Controversy or not, Ville Husso changing the equation in St. Louis

Husso, a Helsinki native, had suffered a high-ankle sprain that season and then another one on the other ankle.

Husso got his first NHL start in late Jan. 2021 and less than two months later Binnington signed a six-year, $36-million deal to cement his place as the team’s cornerstone goaltender.

Or at least that was the plan.

Now?

What do they say about plans and God?

As of Tuesday, among netminders with at least 12 starts, Husso ranked No. 1 in the NHL in both save percentage (.943) and GAA (1.88).

He also ranks among the league leaders in advanced goaltending stats as well. And with Binnington struggling to string together consistent starts – he’s allowed four or more goals in five of his last seven starts, including seven against Calgary through 40 minutes Monday before being replaced by Husso – there is no doubt that at this moment halfway through the season, Husso is "the man" in St. Louis.

“He’s always been fundamentally sound,” longtime NHL netminder and analyst Darren Pang said of Husso in a conversation Tuesday.

“I saw a goalie that got to middle of net very quickly,” Pang explained.

There is a tendency, especially in younger or less experienced goalies, to over-push going side to side and to rely on athleticism over positioning.

“Sometimes that over-push results in a bad second play,” Pang added. “I’ve really liked his ability to get to the middle of the net. And lately you see a lot of shots that hit him right in the belly.”

That has helped Husso to look bigger than his actual 6-foot-3 frame.

Pang felt Husso’s work as a backup to Binnington last season was what the team needed to secure a playoff spot, even though he finished with a 3.21 GAA and .893 save percentage.

The key for Pang moving forward was Husso’s preparation.

“The part that he needed to work on from last year was starting the game on time,” the longtime national analyst said. “He really gave up goals early in games that had the team down.

“You could see that the players were kind of looking behind them saying, is he going to be okay?”

Husso would often rebound with strong play after those goals.

“But I thought he had to prepare better to start the game,” Pang said.

Message received.

“I think he’s tired of me saying how great he’s started games,” Pang said. “This year, mentally, I think he’s done a phenomenal job of getting ready for games. And the saves he’s made. He’s finding pucks through traffic. On some nights, I’m like I have no idea how the heck he’s seeing them.”

So, how does this happen?

One answer lies in his work last summer with highly regarded international goaltending coach Marko Torenius, who was at the time working as director of the Finnish Ice Hockey Federation. Husso called Torenius, who has also worked with Chicago’s promising young netminder, Kevin Lankinen.

In a series of emails, Torenius explained that Husso had a good idea of what he needed to work on and the two committed to building a stronger base for his game.

“Started with stance, to get more mobility, tried to get a bit more high stance included in his package,” Torenius wrote.

There was work on Husso’s footwork and how to connect that to his eyes and tracking the puck.

“Started with really basics like edgework warmups,” Torenius added. “We tried to improve his total footwork in the crease, get more control and build good habits in there. Get everything going a bit faster. Same time, tried to get conditioning on ice to next level.”

That’s the technical part. But there is also something in the personality, too, that Torenius sees as well.

“Ville is honest guy and he knows where he is at on his career,” said Torenius, who is also part of the coaching staff with SKA St. Petersburg in the Kontinental Hockey League this season. “He is calm, easy-going guy, but I believe there is Finnish style of ‘sisu’ inside of him, kind of guts and determination. He wants to get bigger role and he wants to be on the spotlight. He is silently working to improve his tools.”

So, we know what we know, that Husso has seized the moment and that the moment lasts only as long as it’s meant to. How long that is depends on Husso, of course, and in some regard Binnington. But what adds to the drama moving forward is that the 26-year-old Husso is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

How many NHL teams are in need of a netminder around whom they can build?

Well, start with Edmonton and include possibly Montreal, pending Carey Price’s future there, San Jose and so on.

And what of Husso’s future in St. Louis? Well with Binnington, 28, locked down through 2026-27 and a full no-trade clause through 2023-24, it creates what would appear to be an impasse.

Longtime agent Todd Diamond, who has known Husso for a decade, said the focus for Husso is only on the next day, the next game in St. Louis.

“The big-picture stuff will take care of itself,” the veteran agent said.

Still, the learning process the past couple of years has been crucial for Husso.

Watching Binnington’s success has been helpful, Diamond said. “It showed him that it was attainable."

“I think it helped him build character for sure,” Diamond added. “People wrote Jordan off, too. It’s a funny position. Everybody’s got their opinion on it. Ville’s got the perfect personality for it.”

It’s a long road and this first half season is a very short stretch on that road. Still, the way things have played out in St. Louis aren’t probably how GM Doug Armstrong and head coach Craig Berube mapped it out.

Pang credits Berube for having a steadying hand that has stopped the dynamic from becoming disruptive.

“I think if you didn’t have the presence of a Craig Berube, maybe you do have a goalie controversy,” Pang said.

“Right now, I call it a situation where one guy is just quite simply playing better than the other guy,” Pang added.

He pointed to the time when Binnington was taking over for incumbent Jake Allen during that fateful 2019 run.

“Never once did they ever leave Jake Allen out there,” Pang said.

Allen was always included in the team’s conversations, he was always credited with his supportive demeanor.

“It’s the little things,” Pang said. “And credit to Craig Berube and the leadership group, they just don’t throw a guy under the bus.”

Our own Mike McKenna feels that it’s far too early to be suggesting that Binnington’s season can’t be redeemed.

“This doesn’t change the trajectory of who he is and what he can accomplish,” McKenna said.

Perhaps Binnington has been pushed a little. But in the case of Monday’s lopsided loss to Calgary, “there was nothing he could do against that onslaught.”

“What I can’t quantify is why the team lays better in front of Husso,” McKenna added.

But that’s the reality of where the team is at right now.

McKenna predicts that a couple of strong starts from Binnington will return him to form and that there’s likely going to be a leveling off in Husso’s play.

“I don’t see this as a problem,” McKenna said. “I see this as a strength right now for the Blues.”

Still, it’s funny how the cycle of life sometimes repeats itself in hockey.

Berube has recently found himself answering questions he once was asked about Allen and the rising star Binnington, only now it’s about Binnington and the rising star Husso. Those questions aren’t about to go away if Husso keeps playing this way as we inch closer to the playoffs.