Top 5 in 2014: Biggest ‘What Ifs?’ in Philadelphia Sports

5.) What if Flyers goalie Steve Mason did not suffer a concussion prior to the NHL Playoffs?

After one of the most miserable starts to a season in Flyers history, the team scrapped and clawed their way into the thick of the playoff race by season’s end. On April 12th they faced the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team having already clinched their berth, with a chance to clinch a spot in the postseason with a win. Leading 2-1 late in the 2nd period behind a pair of goals by Jakub Voracek, it would be one of the most insignificant players on a Penguins roster loaded with antagonists that threw a major wrench in the Flyers’ best laid plans.

Fourth-liner Jayson Megna charged the Philadelphia crease with minutes remaining in the second frame. He would eventually contact goaltender Steve Mason with a full head of steam. The primary netminder, who had help keep the team afloat during some of their most trying stretches of the season, would remain on the ice after the penalty occurred. Megna would spend two minutes in the penalty box for goaltender interference, but the damage had been done. Mason would close out the 2nd period, but it would be Ray Emery manning the pipes for the remainder of an eventual 4-3 overtime win.

With a playoff spot wrapped up, the focus shifted towards the status of Mason heading into a series against the New York Rangers. Sure enough, the term we all feared would accompany the Flyers #1 goalie: “Upper Body Injury”. It would be Ray Emery starting game one for the Orange and Black in Madison Square Garden against the Rangers.

In no way as an attempt to slight Ray Emery as a solid, albeit unspectacular backup goalie in the NHL, he simply doesn’t have the capabilities or talent of Mason at this point in his career. Emery would battle and put forth a valiant effort in his nearly-three playoff games against the Rangers, even managing to help steal game two in New York. However, it would be game three, a game where Emery allowed four goals on 20 New York shots before Mason came in for the final minutes of the third period. One has to wonder, if he was healthy enough to take the ice at all, why he wasn’t able to start the Flyers Wells Fargo Center postseason opener after the team had stolen away home-ice advantage from their opponent.

Though it was a small sample size (essentially four games- 2 wins, 2 losses) Mason’s .939 save percentage and 1.97 goals against average would be the best mark among all NHL goaltenders in the 2014 postseason. His game seven performance (31 saves on 33 shots) was as commendable a showing in defeat as one could imagine from a player just days removed from what was eventually revealed as a concussion as a result of the Megna incident.

I’ll admit that the Flyers were winning late in the regular season with a brand of hockey that was not conducive to a long playoff run. This item might be higher on the list had I felt more strongly about the team’s chances going forward in the postseason, but that team never convinced me enough that they were capable of making the necessary adjustments on the fly. That being said, I do think a healthy Steve Mason could have helped the Flyers beat the Rangers in a seven-game series. They had made it to a game-seven with their backup starting the first three games. They had proven they could win the necessary one game in Madison Square Garden. The deflation of losing game three at home by a three goal margin was hard to ignore. I’m not saying the Flyers would have represented the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup if Mason were healthy, but I am confident that they very well could have kept their rivals from New York from doing so.