Steve Mason Steve Mason ( born May 29 , 1988 ) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . He was selected 69th overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Blue Jackets . Playing major junior in the Ontario Hockey League ( OHL ) , he spent three seasons with the London Knights and Kitchener Rangers . In 2007 , he was named OHL Goaltender of the Year . He joined the Blue Jackets in 2008 – 09 and won the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year . Internationally , he won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2008 World Junior Championships while earning tournament MVP and Best Goaltender honours . Playing career . Mason grew up in Oakville , Ontario playing mostly A hockey until his Bantam year when he moved up to the AAA level with the Oakville Rangers of the OMHA ' s South Central AAA League . He was drafted after his minor midget season with Oakville by the OHL ' s London Knights in the 11th round of the 2004 OHL Priority Selection . In 2004 - 05 , he led the Grimsby Peach Kings club to the OHA Jr . C . final in 2004 - 05 and in 2005 - 06 was assigned to the Petrolia Jets Jr . B . club when his playing time was limited with the London Knights . Steve Mason started his junior career in 2005 – 06 with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League ( OHL ) . After playing 12 games in his rookie junior year as a backup , he was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 3rd round , 69th overall , in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft . Mason started the 2007 – 08 NHL season with the Columbus Blue Jackets but was returned to London after being a healthy scratch for Columbus ' first two games of the season . While competing for Team Canada at the 2008 World Junior Championships , he was traded by the London Knights to the Kitchener Rangers on January 4 , 2008 , hours before the semi - final game . Upon returning from the World Junior Championships with a gold medal , Mason was briefly recalled by the Blue Jackets on an emergency basis in February , but did not appear in a game and was quickly returned . Nearing the end of the season back with the Rangers , Mason suffered a knee injury , but with the playoffs approaching , he tried to play through it for several weeks . After defeating the Plymouth Whalers in the first round , Mason was pulled out of the lineup and underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on April 18 , causing him to miss the remainder of the OHL playoffs , as well as the 2008 Memorial Cup . Kitchener won the OHL championship without Mason , but lost 4 - 1 in the Memorial Cup final against the Spokane Chiefs . Approaching his first professional season , Mason underwent an additional knee surgery in September for his injured knee , causing him to miss the first month of play in the American Hockey League ( AHL ) with the Blue Jackets ' minor league affiliate , the Syracuse Crunch . Shortly after recovering and joining the Crunch ' s lineup , Mason was called up by the Blue Jackets on November 4 , 2008 in the absence of injured starter Pascal Leclaire . He made his NHL debut on November 5 , starting against , and defeating , the Edmonton Oilers 5 - 4 . Teammate R . J . Umberger handed Mason the game puck commemorating his first NHL victory . He recorded his first NHL shutout several games later on November 22 , making 15 saves in a 2 – 0 win against the Atlanta Thrashers . Mason continued to start games upon Leclaire ' s return from injury and was named NHL rookie of the month for November after posting a 5 - 2 - 1 record , including 3 straight wins and 2 shutouts . In the midst of shutout streak , having not allowed a goal against the Philadelphia Flyers , Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks , he was named rookie of the month for December . Along with Mason ' s three straight shutouts , he posted a 7 - 5 - 0 record , 1 . 41 GAA and . 950 save percentage for the month . Chosen to play for the rookies at the 2009 NHL YoungStars Game , he opted , however , to skip the competition . It was later revealed on January 30 , 2009 , by Columbus general manager Scott Howson , that Mason had been suffering from mononucleosis for the previous three to four weeks . After three more starts , on February 8 , Mason was put on the injured reserve . He returned to the lineup on February 13 against the Detroit Red Wings , recording a 3 – 2 Columbus victory . Mason finished the season with a 33 - 20 - 7 record , 2 . 29 GAA and . 916 save percentage . He is the winner of the 2009 Calder Memorial Trophy for rookie of the year , Kris Versteeg of the Chicago Blackhawks and Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim Ducks were the other nominees . On April 27 , 2009 , the NHL announced that Mason was nominated for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL ' s top goaltender . He was nominated along with Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins and Niklas Backstrom of the Minnesota Wild . International play . Mason first competed for Team Canada at the under - 20 level in the eight - game 2007 Super Series against Russia . He then led Team Canada to a gold medal at the 2008 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Pardubice , Czech Republic . Prior to the semi - final game against Team USA , Mason was traded within the OHL from the London Knights to the Kitchener Rangers . After defeating Team Sweden 3 – 2 in overtime of the gold medal game , he was named as the player of the game , as he was in the semi - finals . Mason was undefeated in five games with a tournament - best . 951 save percentage and 1 . 19 GAA . He was named to the tournament all - star team , received top goaltender honours , and was named tournament MVP . Following his rookie NHL season , Mason was named to Team Canada ' s summer orientation camp for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver . He was not named to the final roster , but he was reported to have been designated an injury replacement , along with St . Louis Blues goaltender Chris Mason . Awards . Junior NHL International