. “I learned it was important to feel and remind myself of what I’m working for and see how it plays out in the end.”

But when Binnington did get a start, the results weren’t there. In a three-game stretch from Jan. 15 to Feb. 10, he gave up a total of 18 goals against Toronto (six), Calgary (seven) and New Jersey (five).

There were conversations at that time between Binnington and his agent, Mike Liut, who could relate after a 13-year career as an NHL goalie, including six seasons with the Blues.

The two talked about Binnington struggling upon his return from COVID-19, how his game was perhaps just off a tad and yet the difference was drastic. They discussed the uniqueness of his career arc, how he won a Cup in his first year and is now going through what most goalies experience early.

“I said, ‘Jordan, you had your trouble getting your opportunity to play, but once you had your opportunity, you were unbeatable and won a Cup,'” Liut said. “Now you’re doing all the other parts that usually lead up to winning the Cup.”

As much as Binnington was trying to play with love, though, he knew he wasn’t right.

“Totally to his credit, Jordan said, ‘I don’t like where I’m at. I need to be in a better headspace. You’ve got to help me get into a better headspace. What I’m feeling right now is not right,'” Liut recalled. “I said, ‘Alright, you’re in a bad spot, let’s talk about it.’ You can’t play angry or fighting against the game.

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“Playing goal is an exercise in humility. Every time you think you’ve got it figured out, it doesn’t matter how well you play, you’re just going to get your ass kicked. It’s just that simple. You just have to be smart enough to understand that as a player, which Jordan is.”

Binnington understood, but despite turning the corner a bit toward the end of the regular season, it was still difficult for him when Husso was named the starter for the Blues’ first-round playoff series against Minnesota.

Liut, though, pointed out how professional ex-Blues goalie Jake Allen was when Binnington burst onto the scene in 2019.

“I said, ‘Jordan, how did Jake handle it for you?'” Liut said. “I said, ‘I’ll tell you. In my words, Jake was all-world. He was supportive. He was a professional. He put the team in front of himself and didn’t anguish against what you were doing. That’s how you handle it for Ville.’

“The world is not coming to an end. Been there, done that. It just feels like it’s coming to an end. I said, ‘Jordan, you won the Stanley Cup. You’re a winner. But right now, you need to be a good teammate. If Ville — touch wood — stubs his toe, you need to be ready to play.’ He said, ‘OK.'”

Jordan Binnington will take the ice at the Winter Classic with a special mask honoring former Blues goalie Mike Liut, who also happens to be his agent.@jprutherford on Binnington’s tribute and the relationship between him and the former Blues netminder:https://t.co/feQX0uSZKv

— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) December 31, 2021

In the postseason, Husso didn’t stub his toe as much as the Blues needed a boost against Minnesota, and in came Binnington. It all came together, and between his big saves and brilliant puck play, he helped knock off the Wild in six games. He was 3-0 with a 1.67 GAA and a .943 save percentage.

“It felt amazing,” Binnington said. “It’s one of those moments where you understand what you’re working for. Just playing with love and enjoying the moment.”

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That carried Binnington and the Blues into the second round against Colorado, where they earned a 1-1 split in the first two games and were leading the Avalanche 1-0 in Game 3 when the collision with Kadri occurred.

After posting a 1.78 GAA and .955 save percentage in the series, Binnington limped off the ice with the knee injury that ended his season.

“They were unlucky when they lost Binnington against Colorado — it made a difference,” Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy said recently. “They were giving Colorado a hard time. I’d be very curious to see, if Binnington would not have been hurt, the outcome of that series. When Husso came in, you could tell that he was not as confident, and they took advantage of it. I think at that point, it was a little tougher for the Blues to win that series.

“Binnington deserves a lot of credit to be able to turn it around. I had some tough years and I had a hard time (being) good in the playoffs. It’s not an easy thing to do.”

After the Blues’ six-game series loss to the Avs, Binnington never thought What if?

“There’s no point,” he said.

The netminder left shortly for Toronto to rehab his knee, which lingered for about three months. He worked through some scar tissue and didn’t start skating until August.

“I feel good,” he said. “It’s time.”

It’s time for Binnington to try to prove everyone wrong again.

Those who think he got too big for his britches after winning the Stanley Cup.

“I understand the business that we’re in — ‘What have you done for me lately?'” Binnington said. “Personally, I don’t feel satisfied with anything, really. I crave. I live for new experiences and adventures. There’s times where you’re working hard and exhausted, and in your head, you’re thinking, ‘Why am I doing this?’ Then you get out there, and you’re in a big moment, and you understand why.

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“Yeah, you can say that stuff about me, but people who know me, they know me, and that’s all that matters. That’s why I feel over the years, being in this league, you get good at filtering what you want to hear. The other stuff, I block out.”

Those who think his schtick, like throwing a water bottle at Kadri, is tired.

“I’m good with how other people want to view it,” he said. “It’s part of the game. It’s how I play the game.”

And the anger? Well, that’s not going away completely.

“I know that’s still inside of me. I still carry that with me,” he said. “But I think with experience, you learn how to compartmentalize and know when to bring that out of you. There’s going to be times this season when I’m angry, and that’s great. I can play that way, and I can also play with appreciation for the moment, being in the NHL and going out there with the team.

“Each day, you can get something out of it. That’s where things excite me. At this point of my life and my career, it’s exciting with the perspective I have.”

(Top photo: Jeff Curry / USA Today)

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