As you know, the Columbus Blue Jackets have been pretty awful this year and part of that misery has been the brutal play of starting goalie Steve Mason.
Would you believe that Mason’s poor play may have resulted because he was wearing pads that were too small? It’s true according to Shawn Mitchell of The Columbus Dispatch, and Mason’s reasons for not wearing fitting pads are unreal.
“I never knew I could,” Mason said. “If I knew, I would have done it three years ago. I guess I was a little out of the loop on that kind of stuff. But we’ll make it work now.”
Mason says the old pads would leave him with bruises after getting hit with pucks in the ribs so often. Picture that if you will, playing goal with padding too small leaving more gaps in coverage to get hit by pucks being shot at 90-100 miles-per-hour at you. You might be pretty awful in goal too if your job was abusing you that way.
Not surprisingly, Mason’s numbers have improved since switching to the new equipment. Since making the switch he’s gone 7-3-1 and his numbers are more befitting that of a starting NHL goalie. If Mason can close out the season as strong as he’s playing now, it makes you wonder what might’ve been had he been more on top of things from the get go.