The Blue Jackets are down to one day before opening night at Nationwide Arena, and jersey No. 1 has a short but memorable place in team history.
Three goaltenders have worn it for Columbus, and each left a different kind of mark.
Jean-François Labbé got there first in 2002. The undrafted netminder from Sherbrooke, Quebec, appeared in 14 games across two seasons for the Blue Jackets and went 3-5 with an .890 SV%.
Most of his work came with the Syracuse Crunch in the AHL. In 2003, he headed to Russia, later moved on to Germany and Poland, and eventually returned to Canada in 2009.
After one season with Sherbrooke Saint-François in the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey, he retired and moved into coaching, working at various stops as either a head coach or a goaltending coach.
Tomáš Pöpperle followed in 2007 after being drafted by Columbus in 2005. His NHL time was brief: two relief appearances in 06-07, and those were the only two NHL games of his career.
He posted a .929 SV% and a 1.35 GAA for the Jackets, then played 66 AHL games for Syracuse before returning to Europe. His most recent season came in 23-24 in Germany’s second tier.
Then came Steve Mason, who wore No. 1 from 2009 to 2013 and gave the number its biggest chapter. Drafted by Columbus in 2006, Mason won 96 games for the Blue Jackets, good for third in franchise history behind Sergei Bobrovsky and Elvis Merzlikins. He also ranks second with 19 shutouts, fourth with 13,138:02 of TOI, fourth in GAA, and fifth in save percentage.
Mason’s Columbus run started with hardware. He won the 08-09 Calder Trophy, made the NHL’s All-Rookie Team, earned an NHL All-Star nod as a rookie, and picked up second-team honors. On the international stage, he was just as sharp for Canada at the U20 World Junior Championships, going 5-0 with a .951 SV% while taking home tournament MVP, best goaltender, and all-star honors.
The Blue Jackets traded Mason to Philadelphia on April 3, 2013, for goaltender Michael Leighton and a 2015 third-round draft pick. He spent four seasons with the Flyers, then one year in the Winnipeg organization.
After two concussions and a serious knee injury, he never played again and retired. In Philadelphia, he finished with a 104-78-36 record.
So as opening night approaches, No. 1 brings a mix of early promise, brief stops, and one especially bright Columbus run.
In Other News...
Blue Jackets Face New Roster Questions After Serious Interest In Top Name
As the Blue Jackets continue sorting through a reshaped roster picture, one of the quieter plotlines around the league has been how much interest Kirill Marchenko drew before he ended up with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The New York Islanders were among the teams making calls, and general manager Mathieu Darche acknowledged that clubs are always checking on good players, though he stopped short of spelling out every target on his list.
For Columbus, the takeaway is less about a missed transaction than about the kind of value Marchenko carried in the market and how many moving parts still surround the team entering the season. The Jackets already have to monitor Ivan Provorov, who is questionable for the opener after missing time at practice, while the broader Eastern Conference also deals with early injury news, including New Jersey losing Connor Brown for the first two games. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jackets Blue Line Suddenly Looks Very Different After Carson Soucy Move
The Blue Jackets blue line took on a different look almost immediately after their major trade with Toronto, with Carson Soucy signing on for a one-year deal to help stabilize a group that suddenly needs more certainty. Columbus had to make the salary-cap math work, and the move fit the moment as the club reworked its roster with an eye on the opening weeks of the season.
Soucys arrival also comes at a time when the Jackets are bracing for some defensive absences, which pushes him toward a prominent role right away. With several regulars expected to be unavailable at the start, Columbus may not have much choice but to lean on the veteran as a top-four option while the rest of the blue line sorts itself out. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jackets Hand Jet Greaves A Role That Changes Everything
The Blue Jackets goaltending picture has shifted into something much cleaner for 2026-27, with Jet Greaves stepping into the clear No. 1 role after establishing himself as the clubs top option. Columbus also added Cam Talbot on a one-year deal, giving the room an experienced veteran presence as the team reshapes the depth chart in net and leans into a younger starter.
Talbot arrives saying he is ready to help however he can, and the transition should be a familiar one given his existing relationships with players and their families. For Columbus, the bigger question is how quickly Greaves can settle into the kind of workload that comes with being the guy, especially after a major move altered the goaltending landscape and left the Blue Jackets building around a very different tandem than the one they had before. [Read more 🡒]