The Columbus Blue Jackets have 1 day until opening night at Nationwide Arena.
Let’s take a look at who wore 1 and where they are now.
Jean-François Labbé – 2002 – Undrafted out of
Sherbrooke, Quebec.
Jean-François Labbé played in 14 games with the Blue Jackets over the course of two seasons. He went 3-5 with an .890 SV%. He spent the bulk of his time playing in the AHL for the Syracuse Crunch.
He left North America in 2003 for Russia. He then played in Germany and Poland before returning to Canada in 2009. After playing a season for Sherbrooke Saint-François in the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey, he would retire.
Labbé was primarily an AHL goalie, playing in a total of 261 games. He had a record of 131-97-25 and had 13 shutouts. He has won numerous awards in the AHL, including Best Goaltender and Most Valuable Player. For his efforts, Labbé was inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame in 2016.
After retiring, he moved into coaching, where he was either a head coach or a goaltending coach at different stops.
Tomáš Pöpperle – 2007 – Drafted by Columbus in 2005.
Pöpperle played two games for Columbus in 06-07, which were the only two NHL games of his career, both of which were in relief. His SV% was .929% and he had a GAA of 1.35.
He played 66 AHL games for the Syracuse Crunch before returning to Europe. He last played in 23-24 in Germany’s second tier.
Steve Mason – 2009-2013 – Drafted by Columbus in 2006.
Mason won 96 games for Columbus in his career. His win total is second to only Sergei Bobrovsky. His 19 shutouts are also second, while he played 13,138:02 of TOI, which is third. His GAA is fourth in team history, while his save % is fifth.
After he was traded to Philadelphia, he played four years for the Flyers before spending a season with the Winnipeg organization. After suffering two concussions and a serious knee injury, Mason wouldn’t play again and would retire.
Mason started his career with a bang, winning the 08-09 Calder Trophy and being named to the NHL’s all-rookie team. He was also named an NHL all-star during his rookie year, to go along with his NHL second-team honors.
Mason was traded to the Flyers on April 3, 2013, in exchange for
goaltender Michael Leighton and a 2015 third-round draft pick. In Philly, he would finish with a record of 104-78-36.
Mason, while playing for Canada at the U20 World Junior Championships, went 5-0 with a SV% of .951 and won tournament MVP, best goaltender, and was an all-star.
Oh, what could have been.
There is one day left until opening day at Nationwide Arena.
The Jackets go into the home opener having split their first two games on the road against Nashville and Minnesota. Kirill Marchenko and Elvis Merzļikins were the stars for Columbus on Saturday night to beat the Wild in what felt like a must-win, just two days into the season.
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