Masonry: Walls built by a Mason, using brick, stone, tile or whatever they make goalie pads out of.
Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason is going to make it hard for the Professional Hockey Writers Association to vote for anyone but him when it comes time to pick a Rookie of the Year in the spring.
Unfortunately for the Blue Jackets though, Mason’s Calder Trophy hopes were given a pretty solid boost when teammate and fellow rookie Derick Brassard was told he would need season-ending shoulder surgery last week.
Through 31 games, Brassard was leading all rookies in scoring with 25 points.
But back to Mason – as of the NHL’s Christmas break, he is 9-7-1 with a league-best 1.98 GAA and a .929 save percentage (4th in the league). In addition, he’s got two shutouts…not bad for a rook... READ MORE...
Lets not forget how this all came to be:
Mason led Team Canada to a gold medal at last year’s World Junior Hockey Championship, taking home Tournament MVP and Top Goalie honors, and was actually traded from the London Knights to the Kitchener Rangers hours before the semi final of the tournie.
After missing most of the Kitchener Ranger’s OHL playoff run and the entire Memorial Cup due to arthroscopic knee surgery, Mason needed additional surgery in September, his first season with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch.
He missed the first month of the season, but when Columbus starter Pascal Leclaire went down injured, guess who got the call?
Leclaire is back, but Mason’s not going anywhere. Tough break for Brassard though! |
