In January 2019, Jordan Binnington was barely a blip on the NHL radar. By June, he was the reason the St. Louis Blues lifted their first-ever Stanley Cup.
At the start of the 2018–19 season, Binnington was a 25-year-old goalie with zero NHL starts. The Blues were dead last in the league. But when he got his shot, everything changed. Binnington posted a 24-5-1 record during the regular season with a 1.89 GAA and .927 save percentage, turning the team’s fortunes around almost overnight.
In the playoffs, he was nothing short of heroic. He posted 16 wins—a record for a rookie goalie—and made clutch saves that kept the Blues alive in crucial moments, especially in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins.
From minor league backup to Stanley Cup legend in six months, Binnington’s rise remains one of the most unlikely—and inspiring—stories in NHL history.
