Steve Mason: Chasing Tony O

Hear go the sound of the wreckin’ ball.  Boom and pound when I shut ‘em down.  -Public Enemy

Public Service Announcement: Ok, here we go!  Columbus Blue Jackets Steve Mason is at it again.  Take that again.  Did it like this, did it like that, did it with a wiffleball bat goalie stick again.  He’s once, twice, three times a goalie, and Jackets fans are loving him.  How could they not.  Another shutout last night.  Shutout the Senators last night.  No soup for you!  No soup for anybody.  At this rate the whole NHL is going to go hungry. 

Last night, Steve Mason made eighteen saves in the Blue Jackets’ 1-0 win over the Senators.  Last night, Steve Mason notched his seventh shutout of the season.  Yowza!  No rookie goalie has had that many clean sheets since Chico Resch was doing the laundry for the Islanders back in ’76.  That’s the spirit.

Ever since Blue Jackets goalie Pascal Leclaire went down with an ankle injury, the rookie has been making his mark.  Just like another rookie goaltender made his mark.  Made fans bark.  Played goalie like a shark.  Just like Tony Esposito made his mark for the Chicago Blackhawks.

For the 69-70 Blackhawks, Tony O not only had the best season for a rookie goalie, he just may have had the best season between the pipes for any goalie.  Ever.  Steve Mason is beginning to make moves on that claim.  

During the 69-70 season, Esposito led the league in wins.  Mason probably will not hold that distinction at season’s end, but he doesn’t have Stan Mikita playing in front of him.  He doesn’t have Bobby Hull playing in front of him.  Heck, he doesn’t even have Pit Martin playing in front him.  What he does have is a place on the leaderboard in all of the major statistical categories.

Mason leads the league in goals against average.  Mason is third in the league in save percentage.  Tony O was second in GAA and save percentage was not kept in those days.  What Tony O did do was notch fifteen shutouts.  Not only a rookie record but an NHL record.  If Steve Mason wants to be mentioned in the same breath as Esposito, he’s gonna have close in on that mark. 

Who’s to say he can’t?  In Tony’s historic season, he completed his seventh shutout thirty-two games in.  Same as, you guessed it, our boy, Steve Mason.  Mason is big.  Mason is strong.  He plays sound positionally.  He is mature, confident and extremely poised.  The kid makes the big saves at the key times in games.   He’s got prospects.  He’s bona fide.  What are you?

Public Spectacle:

Peace out homies.  Six two and Even!

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