The Five Greatest Single Seasons by a CBJ Goaltender
There have been some great performances by Blue Jacket goaltenders throughout their history in the NHL. It’s the one position where they have somewhat consistently had good talent, and even in one case – dare we say it – a potential future Hall of Famer. Our Friday Feature this week takes a look at five goaltending seasons that stand out in CBJ History.
Before we dive into the list, there is one impressive year that I have to point out as an honorable mention. The original Blue Jacket expansion team started from the net out, something that original GM Doug MacLean stood firm on. They entered their inaugural season with two good netminders: Ron Tugnutt (more on him later); and an upstart youngster named Marc Denis.
The excitement in landing a player like Denis was certainly merited. He was picked in the first round just five years prior (#25 overall, 1995) by the Colorado Avalanche. He’d spent the last few seasons under the tutelage of Patrick Roy, considered by some to be the greatest goaltender to ever play the game. He was still years away from getting his chance to be the starter in Colorado – but in Columbus, he immediately became the heir apparent in goal.
By the time the 2002-03 season rolled around, he was clearly positioned as the team’s starter. In fact, he was so valuable to the team, that he played 77 games that season – tied for third most in NHL history – and stopped 2,172 shots (9th most all-time). While his save percentage (.903%) and goals against average (3.09) aren’t ideal, I think it’s more than fair to say that these numbers were a reflection of the team constructed in front of him.
The Jackets had a mostly forgettable season that year aside from the play of Denis and a young rookie named Rick Nash. But, the fact that Denis played in so many games and kept his save percentage above 90%, makes me wonder how good he might have been if he’d still been a member of that terrific Colorado team from the same year. Even though we can’t write this down as an all-time season by a Blue Jacket goaltender, it was an impressive set of statistics that we had to point out.
With the well-deserved Marc Denis talk aside, let’s take a look at our list. And since we’re talking about goaltenders, and early Blue Jacket teams, we have a natural transition into the first season we want to highlight.
The first season in Blue Jacket history was memorable for a variety of reasons. Obviously, things like first goal in franchise history, or first win, or first home win all stand out. But, that season also brought us the first face of the franchise: goaltender Ron Tugnutt.
#5: Ron Tugnutt’s Expansion (Presidential?) Campaign
By the time “Tugger” was selected by the Blue Jackets at the expansion draft, he had already played for six different NHL teams over the previous twelve seasons. At every stop along the way, he was a beloved, charismatic guy who never really seemed to get a chance to shine as a starter. Call him an underdog. When he arrived in Columbus, he went from underdog to day one starter. The hope and promise of a brand new expansion team was laid upon his shoulders, and all he did was embrace the challenge – and steal the whole show.
If you look back at that original Columbus roster, you’ll see a team that had no business being as good as they were. But by the time the season was over, the team had a respectable record of 28-39-6 (with 9 ties); finishing their first year with 71 points. They were led offensively by two guys who would have probably been better suited on a second or even third line (Geoff Sanderson and Espen Knutsen).
At the end of the season, the third leading scorers on the roster were Tyler Wright and 25 year old rookie David Vyborny, who scored just 32 points apiece. On defense, they were rolling out castaways such as Jamie Heward, Deron Quint, Petteri Nummelin, and a 32 year old enforcer (and team captain) named Lyle Odelein.
But what filled the seats, aside from the excitement of something new, was Ron Tugnutt. The entire city rallied around him. The beloved underdog took his game to a new level when he got here. The “Tugnutt for President” campaign became something for the marketing team to really work with, bridging the gap between the younger, hip hockey fans of the city; and the older, more conservative fans as well.
By the time it was all said and done, Tugger finished the season with 22 wins, on the back of a sparkling .917% save percentage and 2.44 goals against average. While he was never able to replicate that fantastic first year in Columbus; it was a magical campaign that gave us hope for a bright future with our exciting new team.
Remember when all of the talent left in 2019, and we entered that season with a team that was a shell of its former self? Remember making the playoffs that very same year? I do.
#4: Elvis Has Entered the Building
The 2019-20 NHL season ultimately wound up being shortened due to the COVID pandemic. This led to the league implementing a playoff bubble, played in August of 2020. The playoff bubble gave us the opportunity to see the Jackets win their 5-game qualifying series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, setting us up for a rematch against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the actual playoffs.
We all know the outcome of that series. But, many of us remember those playoffs for fond reasons. Whether it’s Pierre-Luc Dubois absolutely taking over game 3 of that qualifying series, netting a hat trick and pulling the team to victory after a 3-0 deficit. Or Joonas Korpisalo’s heroic 85 save performance in game 1 against Tampa Bay. It was a fun summer of hockey.
That summer of hockey would not have taken place, if not for the play of rookie goaltender Elvis Merzlikins. Coming over from Europe in the spring of 2019, he was able to witness the team’s magical first-round upset of the Lightning first-hand. After Sergei Bobrovsky, Matt Duchene, and Artemi Panarin all left that summer, we turned our hopes towards a younger, less skilled group – which included the much-talked about Merzlikins, who had plenty of success overseas.
His rookie season did not start off ideally. In fact, it’s fair to say that Elvis was downright awful to start his CBJ career; playing in just 11 games (9 starts) that fall, before Joonas Korpisalo went down with injury right around Christmas. Being given the reins seemed to be the spark that Elvis needed to get his game going. After picking up his first win on New Years Eve, he went on to win 12 of his next 14 starts for the team, including 5 shutouts.
Even with the poor start to the year, Elvis played a total of 33 games that season (31 starts); owning a 13-9-8 record, with a .923 save percentage and 2.35 goals against average; along with 5 shutouts. When the league paused for the pandemic, the Jackets were right on the playoff line – a place where they really shouldn’t have been. Without Elvis stepping in and having a red-hot run when the whole world counted us out, that would not have been possible.
Oh, what could have been. When the Blue Jackets drafted Steve Mason in the third round (#69 overall) of the 2006 NHL Draft, not many people saw him going from backup goalie of the London Knights; to NHL Calder Trophy winner. But that’s exactly what happened, and we shouldn’t overlook his great season – even if things were never the same after.
#3: Steve Mason’s Calder Year
Depending on who you ask, Steve Mason was either one of the best Blue Jacket draft picks of all-time – or one of the worst. The latter opinion seems odd to me, because how often does a third round pick become your starting goaltender and lead your team into the playoffs at just 20 years old? I’ll agree that it was all downhill from there, but imagine for just one second: if the team traded him in the summer of 2009, what would his value have been? Picking him in the third round was a major win.
The Jackets entered that season with a lot of question marks, but a lot of those question marks were kicked to the back burner when Mason burst onto the scene in early November, winning each of his first three starts. He got his first shutout in the sixth game of his career, then added another in his eighth. He had a sequence of three consecutive shutouts in late December – part of a stretch where he surrendered just 13 goals in 11 games, winning 7 of those contests.
His ridiculous play helped the team into their first ever playoff berth (also on the back of a then-franchise record 79 points from Rick Nash). Mason would finish his rookie season with a 33-20-7 record, posting a save percentage of .916 and a 2.29 goals against average. He won 121 of the 132 first place votes for the Calder Trophy, absolutely running away as the league’s top rookie.
Better yet, at just 20 years old and on a team that squeaked into the playoffs, he finished second in Vezina Trophy voting for best goaltender. It was a truly remarkable season that came out of nowhere, and one that we should never forget as Jacket fans. The memories of our first ever playoff team were brief (let’s face it, they got trounced by the Detroit Red Wings) – but, without Steve Mason, we wouldn’t have even sniffed the playoffs.
The Blue Jackets have played 41 playoff games in their history, and only four goaltenders have played in those games. Steve Mason has 10% of those starts. Like I said, I’m calling his selection a third round win.