Week 7 Power Rankings: All about Mase

TSN.ca
Rank: 22 (-6)
After Pascal Leclaire surrendered seven goals on 19 shots against the Oilers last week, the door opened a little wider for rookie Steve Mason (4-1-1, 2.28 GAA, .913 SVPCT), who has been Columbus' best goalie this season, and he then stopped a grand total of 15 shots to blank the Thrashers.

Yahoo.com
Rank: 20 (+1)
There are some missing pieces – a bona fide, experienced No. 1 center and a quarterback on the blue line – but the Blue Jackets are getting a look at what Steve Mason can do between the pipes, and that could help cover for some deficiencies.

CBSSports.com
Rank: 20 (-3)
Rookie Steve Mason has not looked out of place in his six starts. He's 4-1-1 with a .913 save percentage and a 2.28 GAA.

CBC.ca
Rank: 17 (-2)
Have played well, but can't climb the ladder.

ColumbusDispatch.com
Rank: 14 (+1)
Two ugly home losses -- vs. Phoenix and Edmonton -- make it easy to forget the Blue Jackets' 6-3-2 run since Oct. 27.

ESPN.com
Rank: 15 (-1)
Rookie goalie Steve Mason is making a play for the No. 1 job.

FoxSports.com
Rank: 19 (+1)
The Columbus defense was stellar in Week 7, giving up fewer than 20 chances in both of its games. But the goaltending was all over the map. In the only loss of the week, Pascal Leclaire gave up seven goals on only 19 chances. In the team's only win, rookie Steve Mason recorded his first NHL shutout by stopping all 15 shots he faced.

THN.com
Rank: 17 (unchanged)
Rick Nash has goals in his past five games

Sportsnet.ca
Rank: 16 (unchanged)
Steve Mason makes 15 saves to earn his first NHL shutout in a 2-0 win over listless Atlanta.

CNNSI.com
Rank: TBD

Meta-score: 17.77 (last week 16)

THN.com also had this to say in their leadup to their rankings:

Life as a hockey fan in Ohio has typically brought more lows than highs. And, thus far, it has never involved a playoff game.

But this year’s version of the Columbus Blue Jackets is doing its best to change things and a pair of rookies are playing a huge role.

Center Derick Brassard is battling Chicago’s Kris Versteeg for the top spot among rookie scorers, while freshman goalie Steve Mason has debuted with a 4-1-1 record and already has his first big-league shutout.

Another rookie, Jakub Voracek, hasn’t looked out of place either and don’t forget about skilled Russian Nikita Filatov, an 18-year-old who bagged his first NHL marker during a four-game stint with the Jackets.

With the youth movement in full swing, meaningful games late in the season are right around the corner in Columbus.

So there you have it.

TSN drops the Jackets a whopping 6 spots and ranks them the lowest at 22 (a bit harsh me thinks). The Dispatch has the Jackets comin in the highest at 14..... and what caller said this paper was to harsh on these guys?

The over-riding theme this week was Steve Mason's performance as his star continues to shine... (I hope I didn't just jinx him tonight).

-LTL