Steve Mason got his tires pumped

[jstewismybastardson]

and his gear inflated ... you would think an NHL goalie would know what the max limit was on pad sizes (... max ... pad ...?) ... jebus Steve

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason has often been the most convenient target for a fed-up fan base, fairly or not, in a season full of failures.

Mason is in a third consecutive season that failed to live up to the expectations of his first, when he won the Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year and drove the Blue Jackets to their only playoff appearance. But 2009 is a distant memory. Mason’s future with the last-place Blue Jackets has become clouded with doubt. Will there be a trade? A buyout?

Both are possibilities. So is an extended commitment to the hoped-to-be franchise goaltender, born of a late-season turnaround that began last month, when the 6-foot-4, 217-pound Mason made himself even bigger and, quite literally, looser.

“We totally redesigned his equipment,” goaltending coach Ian Clark said. “He was playing undersized relative to league limits.”

So Mason got a makeover last month. He changed every piece of his equipment, save for his helmet, donned looser pants and went between the pipes for a game at Minnesota on Feb. 11.

The results were immediate.

Mason stopped 34 of 35 shots and won a game for the first time since December. It was the first victory in his resurgence, during which he has gone 7-3-1 with a 2.67 goals-against average and .922 save percentage. He had won only five of his previous 22 games, when his stats were somewhere south of dismal.

“There were times with the old stuff when I was getting hit in the ribs and was full of bruises,” Mason said. “You almost become scared of getting hit with the puck so you’re turning your body, and … that’s not the right way to play. With the new stuff you have confidence that pucks aren’t going to hurt you, and because it is larger, some pucks that might have squeaked through before are now hitting a piece of equipment.”

Why didn’t he make the switch sooner?

“I never knew I could,” Mason said. “If I knew, I would have done it three years ago. I guess I was a little out of the loop on that kind of stuff. But we’ll make it work now.”

Mason could get a chance to extend his first four-game winning streak since February 2011 on Saturday at Vancouver or Sunday at Calgary. He suffered a lacerated left hand on March 8 in a win over Los Angeles and has missed three consecutive starts.

Interim coach Todd Richards said Mason would likely play this weekend as long as he was “mentally ready,” and the Blue Jackets would not have reassigned third goaltender Allen York to Springfield on Tuesday if he was not physically ready.

“Things were going well, and there’s no reason that can’t continue once I’m back,” Mason said. “Hopefully, we can pick up where we left off.”

Plastic and padding will help, but so will a continued embrace of the technical tweaks Mason and Clark have worked on since last summer. Clark acknowledged that Mason’s game was erratic for most of the season and didn’t always reflect the changes they made. But he has seen better depth, stance and positioning in Mason’s game in recent weeks.

“He’s heard the boos and he’s been through a lot,” Clark said. “But I do believe there were some lessons learned along the way.”

 

[mattola]

first mistake is hiring Ian Clark no?

Im a crazy goalie I like feeling the pain of the shot. I know where the puck is at all times then

 

[dash]

I would say that the responsibility lies mainly with Mason, but shouldn't a goaltending coach/consultant be looking at any and all ways to shake things up and one of them would be changing equipment?

 

[jstewismybastardson]

I would say that the responsibility lies mainly with Mason, but shouldn't a goaltending coach/consultant be looking at any and all ways to shake things up and one of them would be changing equipment?

I would think it would be a last resort kinda recommendation by a goalie coach because he would be looking at ways to improve technique ... and who knows, there is a chance the goalie has some modicum of integrity and thinks that he would be shamed amongst the fraternity for wearing equipment that pushes the boundaries of legality

but ... who cares!!! ... I put it on Mason ... the goalie should know the rule inside out ... didnt Brodeur create/invent his own "cheater"? ... didnt Belfour stitch his own added fabric into the sides of his jersey? ... if youre not cheatin, youre not trying

 

[forty_three]

first mistake is hiring Ian Clark no?

So very much

Im a crazy goalie I like feeling the pain of the shot. I know where the puck is at all times then

I don't like the new leg pads, the real square ones. I like to feel the low shots when I am down, because often you are not seeing it before it hits you, you need to know where it is.

And as a goalie, I understand the reluctance to change gear. Partially superstition, partially feeling off balance. But for Christ's sake, man... if you are at the point where you are consciously afraid of the puck, either get the hell off the ice or change it up. And seriously, any chest protector combo manufactured since 1998 is not going to let you get hurt in the ribs. They are like flak jackets with full coverage. What the fuck was he using?

How can the goalie coach NOT figure out that his goalie is scared of the puck? I said early on in the season that Mason appeared to be staying back and trying to reflex his way through it. I put it on Clark, assuming it was because Clark was trying to tweak him out of his game. Guess that wasn't it. And I saw a few games ago that he looked different.