Five years ago he was playing on Vanrick Drive. Now, Jordan Binnington is playing for the Stanley Cup. It's one of those "nobody will believe this' type stories.

Flashback to January. This January. The St. Louis Blues are dead last. The worst team in the NHL. Binnington gets the call. He takes over as the Blues goalie, and the team goes on a run...a run that has them one game away from eliminating the San Jose Sharks and moving on to face the Boston Bruins for the the holiest of Holy Grails, the Stanley Cup.

San Jose Sharks v St Louis Blues - Game Four
Former K-Wing Jordan Binnington, #50 of the St. Louis Blues makes a save against the San Jose Sharks during the first period in Game Four of the Western Conference Finals during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Enterprise Center on May 17, 2019 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
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Flashback to 2013; Binnington, the Blues' third round draft pick in 2011, is sent to Kalamazoo and plays 40 games in a K-Wings sweater. He has a good season, winning 23 games for K-Wings.

The following season, he moves up the American Hockey League and has another good year, with the Chicago Wolves. He even gets into one game with St. Louis, but bounces around the minors the next couple of season, with San Antonio and Providence, before getting the call from St. Louis, with the Blues on the brink of a terrible season. The rest is, as they say, history. The kid plays better than anyone can hope for, except for maybe himself, and boom, the Blues are playing for The Cup.

And since timing is everything, Binnington is a restricted free-agent after the season.

 

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