Sunday, Sep. 20, 2009

Blues hope Mason can build on success from last season

Team's fortunes turned around when he took over in net

ST. LOUIS -- When the St. Louis Blues turned their 2008-09 season around, the man driving the bus was goaltender Chris Mason.

Mason's 3-13-1 start became a distant memory as he embarked on one of the hottest stretches of his career and dragged the Blues along with him.

In his final 38 games -- including the final 33 as the starter -- Mason turned in a 24-8-6 mark with five shutouts, a 2.08 goals-against average and .939 save percentage.

When asked about that success, the 33-year-old from Red Deer, Alberta spread the credit among the entire team. In typical fashion, he chose not to focus on his own red-hot goaltending.

"We all got along, we all bought into the coaching staff's plan," said Mason, who made a career-high 58 starts and finished 27-21-7 with six shutouts and a 2.41 goals-against average. "We stuck to the plan and played for each other. It's one of those things that you can't really explain, it just happens. The way it progressed last year was all I could have asked for."

The Blues basically removed former NHL all-star Manny Legace from their goaltending equation and left the job in the hands of Mason.

Legace was placed on waivers Feb. 6 and eventually farmed out to minor-league Peoria.

To that point, Mason had struggled in his first season in St. Louis since coming over from the Nashville Predators. He battled through an emergency appendectomy and the Blues scored two goals or fewer 10 times during his 3-13-1 start.

"A lot of factors went into the decision," said Blues assistant coach Rick Wamsley, a former NHL goalie with the Blues and several other teams. "What made it interesting was the guy that was taking Manny's job was 3-13-1. (Mason) didn't get off to a great start and then he got sick with the appendicitis. Then, quite frankly, we had to play him too soon because Manny got hurt."

Once the change was made, the results were dramatically different. Mason grabbed the starting job and ran with it, turning in highlight-reel saves and shutting off the switch on soft goals.

Perhaps just as importantly, he earned the faith of his teammates. In February, he allowed one goal or less in eight of his 13 appearances.

Why the turnaround?

"It's kind of a chicken-and-egg thing," Wamsley said. "I don't think they really believed in him until he started coming up with game-saving stops and being the guy. But that was a short period of time and when that started happening, he took off."

The Blues were knocked out of the playoffs in four straight by Vancouver, but still earned high marks around the league for their late-season run and talented young squad.

Mason's performance was a big factor.

"I think we have something we can look back on and be proud of," Mason said. "At the same time, I think we put ourselves on the map for this year and teams are going to be ready for us.

"Obviously we didn't like the way it ended, but everybody feels great about our team now."

The last time Mason had a shot at nailing down a starting goalie job in 2007-08, he slumped in Nashville and eventually lost his job to Dan Ellis.

Mason finished with an 18-22-6 mark for the Predators and was picked by the Blues in a trade the following summer.

"I think he's learned from that situation," Wamsley said. "You learn a lot of lessons before you become a No. 1 goalie in this league and -- you don't really know it until you do."

Mason was the Blues' "Plan B" last year and this season it's former Detroit Red Wings goalie Ty Conklin. Conklin played well for the Wings last season when starter Chris Osgood was slumping and wound up playing in a career-high 40 games.

Conklin was 25-11 with six shutouts and a 2.51 goals-against average, but he also had the benefit of playing behind perennial Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom and an outstanding Detroit defense.

Now he and Mason are the last line of defense for the Blues.

"Last year we saw a bunch of guys come into their own and get their first chance at the NHL level," Mason said. "When you come together as group like that, you just can't wait for that next experience."