Mason anti-changes, wants goalies ‘stars of the league'

PHILADELPHIA — Growing up, Steve Mason’s favorite goalie was Martin Brodeur.

The former New Jersey Devils goaltender was a star in the 1990s and will go down in history as one of the best at his position. The pads then were a little smaller, and so were the save percentages.

“He always wore smaller pads,” Mason said. “It played into his style. You also look at guys like Garth Snow. He had some of the biggest pads out of anybody. I have no problem with how the gear is right now. It protects us the way it needs to protect us. At the end of the day, it’s up to the guys to score goals. It’s already tough to stop the puck.”

The NHL would like to go back to a higher-scoring game as it was in the 1980s and ‘90s. After Tuesday’s general manager meetings in Toronto, the league and players’ association have agreed to make changes to goalies’ equipment, although the extent to which they’re changing is not yet known.

“It always seems like they’re trying to make tweaks to the goalie’s gear,” Mason said. “The last time they did tweaks, I think it made the goalies better. I don’t see why the goaltenders can’t be the stars of the league and have the nice numbers as opposed to 50-, 60-goal scorers. Why can’t guys have .930 save percentages and low goals against? That’s my opinion from a goalie’s standpoint.”

If Mason’s looking for support, he won’t get it from Flyers GM Ron Hextall, a former goalie.

“I’ve said for years that’s a huge issue and that’s what should be addressed first,” Hextall said. “If they cut the size of the goalies down, there’s gonna be more goals. How many? I’m really not sure. But I know the length of the pads, the width of the pads, the size of pants and upper-body gear needs to be modified. I don’t think there’s any question about it. There’s a lot of hockey people who have been banging this for years. Certainly I have. I believe strongly in it and I think a lot of the managers do.”

And if that doesn’t work, the next step may be to change the size of the nets. The NHL’s senior vice president of hockey operations, Colin Campbell, has been particularly vocal about this since Tuesday’s meetings, but there doesn’t appear to be much support for that.

“I’m very against that,” said Luke Schenn, the Flyers’ NHLPA representative. “I don’t believe changing the net size is the issue. It’s a little bit much. I don’t know how much they’d want to change it, but I like the traditional net size. You don’t see the NBA changing their hoop size or the NFL changing their field goal size if scoring is down. I like the traditional nets. Maybe goalie gear is something to take a look at, but I wouldn’t touch the net personally.”

Even Jake Voracek, goalless in the first 15 games of the season, is hesitant. He is on the fence about changing goalie gear, but changing the net size is out of the question for him, too. Scoring is down in the league, he says, because the game has changed from 1985, when Pelle Lindbergh’s .899 save percentage was second in the NHL.

“It is different all around,” Voracek said. “Different defense, better defense. It’s just a different game. I gotta be honest, it was tough for them. They had no gear on. It hurt. You had to have big (guts) to step into the net.”

Yet still, those ‘80s goalies like Hextall are pushing for change. The NHL wants more scoring and the goalies will have to suffer, possibly in bigger nets.

“You can make the gear different, but if you change the posts, that’s a big difference,” Voracek said. “You have to change every single net in every single ice hockey rink in the world when you think about it. It would take a lot of work. It’s not in my hands, but more goals, obviously it’s going to be more fun for fans and hockey players.”

Hextall disappointed

Last year through 15 games the Flyers were 7-6-2, better than their 5-7-3 start this year. By getting their first victory in Game 3 instead of Game 5, it looked like the Flyers may have avoided the dreaded bad starts from the last few years.

Now things are worse. The Flyers entered Thursday’s game against the Washington Capitals tied for the lowest goal total in the NHL, something that’s a surprise to Hextall.

“I think if you would have told me our power play would be where it was, I would say no,” Hextall said of the Flyers’ 27th-ranked man advantage. “Obviously, that’s a lot of scoring. So based on performance, I’m not surprised. Based on personnel, yeah, we certainly shouldn’t be that low.”

The word “accountability” was used a lot when coach Dave Hakstol was hired and now the Flyers seem to be lacking it. Hextall says Hakstol has done a “good job of starting the process of making it a staple,” but the Flyers are not producing consistently this season.

“There are nights where it’s hard to go out there and play,” Hextall said. “You don’t feel good, you’re traveling and tired, whatever it is. You know what? Too bad. You gotta go out there and you’ve got to play your (tail) off.”

Loose pucks

R.J. Umberger will be out for the next two weeks with what the team calls a “lower-body injury.” He blocked a shot with his left foot last Saturday and hasn’t skated with the team since. … Pierre-Edouard Bellemare once again skated in the morning, but did not play. … Mason’s start was his first in the last five games.

Dave Isaac; (856) 486-2479; disaac@gannettnj.com .