Dave Isaac

@davegisaac

VOORHEES — Before he came to Philadelphia in March 2013, Steve Mason was getting ready to throw out his goalie pads and quit hockey.

With no education past high school he considered becoming a police officer or firefighter because life behind a desk didn’t interest him.

Then the Flyers came calling, a trade to Philly that saved his career. There was a contingency that he had to sign a one-year extension, which he did for $1.5 million. It was a show-me deal worth less than half of what he made the year before.

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Since then he’s racked up wins to the point that he is third on the Flyers’ all-time list with 103, eons behind Ron Hextall (240) and Bernie Parent (232). He’s third in franchise history for games played among goalies, too.

This weekend might mark the end of it.

Mason, who turns 29 this summer, is a pending unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career and there’s some writing on the wall with the Flyers having signed Michal Neuvirth to a two-year extension March 1.

“I’m proud of the work that I’ve accomplished since I’ve been here,” Mason said. “I have zero regrets of my time in Philadelphia. I would have liked to have more success in the playoffs as a whole, absolutely, but in terms of where my career was at coming here I’ve got zero regrets potentially leaving.”

And all it is right now is potential.

At the start of the season Mason and Neuvirth were playing for their next contract and it seemed like only one was going to get it, although Hextall, the team’s general manager, didn’t discount both returning next season.

Mason did himself no favors early in the season with a 2.96 goals-against average and .898 save percentage through November. Neuvirth was even worse with a 3.59 goals-against average and .859 save percentage in the same time frame.

Since February 1, Mason has been a top-10 goalie in terms of save percentage, tied with Los Angeles’ Jonathan Quick for 10th at .923. His goals-against average in that span is ninth in the NHL at 2.24.

Between a knee injury that cost Neuvirth 23 games and his collapsing on the ice in Saturday night’s win over the New Jersey Devils, Mason has been the de facto starter most of the season and even still, Hextall hadn’t reached out to Mason’s camp this season to negotiate a new deal.

Even when Neuvirth had been healthy since signing his extension, Mason played in 13 of the 15 games before Neuvirth collapsed and was taken to the hospital last Saturday.

With only two games left, Mason won’t be getting any preferential treatment.

“It’s exactly like every other part of our team: go out and do the job at a high level and finish it out,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “We don’t have playoffs to look forward to so we have two hockey games to go out and play hard together. If you’re a goaltender, defenseman, doesn’t matter. Whatever part of the team you are, there’s a job to do and we need that job to be done.”

Neuvirth is the only goalie under contract for next season and even though he signed the dotted line, it’s no guarantee that he remains. There are a few deals league-wide signed with the expansion draft in mind and this might be one of them. Vegas Golden Knights GM George McPhee and goalie coach David Prior both know Neuvirth from their time in Washington.

Even if that happened, would Mason want to return to the Flyers where the GM hasn’t shown any sign he wants Mason to stick around and some teammates don’t take warmly to his postgame critiques of the team?

“We’ll see what happens come the summer time,” Mason said. “A lot can happen. We’ll see what options present themselves in the summer time looking forward.”

Ilkka Sinisalo dies

Wednesday morning the Flyers lost a scout, former player and kind man.

Ilkka Sinisalo died in his Finland home at age 58, surrounded by his family. He had been battling cancer for the last three years.

Sinisalo had been a scout in Europe for the Flyers since 2004. Before that he had 426 points in 582 NHL games, including nine seasons with the Flyers.

“Ilkka was a true friend and loyal member of the Flyers,” Flyers president Paul Holmgren said in a statement. He played parts of three seasons as a teammate with Sinisalo. “Most important to all that knew him, he was a great person, a loving husband, father and grandfather. His presence and friendship will be deeply missed by all that knew him. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife of over 35 years, Carina, his sons Niklas and Tomas, as well as Tomas’ wife, Maija and their children Peter and Matilda.”

Loose Pucks

The Flyers loaned defenseman Sam Morin and forward Colin McDonald to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, who are still battling for a playoff spot. There is a possibility Morin may get recalled again for the Flyers’ next game Saturday. … Before Saturday’s game the Flyers will announce their team award winners including best defenseman, most-improved player, most heart and team MVP.

Dave Isaac; 856-486-2479;disaac@gannett.com

Up next: vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

When: 12:30 p.m., Saturday

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