By JIMMY D / Rookie Mason stones shooters in Columbus | Jimmy's archive

Remember Jimmy’s Remembrance Day column when he advised NHL poolies to scoop up a rookie keeper named Steve Mason?

It was the same one where Jimmy predicted Kevin Weekes would bomb his latest chance to be a No. 1 keeper in New Jersey and that Scott Clemmenson could be worthy of your waiver-wire attention.

Sheesh and not a single email gushing praise, ‘Thanks Jimmy for that sage advice, I’m doing great in my NHL fantasy league in the goalie categories! You’re a pal!’
Mason, the third-rounder-turned-Columbus-Blue-Jacket-starter leads the early Calder Trophy race, just as he leads the league in GAA (1.81), save percentage (.933) and shutouts (tied with Roberto Luongo with five).

He ripped off three straight shutouts last week for good measure, while Clemmenson moved to 15-6-1 overall with another hot streak in Jersey.
Hockey poolies looking for the next great goalie probably haven’t been thrilled by the displays at the World Junior Hockey Championships.

Neither Canadian keepers Chet Pickard and Dustin Tokarski nor Swede Jacob Markstrom had impressed up until Monday’s gold-medal game.

The best of a surprisingly mediocre bunch has been Slovak Jaroslav Janus, who stoned the Americans with 44 saves in the quarter-final upset.

WJC good, bad and pretty

Good – John Tavares and Yankee Jordan Schroeder were first and third in scoring heading into the final, a rare feat for draft-eligible 17-year-olds to lead the tournament. Tavares is going to be hard to knock out of the No. 1 spot after his clutch performances here.

Erik Karlsson – A rare Swedish dwarf (hello Mats Naslund) who looks like he’ll be a consistent NHLer in a few years. Barely 160 pounds soaking wet, the Senator draft pick (15th overall last year), he has led Sweden in scoring at the WJC ahead of highly touted non-dwarf, 6-foot-7 Victor Hedman.

Bad – Thomas Hickey and the rest of the Canadian defencemen, sloppy, inconsistent. In a year when three 18-year-old defencemen stuck in the NHL, small wonder Hickey didn’t last long in the LA King camp. Dude needs some work.

Team Finland – The Finns were rumoured to be weak, but zero wins and getting dumped to the relegation round was a surprise.

Team Kazakhstan – C’mon, 2 goals for and 46 against? Can Antropov and Nabokov play next year?

Pretty – Nikita Filatov. Jimmy feels all sexually conflicted when the Columbus prospect is on the screen, because he’s prettier than most bombshell Eastern European tennis chicks. Nobody should be surprised if this dude actually turns out to be the first woman to play in the NHL.

Watching that backhand squirt through the slot right onto Jordan Eberle stick with five seconds left in the semi-final against Russia. Pretty lucky, pretty goal, pretty close call.

Ghost of Rocket

In 2003-2004, Rick Nash and Jarome Iginla led the league with 41 goals. It was hardly a fitting number as the NHL chose to honour its goal leader with the new Rocket Richard Trophy.

Fast forward four seasons (yes Bob, I know it’s five years, but one was the lockout remember?) and Alexander Ovechkin could reach that mark by the all-star break. The Russian tank with the league’s most-feared gun has 27 after 38 games. OK, so he’d need four straight hattricks to do it, but who is more apt to accomplish that?

Expect him to easily surpass the 65 of last year. He is joined in the upper echelon of goal scorers by Thomas Vanek and Jeff Carter, neither of whom will break 50. Phil Kessel in Boston is another Jimmy choice to crack the 50 mark first breached by the great Richard.

jpoole@herald.ca