Blue Jackets are riding behind rookie goalie

Steve Mason, in his first season of professional hockey, is off to a good start.

COLUMBUS (AP) — In early November, Steve Mason was just another promising minor leaguer.

Now he’s the hottest goaltender in the NHL.

The 20-year-old emerging star also has given hope to the once hopeless Columbus Blue Jackets, the only current NHL franchise to never appear in the postseason.

“A lot has happened in a short period of time,” said Mason, who is playing his first season of professional hockey at any level.

“There’s been a lot of hard work that’s been put into it. It’s nice to get rewarded for it. We still have a lot of work to do. But I’m sure it’s going to be just as much fun as the first month.”

The numbers say that opposing teams aren’t having nearly as much fun as he is.

The kid from Oakville, Ont., has a 15-9-1 record and leads the NHL with six shutouts, a 1.75 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage. He’s allowed two or fewer goals in 18 of his 25 starts.

Much of what he has accomplished has come with the Blue Jackets severely limited by injuries. Several top players were sidelined Friday night when Mason stopped 45 shots and beat Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals 3-0 — the second time he’s shut them out in as many starts this season.

“He was as good as any goaltender I have seen this year,” Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said on Monday. “Look at both games and how many shots he faced (71). We could not beat him — and we have good personnel.”

The best teams have taken notice of the 6-foot-4, 212-pound rookie.

“We knew coming in that it probably wasn’t going to be a goalfest on the guy,” Red Wings goalie Ty Conklin said after the defending champs beat Mason on Jan. 6. “He’s been playing outstanding. He’s not making saves look difficult out there, either.”

Selected in the second round of the 2006 draft by the Blue Jackets, Mason always has been one of the organization’s prized players.

He has been brilliant at every level of juniors and led Canada to a gold medal in last year’s World Junior Championships by going 5-0-0 with a 1.19 goals-against average to earn tournament MVP honors.

The Blue Jackets planned to have him spend a year at Syracuse of the American Hockey League to gain experience and grow accustomed to the travel, training and even the down time of a professional hockey life.

When Columbus starter Pascal Leclaire suffered an ankle injury, however, Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson and coach Ken Hitchcock decided to send the youngster out against Edmonton on Nov. 5.

Not only was it Mason’s first NHL start, it was only his fourth start as a professional. But he won that night and has been outstanding ever since.

Even Hitchcock, who has coached or coached against some Hall of Fame goalies in his 14 years as an NHL head coach, is impressed by his goalie’s consistency.

“It’s not like he’s on a hot streak,” Hitchcock said. “This is just normal play for him.”

Veteran forward Michael Peca shakes his head as he glances across the dressing room at the rosy-cheeked Mason, who is laughing at a joke with fellow rookie Jake Voracek.

Peca can’t recall seeing a young goaltender with such a mix of size and athleticism.

“He’s just a very technically sound goaltender,” Peca said. “When you’re big and athletic at the same time as being positionally sound, you’re not giving up a whole lot. We have played pretty well in front of him, but he has made some spectacular saves at important times in games.”

Hitchcock credits Mason’s mental gifts as much as the physical ones.

“When you have hockey sense, the learning curve is always accelerated — and he has goalie sense,” he said. “He has a great read of the game in front of him.”