What's Happened to Steve Mason?

Just a little over a year ago (373 days to be exact), Steve Mason made his NHL debut and stopped 22 shots in a 5-4 win against the Edmonton Oilers. He would go on to finish the campaign with the second-best goals against average in the NHL, lead the league in shutouts, win the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year, and be nominated as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender.

Through his first 14 starts of the 2009-10 season, things have been very, very different. You can call it whatever you want: a sophomore slump, a plain old slump, Jim Carey syndrome ... it doesn't matter. Bottom line is, he's struggling.

Is it time to panic if you're a Blue Jackets fan in regards to your 21-year-old franchise goaltender? Or is there something much larger going on in Columbus that isn't completely on the shoulders of the man between the pipes?

On Wednesday, Mason hit what had to be rock-bottom for the season when he surrendered eight goals on 27 shots in a 9-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, raising his goals against average to a league-worst 3.67, and dropping his save percentage to .879 (tied with Tampa Bay's Mike Smith, who has made just eight starts, for what is also the worst mark in the league). Before we get too far into this, it's important to keep in mind that Mason is, again, only 21 years old, an age when many goaltenders have yet to make their debut, let alone be relied on to be regular starters.

But how can a player be so dominant one year, and so mind-numbingly awful the next?

If there was one criticism about Mason during his rookie campaign, it was that he was simply a product of Ken Hitchcock's defensive system, to which he responded: "Obviously any goalie is going to benefit from playing in a defensive system. It doesn't mean they couldn't have success in another type of system, but it definitely helps out. I mean, I played on some junior teams that were a lot of offense, but I still handled myself quite well. I'm not complaining about the situation I've been put in with Columbus, it's very goaltender friendly, and if people want to comment and say the success is because of the system, well, they're probably right because any goalie would benefit from playing in a defensive system."

If the system were the biggest contributor to his success, a coaching change could be a plausible answer for the current problems. But Ken Hitchcock is still the man behind the bench. Even so, there appears to be something different going on in Central Ohio.

Let's compare some raw numbers for Mason in his first 14 starts this year, compared to his first 14 starts a year ago:

Steve Mason: The Numbers Through 14 Starts Year Shots Shots per game Saves Save % 2008-09 363 25.9 335 .922 2009-10 412 29.4 362 .879

Not only is he giving up more goals, he's also facing about four more shots per game.

Next, let's take a look at where he's giving up goals from. The red Xs on the chart below represent the goals Mason has given up this season. The blue plus-signs are goals he gave up through his first 14 starts a season ago.


It appears as if the biggest difference this season is the number of goals that are coming from that soft spot between the face-off dots: the area every team in the NHL wants to get shots from.

If I had to wager a guess as to what's going on in Columbus this year, I'd say it's a combination of Mason regressing a bit, and the Blue Jackets not playing as tight defensively and allowing the opposition to get higher quality shots on goal.

We know they're giving up more shots, but it also appears they're giving up better shots.