Cooper not ready to announce No. 1 goalie for Canada at 4 Nations Face-Off

BROSSARD, Quebec -- If Canada’s starting goalie for the 4 Nations Face-Off has been decided, Jon Cooper is keeping his name under wraps for a bit longer.

“Can you see deep into my soul who it is?” the Canada coach said after his team’s first practice Monday. “They’ll know tonight, and everybody will know after that.”

Cooper must decide between Adin Hill, Jordan Binnington and Sam Montembeault before Canada plays its first game of the best-on-best tournament against Sweden at Bell Centre in Montreal on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS). The tournament runs through Feb. 20.

“It’s not like World Championship where there’s a whole bunch of prelim games and you can put guys in and out,” Cooper said. “I think for everybody, that includes forwards, defensemen, everybody, this is it. You lose your first game, now what? And so, everybody’s here to perform and everybody’s going to try to do their best.

“And as a coaching staff, if we don’t feel it’s getting done, then we’ll make a change. But it’s not like anybody can’t do it; somebody’s got to be put in the net first, but I don’t see it being a rotation.”

Hill, who won the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023, is 20-10-4 with a 2.64 goals-against average, .900 save percentage and two shutouts in 34 games.

Binnington won the Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019. He is 15-19-4 with three shutouts in 39 games (38 starts) and has a 2.89 GAA and .896 save percentage.

Montembeault is 18-21-3 with a 3.00 GAA, .897 save percentage and three shutouts in 42 games (40 starts) for the Montreal Canadiens.

Canada forward Mark Stone, who won the Cup with Hill in Vegas, said he’s confident that whoever gets the call will have a strong defense in front of him.

“I think all three guys have had their moments,” Stone said. “Two of our guys have led their teams to Stanley Cups. I saw it firsthand with ‘Hiller,’ in big games he was there for us and made sure he shut the door when need be. I’ve seen ‘Binner’ do it. I’ve watched some of the Montreal games, and ‘Monty’ has been playing some great hockey.

“As far as goalies, our defense is so good as well, and as a team you’ve just got to make it easy on them, let them see the pucks. If we can do that, all three of these guys are very capable goaltenders.”

Canada defenseman Colton Parayko won the Cup with Binnington in St. Louis. He said he’s grateful for not being tasked with the responsibility of naming the starting goalie.

“We have three really good goalies, that’s the great part about it, but the good thing for me is I don’t have to make that decision,” Parayko said. “As far as Jordan, it’s been a pleasure to play with him for numerous years and he’s a true gamer and comes to play when he’s on the ice. So I’m looking forward to whoever plays.”

Montembeault would welcome the opportunity to represent his country in his home arena, but he’s sure whoever gets the nod will have the crowd behind him.

“I know it’s going to be electric there,” Montembeault said. “The fans are going to show up to support the team, so that would be really fun.”