Mason Starring In Masterpiece Theater Again
Posted by TheHockeyGuy on February 11th, 2010
There are 18 skaters, and then there is the goalie, who lives on an island. He is detached from the X’s and O’s. He has his own position coach. Although he is intrinsically tied to the fortunes of his team, he stands alone on his own merit.
How is it, then, that Steve Mason has been unbeatable since the Blue Jackets replaced Ken Hitchcock with Claude Noel? The goaltender is the last player who ought to be affected by a coaching change. Mason admits as much.
“Hitch always supported me,” Mason said. “I liked him as a coach, and I’ll never say anything bad about him.”
In fact, Mason said he shares the responsibility for getting Hitchcock fired. And he does. Pre-Noel, Mason was 13-18-6 with a goals-against average north of 3.10 and a save percentage south of .895. He had given up five or more goals seven times. This is the guy who won the Calder Trophy and finished second in the Vezina voting last year.
Now, he’s back — at least, it sure looks that way. The Jackets last night beat the San Jose Sharks, the top team in the Western Conference, 3-0. Mason stopped each of the 40 shots he faced and posted his second shutout in three games.
Since Noel took over, Mason is 3-0 with 90 saves on 91 shots. The one goal he gave up came on a tip that popped up, hit Jake Voracek’s leg and snuck in on a lark.
What is different, other than the coach?
“I can’t explain it,” Mason said.
But he can. He now admits that, without a stint in the American Hockey League, he did not have an adequate grasp of what it takes to be a professional. He says he needed to learn how to carry himself, to prepare and to handle adversity. It took time.
Click here to read the full article – By Michael Arace of Columbus Dispatch
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