A timeline of how Jordan Binnington became the NHL's biggest villain

They say every sport needs a villain, and St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington appears all too happy to play this role — constantly appearing in the news cycle for trying to antagonize opponents or pretending he wants to fight the world seemingly every time he has a rough night.

During Wednesday’s loss to the Minnesota Wild, Binnington threw another temper tantrum, delivering a cheap shot to Wild forward Ryan Hartman after scoring the go-ahead goal. Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury attempted to defend Hartman but the linesman intervened before a proper fracas could break out.

Binnington rose to stardom after carrying the Blues to their first-ever Stanley Cup in 2019. In the ensuing four years, both his play and popular appeal waned significantly.

Here’s a timeline of how Binnington became the NHL’s top pest:

April 10, 2019: A former San Jose Sharks beat reporter named Paul Gackle uncovers racist, since-deleted tweets made by Binnington while he was a teenager in the Ontario Hockey League, and another one sent when he was a 21-year-old in the American Hockey League.

The first one dated January 25, 2013 reads: “I was thinking when people wear the burkas are at the airport how is the security able to see if that’s them in their passport….srsly.”

Binnington doubled down, tweeting: “Also If you're underage & nervous of getting into a bar, throw the damn burka on. no way the bouncer will get into that awkward questioning.”

Binnington was unrepentant and sent another racist tweet on October 22, 2014.

“Ya taxi man I'd probably rather listen to the radio than listen to you talk on the phone in another language,” Binnington wrote.

After these tweets surfaced and drew universal outrage from hockey fans, Binnington showed little remorse.

“It was a while ago when I was a teenager,” Binnington said via The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford. “It was a little sarcasm and joking around. That’s what life is about, you live and learn and you grow as a human. I’m just here to play a couple hockey games.”

Binnington would go on to lead the Blues to a Stanley Cup victory, with most media outlets and personalities promoting his rise from unheralded prospect to Cup-winning goaltender as a feel-good, meteoric ascension — without much mention of the other stuff.

October 17, 2019: Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson dekes Binnington out, then proceeds to jam away at the puck during a wild goalmouth scrum, before Bo Horvat buries it. Binnington then proceeded to pile on top of Pettersson while he was down on the ice.

This would seem somewhat random, but Binnington revealed that jealousy had something to do with it. Pettersson won the Calder Trophy the previous season over Binnington, and the Blues’ goaltender took out his resentment in an unhealthy way.

“There’s a little bit of that bad taste in my mouth about the outcome last year,” Binnington said via Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “But he’s a talented player, so it’s good going up against some of the best.”

February 28, 2021: Evander Kane, playing for the San Jose Sharks, beats Binnington on a deflected shot and, after some hesitancy, the Blues elect to pull Binnington from the contest after he surrendered four goals on 19 shots. Binnington did not take the news well.

While skating over to his own bench, Binnington circled back to the Sharks and evidently took offense to something one of the players said. Binnington then proceeded to fake-punch Erik Karlsson, then skated the length of the ice, pushing Sharks goaltender Devan Dubnyk before leaving the game.

“He’s 160 pounds and out there swinging at guys,” Dubnyk said post-game.

“I don’t know why he’s out there fake-punching everybody, but I understand that guys get frustrated sometimes. He’s competitive, a good goalie, and he was obviously pissed off about something. That’s fine. We can look after ourselves.”

Blues head coach Craig Berube defended Binnington’s passion but would change his tune in the years to come after repeated transgressions from his starting goalie.

October 28, 2021: In the first of two incidents with Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri during the 2021-22 season, Binnington decided to swing his stick at him after the whistle.

Cale Makar appeared to score, but the net was knocked off before the whistle blew. A fracas broke out between both teams, with Binnington at the center of it. Binnington then peels off and swings his stick at Kadri’s head, narrowly missing him.

Both players were assessed 10-minute misconducts, while Binnington doubled down and shot the puck at Avalanche goaltender Darcy Kuemper.

"I have no idea. I don't know why I got a 10-minute penalty there. I stayed out the scrum. We exchanged some words. I got a stick swung in my face. Then I end up with a 10-minute penalty. I'm not quite sure what it was for." Kadri said post-game.

"I started skating towards him but I'm about 50 feet away from the guy. I'm getting misconducts for just talking now. Not quite sure what that's about. What are you going to do?"

May 21, 2022: During a second-round playoff series later that season, Kadri crashed into Binnington after being hauled down by Blues defenseman Calle Rosen while crashing the net. Binnington was injured in the collision and missed the rest of the series, as the Avalanche emerged in six games before winning the Stanley Cup.

Kadri spoke to TNT for a post-game interview and during the live hit, Binnington threw a water bottle at him.