At 88th overall, the Blues have selected goaltender Jordan Binnington from the Owen Sound Attack of the OHL.
Binnington did not pile up extraordinary numbers in the OHL regular season (46 GP, 2596 minutes, 132 GA, 1307 shots faced, 1 SO, 3.05 GAA, 89.9%, 27-12-12) or playoffs (7 GP, 355 minutes, 19 GA, 185 shots faced, 0 SO, 3.21 GAA, 89.7%, 4-2) for the eventual league chamopions, but shone in the league championship series and the Memorial Cup tournament.
Per NHL.com, "Binnington was the third goalie to appear in the Ontario Hockey League championship for Owen Sound; he stole two games for the Attack posting a goals-against-average of 1.94 and a .943 save percentage. Facing elimination in the series, he made 41 saves in game six, including 14 in the third period and 25 saves in the 3-2 game seven overtime win."
In the Memorial Cup, NHL.com notes that "(h)e was named the Most Outstanding Goaltender of the 2011 Memorial Cup, posting a 1-2 record with a tournament-best goals-against-average of 1.42 and save percentage of .951. He also posted the only shutout of the tournament with 29 saves as part of a 5-0 win over the Kootenay Ice."
NHL Central Scouting goalie scout and former NHL goalie Al Jensen filed this report on Binnington at NHL.com.
"He's a good-size goalie with very good net coverage. He has very good strength in his crease. His best asset is his positional play and net coverage. He has very good leg extension in his butterfly, and plays big even when in the butterfly, as he's able to stop shots with his shoulders and gloves while in the butterfly position. An area that Jordan could improve on is his lateral quickness, but it's getting better."
LINK to Binnington profile at the Ontario Hockey league website.
In our feature video, Binnington speaks to the media after posting his 5-0 whitewashing of WHL champion Kootenay at the Memorial Cup.