“Can you see deep into my soul who it is?” said Cooper following the team’s first practice on Monday. “They’ll know tonight, and everybody will know after that.”
The decision will come down to either Adin Hill, Jordan Binnington or Sam Montembeault.
Criticism for Canada's goalie decisions
Canada received a lot of criticism from fans and media alike for their goalie selections for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
In which is undoubtedly the weakest group of the four countries and a huge Achilles heel for a Canadian team who are favourites to win the tournament, we could possibly see a lot of switching amongst the three depending on who is on the hot streak.
“I think all three guys have had their moments,” said Team Canada forward Mark Stone.
“Two of our guys have led their teams to Stanley Cups. I saw it firsthand with ‘Hiller,’ in big games he was there for us and made sure he shut the door when need be. I’ve seen ‘Binner’ do it. I’ve watched some of the Montreal games, and ‘Monty’ has been playing some great hockey."
Hill currently possesses a 2.69 goals against average and a .900 save percentage for the Vegas Golden Knights this season while St. Louis Blues' Binnington has a 2.83 GAA and .899 save percentage.
Montembeault will more than likely be the odd man out come decision time as he's posting a 2.99 GAA and .898 save percentage this year for the Montreal Canadiens.
Many are specifically questioning why the team didn't decide to bring on Washington Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson, who they recently signed to a big extension given that he's making a run for the Vezina Trophy this year.
But according to NHL analyst Steve Valiquette, Canada's assistant coaches Bruce Cassidy and Peter DeBoer didn't have the best relationship with Thomspon when he was with the Golden Knights.
Other better choices would've been Darcy Kuemper (2.19 GAA, .918 SV%) or even veteran Marc-Andre Fleury, who, for one, has better stats (2.57 GAA, .910 SV%) than all three current goalies, and two, should've been invited to the roster off of pure respect.
But only time will tell if Canada made the right decision with their choices.
4 Nations Face-Off schedule
The complete schedule along with where to watch the 4 Nations Face-Off can be seen below courtesy of the official NHL website.
Wednesday, February 12th
Canada vs. Sweden, 8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS
Thursday, February 13th
United States vs. Finland, 8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS
Saturday, February 15th
Finland vs. Sweden, 1 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS
United States vs. Canada, 8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS
At TD Garden, Boston
Monday, February 17th
Canada vs. Finland, 1 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS
Sweden vs. United States, 8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS
Thursday, February 20th
Championship game, 8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS