It was a great way for Steve Mason to say goodbye.On Friday afternoon, Mason backstopped the Canadian Junior team to a 4-1 win over Team America—and a chance at winning Canada's fourth consecutive junior gold.
Outside of Team Canada, though, he does have a career.
Mason has played for the OHL's London Knights since the 2005-06 season. He totaled fifty wins and posted a .923 save percentage and a 2.93 GAA over his first two years in the Ontario Hockey League, and was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the most recent entry draft.
Mason attended his first NHL training camp this year, but was returned to the OHL for one more year—and has since been the lone bright spot in the Knights' mediocre season.
What some of you may have missed however, is that Mason was traded this week.
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Early Thursday morning, a three-way deal was struck between the London Knights and two other OHL teams, with the Knights sending Mason to this year's Memorial Cup host, the Kitchener Rangers.
Mason goes from a fourth-place team in London to a team currently holding the top spot in the OHL's Western Conference—with a credible shot at the OHL Championship, as well as the owner of the hosts' seed in Kitchener.
And the fans in London, Ontario...couldn't be happier.
You see, in some ways following junior or semipro sports—the CHL, AHL, the NBA Development League, Frontier League Baseball, Triple- or Double-A baseball—is a lot easier than following professional leagues like the NHL, NFL, MLB, or NBA.
The main reason is that though fans hope for wins, they don't live and die with them. There's a different kind of pressure for the players in these kinds of cities—and it lets them connect with the fans more readily and easily, which in turn allows the fans to enjoy their experience with the team and the players.
There had been rumors that the Knights would be sellers rather than buyers at this year's trading deadline, and that's proving true. As with Mason, however, the fans are taking it all in stride.
It's understood that you can't compete every single year in a junior league—which is okay by fans, because when you rebuild, you bring in a plethora of young talent that supporters can watch and enjoy.
The ownership of the Knights (Mark and Dale Hunter) did everything right in this situation: They picked up some building blocks for the future, and they gave one of their biggest stars an opportunity to get his name in the CHL history books.
It's unfortunate that the move had to come before the biggest games of Mason's young career, but the kid as always acted as a pro, so he knows how to deal with it.
See you in the NHL Steve—you've got an entire city behind you.
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