"As goaltender Steve Mason was setting NHL records and carrying the Blue Jackets to their first Stanley Cup playoffs last season, shooters from around the league were taking notes.

These mental observations of Mason's vulnerabilities -- compiled and shared among opposing players and coaches -- became "the book" on Mason and, although this book isn't published, there's one on every goaltender.

"Anytime you play a team more than once, there's a book on you," Mason said. "When we played teams toward the end of the season, I could tell guys were picking up on my weaknesses."

The book on Mason was pretty short: Shoot high glove.

The book on the Blue Jackets' 2009-10 season might be just as succinct: Their high hopes might hinge on Mason's high glove, specifically his ability to patch that hole in his game.

Mason, who led the NHL with 10 shutouts and was second with a 2.29 goals-against average last season, will be in goal at 7 tonight when the Blue Jackets open the 2009-10 season against Minnesota in Nationwide Arena.

"This is how it always goes with the young goalies," Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said. "There was the one supposed weakness everybody talked about in Mase's game last season, the high glove.

"After that, it moves on to all the other stuff: 'You have to outwork the goalie, you have to get traffic, you have to intimidate him in the crease,' and on and on. With any young goaltender, you do whatever you can to get into their head.

"After a while, the good ones figure it out, and Mason has figured it out.""