Canada's 4 Nations Face-Off Goalies Get Stamp Of Approval From Price, Fleury

The NHL's first ever 4 Nations Face-Off — a brand new best-on-best international tournament pitting the United States, Canada, Sweden, and Finland against each other — gets underway next week, and that means we'll get some answers to some of the biggest pre-tournament questions.

The biggest of those is likely going to be the goaltending situation for Team Canada. However, two of the best Canadians to play that position over the last two decades are giving the team's netminders their stamp of approval.

All of the best goalies used to come out of Canada, but that hasn't necessarily been the case in recent years. I think that's just because other countries have gotten better at producing goalies as opposed to Canada getting worse at it, but it has left Team Canada with a somewhat underwhelming lineup at the position, at least when compared to other teams, especially Team USA.

St. Louis' Jordan Binnington, Vegas' Adin Hill, and Montreal's Sam Montembeault will be between the pipes, and while the first two are Cup champions, the team opted not to pick arguably the best goalie in the league this season in Washington's Logan Thompson.

Price said that these guys will lean on the experiences they've gathered playing on some of the sport's biggest stages.

"They've had success," Price said, per Sportsnet. "They've stepped up on the biggest stages."

Alright… fair enough. Perhaps they'll rise to the occasion again this time around.

Team Canada's goalies — St. Louis Jordan Binnington, Vegas' Adin Hill, and Montreal's Sam Montembeault — will be a big focus at the 4 Nations Face-Off. (Getty Images)

But Price isn't the only one who believes in this bunch, so does Minnesota Wild back-stopper Marc-Andre Fleury.

"I wish the three Canadian boys the best," Fleury said. "There's always pressure as a goalie — it doesn't matter where you play, right? — but they'll do fine. Everybody's already talking, putting them down already, and I don't like that.

"Three good goalies."

Again, fair enough, let's see what they can do.

What might make their life a bit easier is that the Canadian roster is chock-full of offensive weapons, which should mean that they'll be getting plenty of support from the fellas up front.