An Interesting Take On Steve Mason

[Howie58]

Greetings:

 

I wanted to post this given other threads related to needs for the coming year and the possibility of trading one of our current duo for a draft pick or "other."  

 

This is a statistical analysis that compares Mason's career numbers to others of similar "shape" (i.e., length) and form.

http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/m/masonst01.html

 

One could argue that being in the same "mention" as Chris Osgood is a good thing, but Chis Osgood had a helluva supporting case in the Paris of the Midwest.  The other goalies in this assessment strike me as B+/A- types.  I vaguely remember Rogie Vachon as a superb goalie who played for utterly mediocre teams in LA.  Ditto for Mike Dunham in early Nashville years.  Barrasso was probably someone who was supported by the cast in Pitt.

 

But all in--the corpus of Mason's work doesn't seem to put him in elite or near-elite standing.  Again--supporting cast has to be factored.  But this has some value in my mind.  

 

A question that will always come up looking at these numbers is whether Columbus showed too much patience...or if it was just hurtful to be there?  It's weird to see this absolutely stellar rookie year followed up by sub-standard years....then a return to form but some ups and downs in save percentage.  His overall GAA is not that hot.  And his save percentage "oscillation" may reflect streaky play within and between seasons.  

 

The bottom line:  He has been better than most in recent Flyers history.  But I don't think he rates the 5-6 million he might be asking for contract extension.

 

Howie

 

[fishbulb]

I've gone back and forth on Steve a few times... He def. has high end talent.  He's athletic and is a battler.

 

I simply think he's not "mentally tough" enough to put that high end talent to it's best use however.  

 

I'm not in a hurry to run him out of town, but I don't consider him "the future" of goaltending in Philly.

[Howie58]

1 hour ago, fishbulb said:

I've gone back and forth on Steve a few times... He def. has high end talent.  He's athletic and is a battler.

 

I simply think he's not "mentally tough" enough to put that high end talent to it's best use however.  

 

I'm not in a hurry to run him out of town, but I don't consider him "the future" of goaltending in Philly.

Fishbulb:

 

I think you sized things up pretty well.  That's why I think his days here are numbered, even if he has a good '16-'17.  

Howie

[OccamsRazor]

3 hours ago, fishbulb said:

I've gone back and forth on Steve a few times... He def. has high end talent.  He's athletic and is a battler.

 

I simply think he's not "mentally tough" enough to put that high end talent to it's best use however.  

 

I'm not in a hurry to run him out of town, but I don't consider him "the future" of goaltending in Philly.

 

 

Good point and Neuvy i think is mentally tough and really good at putting bad goals behind him. His biggest knock is just his health....how long before he is hurt and how ling will he be out when he does go down.

 

So with all that acknowledged i still don't know which way they'll lean.

 

Next season maybe right up till the deadline there will be some clarity to the situation...the loser could be dealt....the winner extended...

 

...eitherway the Flyers should get some good goaltending next year.

 

Stolarz and Lyons will be the wild cards in this all.

[icehole]

I don't know about mason.  Nothing about him thrills me but he's been somewhat steady.  I think he relies more on positioning than athleticism which can hurt him sometimes.  That type of goalie tends to lose in a shootout.

 

Neuvirth is my choice over mason but he's not perfect either.  I think he can react quicker though and can pick up a few more points in shootouts over the season.

 

Put a better team in front of either one of them though and it becomes a different story.  Emery went 17-1 with Chicago before come to the flyers.  

[King Knut]

19 hours ago, Howie58 said:

Greetings:

 

I wanted to post this given other threads related to needs for the coming year and the possibility of trading one of our current duo for a draft pick or "other."  

 

This is a statistical analysis that compares Mason's career numbers to others of similar "shape" (i.e., length) and form.

http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/m/masonst01.html

 

One could argue that being in the same "mention" as Chris Osgood is a good thing, but Chis Osgood had a helluva supporting case in the Paris of the Midwest.  The other goalies in this assessment strike me as B+/A- types.  I vaguely remember Rogie Vachon as a superb goalie who played for utterly mediocre teams in LA.  Ditto for Mike Dunham in early Nashville years.  Barrasso was probably someone who was supported by the cast in Pitt.

 

But all in--the corpus of Mason's work doesn't seem to put him in elite or near-elite standing.  Again--supporting cast has to be factored.  But this has some value in my mind.  

 

A question that will always come up looking at these numbers is whether Columbus showed too much patience...or if it was just hurtful to be there?  It's weird to see this absolutely stellar rookie year followed up by sub-standard years....then a return to form but some ups and downs in save percentage.  His overall GAA is not that hot.  And his save percentage "oscillation" may reflect streaky play within and between seasons.  

 

The bottom line:  He has been better than most in recent Flyers history.  But I don't think he rates the 5-6 million he might be asking for contract extension.

 

Howie

 

 

My only conerns about Mason is his durability.

 

The intensity and the schedule of the stretch run and making the playoffs clearly damaged the team on the whole but mason especially.  Any goalie should have had a rest somewhere in there before the playoffs and that's NOT what I'm concerned about. 

 

His history of injuries isn't catastrophic, but it's recurring.  and for a goaltender issues about knees especially don't tend to get better over time.  

 

I want him to be our guy for 5 or 6 more years, but I just don't think he'll be able to hold it together.