New Rule For this team:

[King Knut]

One year contracts for goalies.

Goes to their heads apparently.

[murraycraven]

Broduer could not help this team

[OccamsRazor]

One year contracts for goalies.

Goes to their heads apparently.

 

Yeah guy have you watched the defensemen that skate in front of him...

 

 

...if anything i feel sorry for him to have endured all he endured in Columbus and now look at them ...and to now have to come to Philly and play with such garbage again.....sounds like purgatory....the money is to ease the pain.the bottom 3 Dmen are nothing more than boat anchors...turnstiles....hey i know a great name for thsi blue line..........the Matadors....cause that what they do, wave the red cape in Mason eyes and then game on... 

[King Knut]

I was really only joking bro

The D is a disaster.

Maybe mason's contract went to their heads?

Yeah guy have you watched the defensemen that skate in front of him...

...if anything i feel sorry for him to have endured all he endured in Columbus and now look at them ...and to now have to come to Philly and play with such garbage again.....sounds like purgatory....the money is to ease the pain.the bottom 3 Dmen are nothing more than boat anchors...turnstiles....hey i know a great name for thsi blue line..........the Matadors....cause that what they do, wave the red cape in Mason eyes and then game on...

[jammer2]

  Yes, the defense has been dreadful, but Mason has STUNK since he got some job security. He's been pulled in 3 games since he signed this 3 year deal. I know he is not stinking on purpose or anything, but you would think he would wanna shine after signing this deal, show his teammates and management that he deserved it etc. Can this really be happening, is he going to be total crap moving forward???  No luck in the nets this team...I SWEAR!!!!

[OccamsRazor]

No luck in the nets this team...I SWEAR!!!!

 

I know i swear it seems like it but on a lot of the shots Mason has given up he hasn't had a chance on....from what i remember but i'm trying to make all that foggy now....

[brelic]

  Yes, the defense has been dreadful, but Mason has STUNK since he got some job security. He's been pulled in 3 games since he signed this 3 year deal. I know he is not stinking on purpose or anything, but you would think he would wanna shine after signing this deal, show his teammates and management that he deserved it etc. Can this really be happening, is he going to be total crap moving forward???  No luck in the nets this team...I SWEAR!!!!

 

Seems like every article I read on Mason from a Blue Jackets perspective has ex-coaches saying he's got all the physical tools, but he's mentally fragile.

 

Sounds about par for the course, I'd say.

 

:wacko:

[aziz]

I know i swear it seems like it but on a lot of the shots Mason has given up he hasn't had a chance on....from what i remember but i'm trying to make all that foggy now....

 

there have been some....questionable goals.  that said, he has been pulled pretty early, in my estimation.  today was a good example.  maybe he needed to have one or two of those, but he wasn't the problem.  and emery had problems, too.

 

in any case, today was about the offense not having anything at all.  rask had one or two big moments, and his rebound control is amazing, but the bottom line is boston would have won had mason only given up 2.  i have this fear that getting yanked early like this is a knock to his head, and his head has never been particularly well screwed on.

[The Quigster]

Something very ugly is happening here. Lukko mysteriously left, Hexie,Homer and Clarkie strangely silent,minimal movement of any type,no trades,nothing! What gives?

[jammer2]

  The second goal by Iginla was certainly stoppable. You should not score from that spot on the ice if the goalie has a clear view of the puck. Mind you, it was a really nice quick release by Iggy, but ya gotta stop those at this level!

[doom88]

The second goal by Iginla was certainly stoppable. You should not score from that spot on the ice if the goalie has a clear view of the puck. Mind you, it was a really nice quick release by Iggy, but ya gotta stop those at this level!

Iginla has scored a few goals in his career. Guys like Tyler Kennedy scoring bother me more.

[jammer2]

 AAAANNNNNDDDDD.....has Mason cracked the code??  He is playing outstanding hockey, WHEW what a relief!!!

[fan4ever]

@jammer2

 

He scared me to death last night.  I'm was very glad to read that it was just cramping......

[brelic]

AAAANNNNNDDDDD.....has Mason cracked the code??  He is playing outstanding hockey, WHEW what a relief!!!

Yes, he's been solid again. Very nice to see! He's tracking the puck well and either gobbling up shots or directing rebounds to safe areas.

And I focused on Gus for much of the game, and he impressed me. He appears calmer than Meszaros in his own zone. He also made a few really nice decisions on pinching and one almost resulted in a goal, some nice passing plays in the o-zone, and a few nice defensive plays.

[King Knut]

Just needs to refocus every once in a while. The guy wants to kick ass and it looks like he's open to working on things when he's not and then (and this is key) seems to be able to put that into action and bounce back.

Everyone wants a guy who never loses focus and has off moments. But that's rare.

Compared to what we've had, I'm happy with a guy capable of seeing his cracks and bouncing back.

AAAANNNNNDDDDD.....has Mason cracked the code?? He is playing outstanding hockey, WHEW what a relief!!!

[OccamsRazor]

Yes, the defense has been dreadful, but Mason has STUNK since he got some job security.

 

He is sporting a 925% i know he didn't look good at the time you originally posted this but it's nice to look back even now and say he and the whole team picked it up.

 

Nice to have a reliable goalie for a change gives the team when they have a slow start  to pull it together by the end maybe....sometimes it still don't matter.

 

Now i just hope they come out of the break playing well....keep the axe man from cometh!!!!!!!!

 

Homer and what he could be putting together to resemble a plan scares me.

 

One thing he needs to keep in mind is the grass isn't always green on other teams farms!!!

 

He should more than likely retain some picks since the draft is in Philly but you never know. Man i miss hockey already.

[jammer2]

Yes, he's been solid again. Very nice to see! He's tracking the puck well and either gobbling up shots or directing rebounds to safe areas.

And I focused on Gus for much of the game, and he impressed me. He appears calmer than Meszaros in his own zone. He also made a few really nice decisions on pinching and one almost resulted in a goal, some nice passing plays in the o-zone, and a few nice defensive plays.

 

 You touched on a key point for Mason, tracking the puck. It goes for all goalies obviously, but with Mason, when he is not tracking the puck right, his rebound control seems to go haywire also. Thrilled to see him return to elite status, and he has been that of late.

[radoran]

 You touched on a key point for Mason, tracking the puck. It goes for all goalies obviously, but with Mason, when he is not tracking the puck right, his rebound control seems to go haywire also. Thrilled to see him return to elite status, and he has been that of late.

 

Consistency is an issue with Mason. As Puck Daddy noted for Yahoo after he signed the contract, Mason can go on great runs, but then comes back down to Earth.

 

His numbers have gotten better - the two shutouts certainly didn't hurt - but four of his past 10 games have been sub-.900 SV% (2-2) and fifth was a .906 loss against Carolina and a sixth was a .919 loss to Nashville.

 

Yahoo has him at 2.49/.918 at the break. Bryz was 2.48/.909 in his first season here. Before we cue up the inevitable "b-b-b-but Bryz!" moments, that's just for comparison's sake and I do believe Mason is a better goalie (and the extra .009 is significant when talking about this level).

[jammer2]

@radoran  I know you threw in Bryz just for the sake of comparison.....but there is some huge differences in the two. First off, Mason can track the puck 100x's better than Bryz ever could. When the puck went behind the net, Bryz literally had no idea where the puck was going to surface, leaving him the victim of those embarrassing "gift" wrap around travesties. The other glaring differences, side to side movement and rebound control....Bryz flat out SUCKED at those skills...not to mention handleing the puck.

[radoran]

@radoran  I know you threw in Bryz just for the sake of comparison.....but there is some huge differences in the two. First off, Mason can track the puck 100x's better than Bryz ever could. When the puck went behind the net, Bryz literally had no idea where the puck was going to surface, leaving him the victim of those embarrassing "gift" wrap around travesties. The other glaring differences, side to side movement and rebound control....Bryz flat out SUCKED at those skills...not to mention handleing the puck.

 

OK, but this is exactly the "b-b-b-but Bryzgalov" reaction I was anticipating.

 

All of those things are true - and the goalie still has just a .009 better SV% and .01 better GAA than Bryzgalov's first season here.

 

Bryzgalov then melted down with a 2.79/.900.

 

Mason had a 2.29/.916 in his first season with the Blue Jackets (10 shutouts) and then went 3.12/.899 (9 shutouts) over the next four years before the trade to Philadelphia.

 

It's several grains of salt for the discussion if nothing else and "b-b-b-b-but Bryzgalov" notwithstanding remains a valid concern because of Mason's past play - not Bryzgalov's.

[OccamsRazor]

Consistency is an issue with Mason. As Puck Daddy noted for Yahoo after he signed the contract, Mason can go on great runs, but then comes back down to Earth.

 

Since he signed the extension his save percentage has been 925% that is good improvement but also reflects the teams better overall play in front of him.

 

I got to say i'm happy with the goaltender been a loooooooooooooooog time since i could say that as a Flyer fan.

 

Now if they could just get some better quality Dmen in the fold...they'll get even better but that not happen till the prospects are ready in a couple years....so it will be much off and on suckage form this cluster of supposed "DEFENSEMAN" they have...yet sooooo glad Bryz is gone.

[radoran]

Since he signed the extension his save percentage has been 925% that is good improvement but also reflects the teams better overall play in front of him.

 

I got to say i'm happy with the goaltender been a loooooooooooooooog time since i could say that as a Flyer fan.

 

Now if they could just get some better quality Dmen in the fold...they'll get even better but that not happen till the prospects are ready in a couple years....so it will be much off and on suckage form this cluster of supposed "DEFENSEMAN" they have...yet sooooo glad Bryz is gone.

 

I'm not "unhappy" with the goaltending, but consistency is an issue. The primary reason I ever think about Bryzgalov is when Flyer fans bring him up. I have a much higher bar than "better than Bryzgalov".

 

.925 is a great SV% - over eight games (I'm showing 213 saves on 231 shots - .922 for the record) - but the devil is in the details. The current "average SV%" for the league is .914.

 

Here's his SV% per game:

6-Feb Col W 3-1 0.974 3-Feb @sjsharks678 W 5-2 0.909 1-Feb @LA W 2-0 1 30-Jan @Anh L 3-5 0.852 28-Jan Det W 5-0 1 25-Jan Bos L 1-6 0.79 22-Jan Car L 2-3 0.906 18-Jan NYI W 6-4 0.833

 

Again, consistency. Two shutouts and one .974 (3-0), three sub-.900 games (1-2), .906 and .909 (1-1). that five of eight games below the league average.

 

Here's Lundqvist (also with a .918 SV% this season - tied with Mason) over the same period:

 

7-Feb @Pit W 4-3 0.897 4-Feb Col W 5-1 0.964 31-Jan NYI W 4-1 0.974 29-Jan @NYI W 2-1 0.968 26-Jan @NJ W 7-3 0.864 23-Jan StL L 1-2 0.92 19-Jan Was W 4-1

0.96

 

two sub-.900 games (2-0), five .920 or better (4-1). Five of Seven above the league average.

 

As it happens, Bobrovsky also has the same .918 SV% this year. The only reason I'm using Bobrovsky is because they have the same SV% this season - has nothing to do with "b-b-b-but Bob!" His play since Jan 18:

7-Feb @sjsharks678 L 2-3 0.936 6-Feb @LA L 1-2 0.9 3-Feb @Anh W 4-2 0.944 1-Feb Fla W 4-1 0.972 30-Jan Was W 5-2 0.938 27-Jan @Car L 2-3 0.914 25-Jan Buf L 2-5 0.7 23-Jan Phi W 5-2 0.929 21-Jan LA W 5-3 0.897 18-Jan @BuffaJoe W 4-3

0.897

 

Six of Ten over league average. For the record, I'd say Bob also has "consistency" issues and also has defensive liabilities.

 

I'd just like to see Mason trend more towards Lundqvist than Bobrovsky, especially when looking at more than just 8-10 games...

[OccamsRazor]

I'd just like to see Mason trend more towards Lundqvist than Bobrovsky, especially when looking at more than just 8-10 games...

 

Yes i agree.

 

But to me it seemed to be headed in the right direction but that is possible to all change with the break and hard schedule that lay ahead.

 

But also the whole team could use some consistent play blueline out. Including the players and coaches. We'll see what unfolds...

[flyercanuck]

Just the fact that Mason isn't the punchline to every NHL joke makes him better. Not to mention the contract.

[King Knut]

Wow that's a lot of work! Thanks for the research and insights.

I feel like maybe Mase and the team are a bit in synch. He has bad games the same nights they're hanging him out to dry.

But he did really seem to refocus himself after that Boston disaster and that's what I like to see. Everyone's gonna have a bad night. Or give up a weak goal (if he could stop doing that in te last two minutes he wouldn't have to make amazing saves in the very last minute) but I digress.

There was a potential trend accumulating. He saw it and decided he didn't like it.

Both Mase and Razor have shown they can play extremely well for this team and I'm happy with them both for now. Lets hope they make the playoffs and we see how well they show up when the pressure is really on.

I don't need for them to be the best goalies in the league, but like you say, consistency is the key. If your guys know what saves they can count on you to make and they can count on that being most of them, then they can start to play out from that. That's been the problem with this team since Boucher got hurt in 2001 really and then before him for a really long time, probably Hextall's first run with the team.

Guys like Esche, Leighton, and even Rayzor's first run have given them streaks of consistency that them fell apart. Guys like ROMAN, Hackett, Marty Bryz an Bob were just inconsistent to crappy for them. I was never thy impressed with bob. I'm glad he learned and improved himself and wish we could have seem that progression in O&b, but he was very green when he was here an it showed. He won with great saves and reflexes and no one having good scouting on him, not by knowing the position terribly well. He got better. It's nice for him.

I don't feel like mason's collapses have become trends, more momentary lapses of reason. and I don't think he was the only guilty party when he's collapsed and I think (maybe thanks to berube) the team doesn't panic and change everything they do if he has a bad night that's very important.

Essentially, I feel More and more confident that the goalie will not be the ultimate demise of this team again this year and really that's all we need right now.

I'm not "unhappy" with the goaltending, but consistency is an issue. The primary reason I ever think about Bryzgalov is when Flyer fans bring him up. I have a much higher bar than "better than Bryzgalov".

.925 is a great SV% - over eight games (I'm showing 213 saves on 231 shots - .922 for the record) - but the devil is in the details. The current "average SV%" for the league is .914.

Here's his SV% per game:

6-Feb Col W 3-1 0.974 3-Feb @sjsharks678 W 5-2 0.909 1-Feb @LA W 2-0 1 30-Jan @Anh L 3-5 0.852 28-Jan Det W 5-0 1 25-Jan Bos L 1-6 0.79 22-Jan Car L 2-3 0.906 18-Jan NYI W 6-4 0.833

Again, consistency. Two shutouts and one .974 (3-0), three sub-.900 games (1-2), .906 and .909 (1-1). that five of eight games below the league average.

Here's Lundqvist (also with a .918 SV% this season - tied with Mason) over the same period:

7-Feb @Pit W 4-3 0.897 4-Feb Col W 5-1 0.964 31-Jan NYI W 4-1 0.974 29-Jan @NYI W 2-1 0.968 26-Jan @NJ W 7-3 0.864 23-Jan StL L 1-2 0.92 19-Jan Was W 4-1

0.96

two sub-.900 games (2-0), five .920 or better (4-1). Five of Seven above the league average.

As it happens, Bobrovsky also has the same .918 SV% this year. The only reason I'm using Bobrovsky is because they have the same SV% this season - has nothing to do with "b-b-b-but Bob!" His play since Jan 18:

7-Feb @sjsharks678 L 2-3 0.936 6-Feb @LA L 1-2 0.9 3-Feb @Anh W 4-2 0.944 1-Feb Fla W 4-1 0.972 30-Jan Was W 5-2 0.938 27-Jan @Car L 2-3 0.914 25-Jan Buf L 2-5 0.7 23-Jan Phi W 5-2 0.929 21-Jan LA W 5-3 0.897 18-Jan @BuffaJoe W 4-3

0.897

Six of Ten over league average. For the record, I'd say Bob also has "consistency" issues and also has defensive liabilities.

I'd just like to see Mason trend more towards Lundqvist than Bobrovsky, especially when looking at more than just 8-10 games...