Chris Mason: Nashville's Saviour

I am shocked about the way Chris Mason has been playing. I know it has only been two games, but this man is on fire. I know that he turned most people's heads last season, but now I'm starting to see why they traded away Tomas Vokoun. He started off the season with a shutout against Ryan Smyth and the Avs, then he followed it up with a 5-1 win over Dallas in his second game. He just looks so comfortable in there right now, and he deserves to be recognized. I honestly believe he can make a serious shot at the Vezina Trophy this season if he keeps this up. Mason is entering his prime years, so this type of play may only last for the next couple of years, but he deserves some praise from non-Predators fans. I was looking forward to see how he would play with a Timonen-less Predators lineup in front of him, but so far he is showing no ill effects. Dallas isn't a high powered offence, that's for sure, and Colorado may have just had an off night, so it will be interesting to keep an eye on him in the weeks to come. If nobody has him in you fantasy pool, I highly recommend you pick him up.

I'd also like to take this time to announce a new feature coming to this site in the coming weeks. I attend a lot of hockey games throughout the year, whether it be AHL, Junior A/B, or otherwise, and I will be submitting my "Amateur Scouting Reports" on the goalies that play (since that's what I know). I'll try to focus on players who have their rights drafted by an NHL team (which will be easy for an AHL game), or are entering the upcoming draft. I live in Hamilton, so the Bulldogs are the source of most of my games (I can hear the Habs fans shrieking with joy), and you will see some in depth reports on Halak, Danis, and any other goalie who starts a game for the Dogs, but I'll try to watch the opposing team's goalie more. I may also throw in the odd position player, but what do I know about them, I'm a goalie.

Nashville's Fate Rests on Mason's Shoulders

With the trading away of Tomas Vokoun to Florida, for the first time in his career, Chris Mason has an undisputed starters role. Mason stunned the league last season by posting incredible numbers filling in for Vokoun, and eventually made him dispensable. Mason played almost as many games last year, as he had in his entire career leading up to that season! He played 40 games, and had 44 career at the start of the season. The question this year will be: Can Mason, who has only played 84 games in his career, handle the load of an entire season? He is 31 years-old, and entering his prime, so I see no reason why not. He certainly caught me by surprise last year, I'll admit it. If you told me at the start of last season, that this would be the situation now I would have called you crazy, but here we are. I know I'll be rooting for him to succeed, but he'll be playing behind a much less skilled lineup this season with some key losses this off-season. The back-up this season will be one of Pekka Rinne or Dan Ellis. Both are untested at the NHL level, and have equal opportunities to make the big squad. Rinne was in the Preds' organization last season, playing for Milwaukee of the AHL, and Ellis was with the Stars' organization, playing for Iowa, also of the AHL. A goaltender by the name of Dov Grumet-Morris will be the backup for the AHL team in Milwaukee, so they have their situation pretty much set in Nashville.

Labor Day Ramblings

Oh what a busy week I have had and it shows no signs of slowing down! Hey all, Psy reporting from my laptop up in Niagara Falls, Canada where I am having a few cold ones with friends and family!

Enough about me, to the NHL! Bravo to the Sharks for resigning Marleau. Maybe now we will stop seeing his name everywhere in trade rumors. Joining Bryan Berard in the Islanders training camp will be Gord Dywer, who I personally am not thrilled about being at camp.

The Nashville Predators new ownership deal is coming along nicely. It's good to see that they will be staying down in there. I spent a night down in the area and was able to take in a game last season and enjoyed myself immensely.

More and more uniforms are hitting the scene and I am liking most of what I see. Not a fan of a few jerseys, but all in all, if it's good for the players and helps them perform better, I am all for it.

For now that is it, I seem to be out of Labatt Blue! Enjoy your holiday all, I know I will! Cheers!

Hockey in Hamilton (Again!)

The once hot topic has seemed to cool in the latter months of the summer, but I still need answers. As a proud Hamiltonian hockey fan, I was thrown directly into the middle of this mess when word first broke that Jim Balsillie was about to buy the Nashville Predators. I was probably the happiest guy on earth, I may finally be able to see NHL hockey live, on a regular basis! I've been to a total of 1 Toronto Maple Leafs game in my life, and that was at the old Maple Leaf Gardens when I was five. When I moved out west I was able to go to a couple of Vancouver Canucks games, but I have since moved back to Ontario, and it's back to this crap. I frequently go to Hamilton Bulldog games, and don't get me wrong, those guys can play (especially that Carey Price kid), but there's a reason why they aren't selling tickets. Three simple letters, N-H-L. There is far too much to do in southern Ontario, going to an AHL game ranks pretty low. People have used the Bulldog's attendance figures as a reason why Hamilton would not be able to support an NHL team, but trust me, if it was an NHL team, there would be people coming from all over Ontario to watch the best players in the universe, and there would be sellouts left, right and centre.

Now let me get back on track to the real reason I am writing this blog. Why did the selling of the Nashville Predators to Mr. Balsillie fail? There are rumours of Bettman rearing his ugly head (Sorry Gary), and stopping the transaction, but I'm not sure if I can believe that. Bettman may be the commish, but does he have complete control over what the teams do? The topic has been off the radar for a while now, and people seemed to have forgotten already about this. I wish there was a way Hamilton could get a franchise without having the loyal fans in Nashville lose theirs, but I'm not sure expansion is the right route for the NHL to go (Plus the team will be as good as an AHL team for the first couple of years).

Mr. Balsillie and Mr. Bettman have been pretty tight-lipped about this, maybe in hopes that this will all blow over. I have not given up hope that the NHL will never come to Hamilton, but in the meantime I will still enjoy going t my Calder Cup Champion Hamilton Bulldog games, and I hope that my fellow Hamiltonians will join me, and prove to the world that we can fully support an NHL team to ourselves, and that we have hockey in our blood, because there is no doubt that we are a hockey town.