Wow, just realized Rask and Bishop are 27 and 28, respectively. Rask's been on the scene for a while, but didn't establish himself really as the guy until he was 25. Same with Varlamov and Bernier. Schneider is 28, and still not a starter...
I guess that's not really a revelation, but when you think about it, Steve Mason is 26 right now (the same age or younger than all those guys). Had he been developed on the traditional goalie track, he would only now be getting his first couple years of starting action. I wonder what the general perception of him would be if he had been a backup all this time getting favorable starts, and jumped onto the scene only recently. I'd think he'd be held in much higher regard.
Thinking about that makes me a lot less weary of his contract. I'm willing to ignore most of his record in Columbus. He should not have been thrown to the wolves so soon, especially on a team that was in disarray like the Jackets. If he had been getting 20-30 starts for the last several years against generally easy competition (like Bernier and Schneider), and only been handed the reigns around 2011/2012, I seriously think people would have the same kind of faith that is placed in some of the above names.
Also goes to show how patient we should be with Stolarz. Let him get about two years in the AHL after this season, then a couple years as a backup before giving him heavier workloads. I'm really excited about him, but I hope we don't see him as a Flyer until he's around 23, and even then in a very light role as the backup.
