Steve Mason

Steve Mason (born May 29, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected 69th overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Blue Jackets. Playing major junior in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), he spent three seasons with the London Knights and Kitchener Rangers. In 2007, 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 OHL's London Knights in the 11th round of the 2004 OHL Priority Selection.

In 2004-05, he led the Grimsby Peach Kings club to the OHA Jr.C. final in 2004-05 and in 2005-06 was assigned to the Petrolia Jets Jr.B. club when his playing time was limited with the London Knights.

Steve Mason started his junior career in 2005–06 with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). After playing 12 games in his rookie junior year as a backup, he was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 3rd round, 69th overall, in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. Mason started the 2007–08 NHL season with the Columbus 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 London 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. Nearing the end of the season back with the Rangers, Mason suffered a knee injury, 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 lineup and underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on April 18, causing him to miss the remainder of the OHL playoffs, as well as the 2008 Memorial Cup. Kitchener won the OHL championship without Mason, but lost 4-1 in the Memorial Cup final against the Spokane Chiefs.

Approaching his first professional season, Mason underwent an additional knee surgery in September for his injured knee, 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. Shortly after recovering and joining the Crunch's lineup, 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. Teammate R. J. Umberger handed Mason the game puck commemorating his first NHL victory. He recorded his first NHL shutout several games later on November 22, making 15 saves in a 2–0 win against the Atlanta Thrashers. 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 3 straight wins and 2 shutouts. 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 December. Along with Mason's three straight shutouts, he posted a 7-5-0 record, 1.41 GAA and .950 save percentage for the month. 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 Columbus 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. He returned to the lineup on February 13 against the Detroit Red Wings, recording a 3–2 Columbus victory. Mason finished the season with a 33-20-7 record, 2.29 GAA and .916 save percentage. He is the winner of the 2009 Calder Memorial Trophy for rookie of the year, Kris Versteeg of the Chicago Blackhawks and Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim Ducks were the other nominees. On April 27, 2009, the NHL announced that Mason was nominated for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goaltender. He was nominated along with Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins and Niklas Backstrom of the Minnesota Wild.

International play
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.

Awards
Junior NHL International
 * Named OHL Goaltender of the Year in 2007.
 * Named Rookie of the Month for November and December 2008.
 * The Sporting News' Rookie of the Year 2009.
 * 2009 Calder Trophy winner.
 * Named to the NHL Second All-Star Team in 2009.
 * Named Player of the Game in the semi-final (against Team USA) and gold medal game (against Sweden) at the 2008 World Junior Championships.
 * Named to the World Junior all-star team in 2008.
 * IIHF Best Player Award at the goaltender position at the World Juniors in 2008.
 * Tournament MVP at the World Juniors in 2008.

Records

 * Set the OHL record for regular season wins with 45 in 2006–07 (broken by Andrew Engelage of the Windsor Spitfires with 46 wins in 2008–09)
 * Set the CHL record for assists by a goaltender with 8 in 2007.