Steve Mason
Mason with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2014
Born (1988-05-29) May 29, 1988
Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight 223 lb (101 kg; 15 st 13 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Right
Played for Columbus Blue Jackets
Philadelphia Flyers
Winnipeg Jets
NHL Draft 69th overall, 2006
Columbus Blue Jackets
Playing career 2008–2018

Steve Mason (born May 29, 1988) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently the Director of Goalie Development for the Oakville Rangers of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA). During his National Hockey League career, he played for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Philadelphia Flyers and Winnipeg Jets.

He was selected 69th overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Blue Jackets. Playing major junior in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Mason spent three seasons with the London Knights and Kitchener Rangers. In the 2006–07 season, he was named OHL Goaltender of the Year. He joined the Blue Jackets in 2008–09 and won the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year.

Internationally, he won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2008 World Junior Championships while earning tournament MVP and Best Goaltender honours.

Playing career

Mason grew up in Oakville, Ontario, playing mostly A hockey until his Bantam year, when he moved up to the AAA level with the Oakville Rangers of the OMHA's South Central AAA League. He was drafted after his minor midget season with Oakville by the London Knights of the OHL in the 11th round of the 2004 OHL Priority Selection.

In 2004–05, while attending Abbey Park High School,[1] he led the Grimsby Peach Kings club to the OHA Jr.C. title in 2004–05 and in 2005–06 was assigned to the Petrolia Jets Jr.B. club when his playing time was limited with London. Despite this, Mason was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the third round, 69th overall, in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. He started the 2007–08 season with the Blue Jackets, but was returned to London after being a healthy scratch for Columbus' first two games of the season. While competing for Team Canada at the 2008 World Junior Championships, he was traded by the Knights to the Kitchener Rangers on January 4, 2008, hours before the semi-final game.

Upon returning from the World Junior Championships with a gold medal, Mason was briefly recalled by the Blue Jackets on an emergency basis in February, but did not appear in a game and was quickly returned.[2] Mason suffered a knee injury towards the end of the regular season, but with the playoffs approaching, he tried to play through it for several weeks. After defeating the Plymouth Whalers in the first round, Mason was pulled out of the line-up and underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on April 18, forcing him to miss the remainder of the OHL playoffs, as well as the 2008 Memorial Cup.[3] Kitchener won the OHL championship without Mason, but lost 4–1 in the Memorial Cup final against the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League (WHL).

Columbus Blue Jackets

Mason in 2009 with the Blue Jackets

Before his first professional season, Mason underwent an additional knee surgery in September, causing him to miss the first month of play in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Blue Jackets' minor league affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.[4] Shortly after recovering and joining the Crunch's line-up, Mason was called up by the Blue Jackets on November 4, 2008, in the absence of injured starter Pascal Leclaire. He made his NHL debut on November 5, starting against, and defeating, the Edmonton Oilers 5–4.[5] He recorded his first NHL shutout several games later on November 22, making 15 saves in a 2–0 win against the Atlanta Thrashers.[6]

Mason continued to start games upon Leclaire's return from injury and was named NHL Rookie of the Month for November after posting a 5–2–1 record, including three straight wins and two shutouts.[7] In the midst of shutout streak, having not allowed a goal against the Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks, he was named Rookie of the Month for a second-straight month in December. Along with Mason's three straight shutouts, he posted a 7–5–0 record, 1.41 goals against average (GAA) and .950 save percentage for the month.[8] Chosen to play for the rookies at the 2009 NHL YoungStars Game, he opted, however, to skip the competition. It was later revealed on January 30, 2009, by Blue Jackets General Manager Scott Howson that Mason had been suffering from mononucleosis for the previous three-to-four weeks. After three more starts, on February 8, Mason was put on the injured reserve.[9] He returned to the line-up on February 13 against the Detroit Red Wings in a 3–2 Columbus victory.[10] Mason finished the season with a 33–20–7 record, 2.29 GAA and .916 save percentage. For his season's performances, he was awarded the 2009 Calder Memorial Trophy for rookie of the year honours, edging out Kris Versteeg of the Chicago Blackhawks and Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim Ducks in the process;[11] as of 2023, he is the most recent goaltender to win the award. Additionally, on April 27, 2009, the NHL announced that Mason was nominated for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goaltender, along with Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins and Niklas Bäckström of the Minnesota Wild.[12] Thomas was eventually awarded the trophy.

The next three seasons were a disappointment for Mason, however, as he was unable to duplicate the play of his rookie year, and the Blue Jackets failed to make another playoff appearance.[13]

Philadelphia Flyers

Mason was traded on April 3, 2013, to the Philadelphia Flyers for goaltender Michael Leighton and a 2015 third round draft pick.[14] On April 8, Mason signed a one-year contract extension worth $1.5 million.[15] Mason had four wins and two losses in Philadelphia and posted an impressive 1.90 GAA and a .944 save percentage, leading to speculation that Mason would replace Ilya Bryzgalov as the starter for Philadelphia.[16] In the off-season, on June 25, 2013, Bryzgalov was bought-out by the Flyers,[17] where the team subsequently signed goaltender Ray Emery, effectively promoting Mason to the starter's role.[18] On November 12, 2013, Mason recorded his first shutout for Philadelphia against the Ottawa Senators in a 5–0 win.[19] On January 18, 2014, Mason signed a three-year contract extension with the Flyers worth $12.3 million for an annual average of $4.1 million.[20] Mason finished the 2013-14 season with a 33-18-7 record and a .917 save percentage, which was enough to bring the Flyers to the playoffs. In the playoffs, Mason started 4 games and played in 5, going 2-2 with a 1.97 GAA and a .939 save percentage, but the Flyers were eliminated by the New York Rangers in 7 games.

Winnipeg Jets

On July 1, 2017, Mason signed a two year deal with the Winnipeg Jets for $4.1 million per year. The plan was for Mason to split the time with young Connor Hellebuyck but his season was de-railed by two concussions [21] and a serious knee injury. [22]

On June 30, 2018, Mason was traded to the Montreal Canadiens along with forward Joel Armia and a few draft picks for the Canadiens sent him to waivers in order to buy out his contract. Mason's contract was not picked up by another team, thus making him an unrestricted free agent.[23]

After a lack of interest in the free agent market, Mason opted to retire from playing and return to his hometown of Oakville to serve as the Director of Goalie Development for the Oakville Rangers, a youth team in Oakville.[24]

International play

Medal record
Representing  Canada
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place2008 Czech Republic

Mason first competed for Team Canada at the under-20 level in the eight-game 2007 Super Series against Russia. He then led Team Canada to a gold medal at the 2008 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Pardubice, Czech Republic. Prior to the semi-final game against Team USA, Mason was traded within the OHL from the London Knights to the Kitchener Rangers. After defeating Team Sweden 3–2 in overtime of the gold medal game, he was named as the player of the game, as he was in the semi-finals. Mason was undefeated in five games with a tournament-best .951 save percentage and 1.19 GAA. He was named to the tournament all-star team, received top goaltender honours, and was named tournament MVP.

Following his rookie NHL season, Mason was named to Team Canada's summer orientation camp for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. He was not named to the final roster, but he was reported to have been designated an injury replacement, along with St. Louis Blues goaltender Chris Mason.[25]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2003–04 Oakville Rangers Min. Midget AAA OMHA 27 22 4 1 1215 41 5 1.58 — — — — — — — — —
2004–05 Grimsby Peach Kings NDJCHL 23 16 5 2 1239 61 2 2.96 — — — — — — — — —
2005–06 London Knights OHL 12 5 3 0 497 22 0 2.66 .931 4 0 1 150 7 0 2.80 .911
2005–06 Petrolia Jets WOHL 9 6 3 1 522 22 0 2.53 .931 — — — — — — — —
2006–07 London Knights OHL 62 45 13 4 3733 199 2 3.20 .914 16 9 7 931 54 0 3.48 .910
2007–08 London Knights OHL 26 19 4 3 1569 73 2 2.79 .916 — — — — — — — —
2007–08 Kitchener Rangers OHL 16 13 3 0 961 33 1 2.06 .915 5 5 0 313 10 1 1.92 .946
2008–09 Syracuse Crunch AHL 3 2 1 0 184 5 0 1.63 .937 — — — — — — — —
2008–09 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 61 33 20 7 3664 140 10 2.29 .916 4 0 4 239 17 0 4.27 .878
2009–10 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 58 20 26 9 3201 163 5 3.05 .901 — — — — — — — —
2010–11 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 54 24 21 7 3027 153 3 3.03 .901 — — — — — — — —
2011–12 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 46 16 26 3 2534 143 1 3.39 .894 — — — — — — — —
2012–13 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 13 3 6 1 712 35 0 2.95 .899 — — — — — — — —
2012–13 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 7 4 2 0 378 12 0 1.90 .944 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 61 33 18 7 3486 145 4 2.50 .917 5 2 2 244 8 0 1.97 .939
2014–15 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 51 18 18 11 2885 108 3 2.25 .928 — — — — — — — —
2015–16 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 54 23 19 10 3150 132 4 2.51 .918 3 0 3 176 12 0 4.09 .852
2016–17 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 58 26 21 8 3225 143 3 2.66 .908 — — — — — — — —
2017–18 Winnipeg Jets NHL 13 5 6 1 685 37 1 3.24 .906 1 0 0 20 0 0 0.00 1.000
2017–18 Manitoba Moose AHL 1 1 0 0 64 4 0 3.73 .818 — — — — — — — —
NHL totals 476 205 183 64 26,947 1,211 34 2.70 .911 13 2 9 680 37 0 3.27 .897

International

Year Team Event Result GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2008 Canada WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 5 0 0 303 6 1 1.19 .951
Junior totals 5 5 0 0 303 6 1 1.19 .951

Awards

Junior

NHL

International

Other

Records

References

  1. ↑ "Steve Mason traded to Philadelphia Flyers". Inside Halton. April 3, 2013. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Blue Jackets send Steve Mason back to OHL". CBC. February 10, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
  3. ↑ Reed, Tom (April 17, 2008). "Hot Jackets property has knee injury". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
  4. ↑ "Blue Jackets lose Steve Mason for 4-6 weeks". CBC. September 23, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
  5. ↑ "Goalie Steve Mason makes his mark with Columbus Blue Jackets". The Hockey News. November 11, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
  6. ↑ "Mason helps Blue Jackets blank Thrashers". Sports Network. November 22, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
  7. ↑ "Blue Jackets goalie Steve Maso named NHL rookie of the month". Canadian Press. December 2, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
  8. ↑ "Blue Jackets G Steve Mason named rookie of the month again". National Post. January 2, 2009. Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  9. ↑ "Jackets admit goalie Mason needs a rest". CBC. February 8, 2009. Retrieved February 9, 2009.
  10. ↑ "Blue Jackets mark Mason's return by snapping Red Wings' win streak". USA Today. February 13, 2009. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  11. ↑ "Ryan, Versteeg, Mason selected as nominees for Calder Trophy". TSN. April 22, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
  12. ↑ "Mason, Thomas, Wild's Backstrom Vezina finalists". Associated Press. April 27, 2009. Retrieved April 29, 2009.
  13. ↑ "Blue Jackets notebook: Steve Mason playing well in Philly". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Flyers acquire Steve Mason from Columbus; Adam Hall from Tampa Bay". Philadelphia Flyers. April 3, 2013. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  15. ↑ Anthony SanFilippo (April 8, 2013). "Mason signs Extension". Philadelphia Flyers. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Flyers trade for Steve Mason means Ilya Brzygalov is a goner". bleacherreport.com. May 3, 2013. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Flyers buyout contract of Ilya Brzygalov". National Hockey League. June 23, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Flyers address goalie need, sign Ray Emery". ESPN. July 3, 2013. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Mason stonewalls Senators in 5-0 victory". Philadelphia Flyers. November 12, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Steve Mason signs three-year extension with Philadelphia Flyers". CBS Sports. January 18, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Winnipeg Jets Send Steve Mason to Moose for Conditioning". Global News.ca.
  22. ↑ "Should Steve Mason Hang Up The Pads?". hockey writers.com. June 12, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Canadiens acquire Joel Armia, Steve Mason from Jets". sportsnet.ca. June 30, 2018. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  24. ↑ "News > Not Found (Oakville Rangers Hockey Club)".
  25. ↑ "Blues' Mason added to Canada's stand-by list". CTV News. February 13, 2010. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
  26. ↑ "Highlight of the Year Bracket". Philadelphia Flyers. Accessed September 22, 2016.
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