JR the person>JR the player>>>>>>>JR the analyst

Fair point and interesting topic. As most things it's probably a combination of team d and goalie and how they work together that make for a good match.

A relevant question for everyone including Bill: where would you rank Mason right now in the league?

Example:
1. Henrik
2. Quick
3. Price
4. Pikka
5. Smith
6. Rask
7. Crawford
8. Bob
9. Mason
- coffee junkie

Bob and Crawford do not deserve to be on this list. Bob won the vezina in a shortened season, his numbers came back down to earth last season and his playoff performance was abysmal. Crawfords success is based on the Hawks D in front of him he is not a top 10 goalie. My top 10 would be:

1) Lundquvist
2) Rask
3) Price
4) Bishop
5) Miller
6) Lehtonen
7) Luongo
8) Smith
9) Fleury
10) Varlamov

Not sure why people care about a has-been, who is trying to keep his income going by being controversial.

As is the way with most media these days anyway.

That wrinkly testicle sack can go suck some poop.

So is subban. Much better player than either even before this past season. What's he 2.8?
- Just5

The contracts and players aren't apples-to-apples comparisons, because of types of free agents they are and how close they are to UFA.

Bob and Crawford do not deserve to be on this list. Bob won the vezina in a shortened season, his numbers came back down to earth last season and his playoff performance was abysmal. Crawfords success is based on the Hawks D in front of him he is not a top 10 goalie. My top 10 would be:

9) Fleury
10) Varlamov
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

I'd actually have Varlamov in my top 5. Has blossomed into a really strong goaltender, and was a huge reason the Avs did well last year.

Bill Meltzer: Meltzer's Musings: Mason, Roenick, Quick Hits
- bmeltzer

JR's faulty opinion on the flyers current goaltending is about as relevant as paul stewart's crybaby blog about lindros resurfacing the other day.

i like jr too, but he should shut the (frank) up and go play golf in arizona.

Bump
- wilsonecho91

they're basically wearing goalie masks without air holes. gnarly motherfckers.

Fair point and interesting topic. As most things it's probably a combination of team d and goalie and how they work together that make for a good match.

A relevant question for everyone including Bill: where would you rank Mason right now in the league?

Example:
1. Henrik
2. Quick
3. Price
4. Pikka
5. Smith
6. Rask
7. Crawford
8. Bob
9. Mason
- coffee junkie

mason is ahead of crawford and smith without question, imho. he's as good as bob, and rinne. i'd have quick and rask at the top with csp and price below them. and really, he's capable of matching anyone of these goalies in a playoff series. out of that list, crawford and quick are the only ones with cups, and quick is the only that deserves them.

When Tampa was in the playoffs, and Bishop was hurt, they got swept. Bishop's pretty good.
- Jsaquella

he's the only "giant" goalie in the nhl that i like.

he's the only "giant" goalie in the nhl that i like.
- hammarby31

No love for Rinne?

take JR's comments with a grain of salt......Mason will have every opportunity to prove hime wrong.

Osgood, Bill Ranford....the list of non-upper echelon goalies who won cups as starters is HUGE
- Pyzik

osgood was better than his reputation of being an average goalie. he's got over 400 wins, some cups..that doesn't happen if you're average and being saved by your team over the length of career he had. he dragged the isles to the playoffs. he was solid wherever he went. upper echelon? i suppose not..but he was just never a sexy name. it's a bit unfair.

Osgood, Bill Ranford....the list of non-upper echelon goalies who won cups as starters is HUGE
- Pyzik

osgood was better than his reputation of being an average goalie. he's got over 400 wins, some cups..that doesn't happen if you're average and being saved by your team over the length of career he had. he dragged the isles to the playoffs. he was solid wherever he went. upper echelon? i suppose not..but he was just never a sexy name. it's a bit unfair.

they're basically wearing goalie masks without air holes. gnarly motherfckers.
- hammarby31

is that Mike Liut?

Grant Fuhr disagrees.
- Streit2ThePoint

i hate full-right goalies in general, but fuhr was a blast to watch...a great athlete. mason is a very, very good goalie. he's capable of winning a cup. i can live with that.

is that Mike Liut?
- KINGKENZO

yeah. he was moonlighting as an actor. hockey just didn't pay that much back in the early 80s.

osgood was better than his reputation of being an average goalie. he's got over 400 wins, some cups..that doesn't happen if you're average and being saved by your team over the length of career he had. he dragged the isles to the playoffs. he was solid wherever he went. upper echelon? i suppose not..but he was just never a sexy name. it's a bit unfair.
- hammarby31

I heard an argument on the radio the other day on whether Osgood was a Hall of Fame goalie. They both agreed in the end he wasn't but there's was a pretty good argument made for the case that he could be. It surprised me really in that I hadn't given it a thought.

I actually think Bernier is better then Mason. Bernier just doesn't have a defense in front of him. I also believe Cory Schneider who's not even on the list is better than Mason. Ryan Miller and Roberto Luongo are also better than Mason even at this stage of their careers.

While I do believe Mason is better then Crawford because Crawford benefits from a great team in front of him, I wouldn't say Mason is top ten right now. Not yet that is.
- SuperSchennBros

i disagree about bernier, miller, and luongo. schneider might be better, but not by much. he really doesn't have much of a track record yet to show that.

I heard an argument on the radio the other day on whether Osgood was a Hall of Fame goalie. They both agreed in the end he wasn't but there's was a pretty good argument made for the case that he could be. It surprised me really in that I hadn't given it a thought.
- mayorofangrytown

I feel that he's kind of overshadowed by the more popular goalies of that era, Brodeur, Belfour, Roy, CuJo, Hasek.

Good question.

I played goal in dek and roller (what happened to the Family Fun Spot?). I do all of my fine motor skills left-handed (write, eat, etc.) but am extremely right-handed with major motor skills. I found it much easier to control the stick as a right-handed shot than as a left-handed shot. Consequently, I caught with my throwing hand.

Also, on the Lindbergh/Hextall flip flop, had Lindbergh not injured his knee and the team had stretched the Oilers series further, his play-ff run would have been as good as Hextall's. Lindbergh put the Islander series out of reach when he had a 20+ save 2nd period in game 3 at the Mausoleum. He finished them off with a 1-0 shutout at home (I was at that game).

Also, everyone remembers Poulin's 2-man short-handed goal, but remember the final of that game was 3-0.

Lindbergh had 3 SO's and a .914 SV% and Hextall had 2 SO's and a .908 SV%.
- GeorgeBailey

lindbergh was stellar in the 85 run, and i agree about your point regarding his knee injury. on top of that, the flyers had a ton of injuries elsewhere. iirc, the flyers lost games 2-4 by one goal each, one of them in OT...the only blowout was game 5, 8-3, with froese in net. the oilers also had the benefit of the series being a 2-3-2 split, and didn't have to travel back to philly for game 5. i remember that 2nd period of 23 saves against the isles, and his 1-0 shutout to blank them for the series win. incredible goaltending.

Quick wasn't really a star before that first Cup... he was more known as a guy who would let in the back-breaking softy.

Thomas, Giguere and Khabibulin were definitely established stars.

Fleury and Ward were top-flight kids -- both had stellar reputations from junior.

Niemi, Crawford and Osgood I'll give you.
- Tomahawk

quick started in the echl. the kings had others in the system pegged ahead of him. he clawed his way up, and took a lot of heat for 2 straight playoffs of perceived subpar goaltending, while still being a kid.

ward still wasn't a starter. was a rookie in gerber's shadow and dragged them to that cup.

the other guys can go jump in the river. neimi, crawford and fluery. makes me (frank)ing sick.

Is that where that picture is from?

That one thing on the right looks like a sleestak.
- johndewar

yep. terrific film.

it has winged arms and literally sucks the body out of its prey leaving nothing but bones and a bit of goo.

mason is ahead of crawford and smith without question, imho. he's as good as bob, and rinne. i'd have quick and rask at the top with csp and price below them. and really, he's capable of matching anyone of these goalies in a playoff series. out of that list, crawford and quick are the only ones with cups, and quick is the only that deserves them.
- hammarby31

imho? Are not all your opinions honest?

imho? Are not all your opinions honest?
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

imho = in my humble opinion.

I heard an argument on the radio the other day on whether Osgood was a Hall of Fame goalie. They both agreed in the end he wasn't but there's was a pretty good argument made for the case that he could be. It surprised me really in that I hadn't given it a thought.
- mayorofangrytown

he's a hall of famer.