The 2009 Calder Trophy was awarded to Columbus Blue Jacket goaltender, Steve Mason, and I am thrilled!  The rookie recorded 10 shutouts and helped lead his team to the playoffs for the first time. 

The young netminder, who beat out Bobby Ryan (Anaheim Ducks) and Chris Versteeg (Chicago Blackhawks), had an incredible year despite suffering from mononucleosis. 

I don’t know if I ever agreed with him playing while he was so sick but I am glad that his efforts have been recognized. He definitely deserved this award after the year he had even though he kind of fell apart during the postseason.

The Detroit Red Wings completed their sweep of the series against the Columbus Blue Jackets last night.  The Jackets did try to stave off elimination but it was just too little too late.

The teams scored and answered each others goals and you could tell that the players really made an effort to take more shots but the goaltenders also struggled.  Shockingly, the teams were tied 5-5 late in the third when the worst possible thing happened.  The Blue Jackets incurred a penalty for having too many men on the ice and with 47 seconds left in the game, Johan Franzen scored the game-winning goal.  The worst part about it was that goalie, Steve Mason, was partially impaired by his fellow teammate, Mike Commodore, who had fallen into the crease.  It was just a nasty goal and an even nastier way to be eliminated from the playoffs. 

The reigning Stanley Cup champions are the second team in the Western Conference to advance to the next round (along with the Vancouver Canucks).

image: TSN

This was the first year that the Columbus Blue Jackets have ever made the playoffs and it looks like it’s going to be a short-lived run for the Cup.  Unless something miraculous happens, they are about to be swept by the Detroit Red Wings who won their third straight game in the series last night and need just one more win to eliminate the Blue Jackets.

image: TSN

It’s sad because it was the first time a playoff game was played at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio and it was catastrophic.  There, in front of the franchise-record crowd of 19,219 fans, the Blue Jackets crashed and burned, losing 4-1.

The Wings’ 4-1 victory was largely powered by Henrik Zetterberg last night who scored two goals who had the audacity to say the following:  “It was an exciting game for the first playoff game in this building,” said Zetterberg, whose empty-netter gave him 30 goals and 25 assists in his 64 playoff appearances. The fans were excited. We tried to defeat that, too.”

Exciting for who?  Certainly not the Blue Jackets or their fans.  I’m sure it started out that way but I’m sure the mood changed somewhere around the second period when the third goal was scored against them.  I’m seriously stunned about the performance of goalie, Steve Mason, though.  I know he’s just a kid (a rookie) and he’s been battling mono but he had been stellar all season.  What happened?

The Columbus Blue Jackets fell again to the Detroit Red Wings during Game 2 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals last night. 

Despite the unfavorable outcome of the first game in the series, I really was stunned that the Blue Jackets were not only shut out but lost 4-0 to the Wings.  It’s like Steve Mason has completely fallen apart between the pipes in the postseason but, then again, I felt like the team pushed the rookie goaltender too hard during the regular season.  Star player, Rick Nash, is also underperforming so, unless things change, the Blue Jackets will be making an early exit.

Watch the highlights from last night’s game:

The battle (or non-battle) between the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets last night really shocked me. I thought this was going to be a lot closer than it was but their first game in the series ended with a 4-1 victory for Detroit. What the heck happened? The game started out so well. There was no scoring in the first period and then things just got crazy in the second with Detroit scoring three times (Jiri Hudler, Jonathan Ericsson and Niklas Kronwall) and Columbus answering just once (R.J. Umberger). In the third, Detroit added one more goal to the tally (Johan Franzen) and the game was officially over.

image: TSN

I can’t believe the Blue Jackets went down like that and you really can’t blame goaltender Steve Mason, who faced 13 more shots on goal than Chris Osgood which is really unacceptable in a playoffs game.  You can’t get outshot by that wide of a margin.

image: TSN

The 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs will begin next week and, with the remaining spots taken last night by the Anaheim Ducks and the St. Louis Blues, the NHL has announced the final matchups for the first round.

image: Newscom

In the Western Conference the following teams will square off:

• San Jose Sharks vs. St. Louis Blues
• Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks
• Vancouver Canucks vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
• Chicago Blackhawks vs. Calgary Flames

Those are some interesting matchups. I predict that the Sharks will take out the Blues and the Wings will pick off the Ducks but I am not sure what will happen with the others. Vancouver is red hot right now but Columbus is also doing well. The thing that is going to make this pairing sizzle, though, is the battle between goaltenders, Roberto Luongo (Canucks) and rookie Steve Mason (Blue Jackets). I can’t stand Vancouver (although, I have to admit that they’ve been amazing) so I want them to lose the series but I will be watching these games whenever I can just to see whether Luongo or Mason will come out on top. The Chicago vs. Calgary games could go either way since both teams have been patchy throughout the season and Calgary has been really struggling since acquiring Olli Jokinen at the trade deadline. They had been doing so well so it’s anyone’s guess whether they will be able to shake off whatever is bothering them in order to get more effective on the ice…

image: Newscom

In the Eastern Conference, you will find the following matchups:

• Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens
• Washington Capitals vs. NY Rangers
• New Jersey Devils vs. Carolina Hurricanes
• Philadelphia Flyers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins/li>

I can’t even believe that Boston is going to battle Montreal in the first round.  Both were part of the original six teams that made up the NHL and they are long-time rivals.  The fans are going to go crazy and I wish I could head back east and watch a Montreal game with my family.  I don’t know who will win the Caps vs. Rangers series but, if it comes down to it, I think that Alexander Ovechkin is going to do all that he can to stay in the game.  After the season that goaltender, Martin Brodeur, has had, I’m hoping the New Jersey Devils will beat out the Carolina Hurricanes but I don’t think it’s obvious enough to make a prediction.  Also, although it may not be as rooted in history as the Montreal/Boston series, it’s going to be intense when the Flyers take on the Penguins.  It’s going to be one long “Battle of Pennsylvania” for the fans and I am hoping the Pens skate away with a strong victory. I know that Sidney Crosby and Evgeny Malkin are going to want that second chance after narrowly losing the Stanley Cup finals last year.

I’d love to hear what you think!  Which matchups are you most looking forward to and who do you think will move on?

The teams who will compete in the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs have been decided and I’m extremely excited!  There are a few surprises (Montreal just squeaking in) and things that I’m truly happy about (Chicago, Columbus and St. Louis making the cut) but aside from that, it’s pretty much what most of us could have predicted a couple months ago.  I am disappointed, though, that Dallas wasn’t able to pull it together this season to push past their problems and get to the postseason.  Maybe next year…

Here are a list of the teams that made it:

Who do you think will take home Lord Stanley?  I think that the two teams leading each conference (Boston and San Jose) are going to be tough to beat so I wouldn’t be surprised if either of them won the finals (I think Boston might be a little more likely).  Still, the playoffs can be so unpredictable so it’s hard to tell…

image: NBCUMV

It was an amazing night for the Columbus Blue Jackets who made the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in franchise history after a 4-3 SO win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

image: TSN.ca

It has been almost nine years since the Blue Jackets were added to the NHL and I’m sure this victory was sweet since they were the only active team to have never qualified for the postseason.  They only needed one point to secure the playoff spot.  “To get that one point was huge, to come back after being down 2-0,” Rick Nash said. “To get the win was even more important. We’re going to try to win these last two games to keep our position in the standings. I don’t know if it’s quite sunk in yet. We’re so used to playing out the season.”

There are only four playoff berths remaining but the Blackhawks also need a single point to make it to the postseason for the first time since 2002 (and only its second in 11 seasons).

I’m glad the Calgary Flames traded Kristian Huselius to them because he really had lost his game and it seems like he’s back to playing the way that he should.  Of course, rookie goaltender, Steve Mason, is making a huge impact despite suffering for a while with mononucleosis.  Will he lead this team to the finals in his first year in the NHL the way Cam Ward did for the Carolina Hurricanes?  I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

What the heck is going on?!  The Calgary Flames, who are narrowly (and I mean narrowly) holding on to their lead in the Northwest Division have dropped two games in a row – first to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night (2-0) and then to the Columbus Blue Jackets (5-0) last night.  I can’t believe they are so close to winning the division and clenching a playoff spot yet they have managed to be held scoreless for 60 whole minutes.  That’s embarrassing!  Is Iron Mike losing his touch?

image: TSN.ca

Anyway, the big news of the night is that Columbus goaltender, Steve Mason, stopped all 33 shots he faced and set a franchise record for shutouts.  The rookie who has been battling mono has 10 shutouts this season.  “We have a pretty good idea that if we’re in the playoffs this is a team we could be playing, so we wanted to have a good effort. We definitely came forward with it, that’s for sure,” Mason said.

I’m not going to lie – I’m thrilled that the Columbus Blue Jackets have put goaltender, Steve Mason, on the injured reserve list.  As I reported earlier this week, the kid has mononucleosis and their position on it was that they were going to keep playing him unless he took a turn for the worst.

Last night, he sat out of the game against the San Jose Sharks due to illness (as did the backup goalie, Wade Dubielewicz).  I honestly hope that Mason rests up and gets back into the lineup soon but not before he’s healthy.  They didn’t say what was wrong with Wade but I seriously hope that mono isn’t spreading through the Blue Jackets…

image: TSN