MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. — When Jordan Binnington and Colton Parayko wrap up their emotional journey representing Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off on Thursday against the United States in the championship game on Thursday at TD Garden in Boston, it will be a quick turnaround for the two St. Louis Blues players.
Then what?
Well, there won’t be much time to unwrap the emotions of the past 10 days, shifting from an NHL mindset of helping their team in St. Louis to representing their country.
The Blues (25-26-5) get right back into it with home games Saturday and Sunday against the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche, respectively.
While their teammates reconvened back on the ice Tuesday in preparation for the remainder of the 2024-25 season to resume, Binnington and Parayko will fly to St. Louis on Friday with little rest and get right back into the grind.
But there is a caveat, according to Blues coach Jim Montgomery.
“We’re going to have to look to definitely give them more rest,” Montgomery said. “They’re going to have to play games for us, we know that. But if we’re coming in, maybe we tell them to stay home a couple days so that they can regenerate the batteries because not only have they not had the break that we all had, but they’re playing real intense … the game [Thursday] is going to be emotional, it’s going to be physically and mentally draining. They need a break from that.”
Binnington, who likely gets the nod Sunday against the Avalanche, is all but certain to get Saturday’s game off, and Joel Hofer should start against his hometown Jets, who are riding an eight-game winning streak and also have players (Connor Hellebuyck, Kyle Connor and Josh Morrissey) that played the entirety of the tournament and are likely to get Saturday’s game off:
Some news from #NHLJets coach Scott Arniel:
-Sure sounds like all of the 4 Nations players could be given Saturday’s game in STL off. Says he’ll discuss situation more Friday.
-Adam Lowry should be good to return.
-Morgan Barron skated on own this am. More IR skates to come.— Mike McIntyre (@mikemcintyrewpg) February 19, 2025
But for Parayko, who leads the Blues in ice time per game at 24:13, which currently is his NHL career high, there’s no such luxury.
“He’s going to play both games, and he’s going to play 24 minutes,” Montgomery said with a laugh. “He’s a physical specimen, he takes care of himself so well and he loves to compete, loves being a Blue.
“Thankfully, he’s only averaging 18 minutes there (for Canada). Hopefully, him and ‘Binner’ come back with a gold medal, as does Davey [Alexander], Elliott [Mondou] and Doug [Armstrong]. ‘Army’ comes back with a … I don’t know if it’s a gold medal, I don’t know what they’re winning. Extra money in their pocket, whatever, right? Hopefully they come back victorious and bring that winning culture right here into our locker room and spray it around.”
