"In his rookie season, Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason seemed capable of deleting bad goals and mistakes from his memory like junk e-mail.

One click and they were removed from the inbox.

During a trying second season, however, all the negative thoughts piled up, and Mason had great difficulty processing them. No NHL goaltender was pulled from more starts.

"I was focused on small things that really started to distract me," Mason said. "If I let in a bad goal, it's important to move on and focus on the next shot."

So when a routine wraparound shot from San Jose's Torrey Mitchell found its way between Mason's pads two minutes into the season opener last Friday in Sweden, the angst among Blue Jackets followers was palpable on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

"One of the first things that ran through my mind was there are probably fans out there thinking, 'Here we go again,'" Mason said.

Instead, Mason recovered from the early gaffe to play well against the Sharks as the teams split two games. The 22-year-old returns to the net tonight for the Jackets' home opener against the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.

Mason's ability to rebound from a tumultuous season is perhaps the biggest key to the club contending for a playoff spot.

The 2009 NHL Rookie of the Year arrived at training camp in noticeably better shape. But it's what isn't visible to coaches and teammates that probably will determine if he improves on his 3.05 goals-against average and .901 save percentage from last season."