"The red, white and blue goaltender pads stand side by side in the family basement where Steve Mason trains.

In any other offseason, the leg guards would be as much a part of Mason's summer wardrobe as flip-flops and shorts.

The Blue Jackets' 20-year-old goaltending prospect likes to stay sharp by going to the rink several times a week and facing shots. But six days before Jackets prospects are scheduled to report, Mason has yet to stop a puck.

"The pads are just sitting there collecting dust," he said ruefully.

Mason expects to participate in Jackets training camp, which begins Sept. 19, but offseason knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus has left him scant time to prepare.

Although he has suffered no setbacks, Mason hasn't skated since early April. He won't accompany other Jackets youngsters to Traverse City, Mich., for the annual prospects tournament on Friday.

That doesn't mean Mason has abandoned his goal of making the team out of training camp. He plans to resume skating this week and the lanky 6-foot-4 goalie, who wears a "Live Hockey" rubber bracelet, believes it will take just a few workouts to regain form.

"I'm not worried," Mason said. "I'll find my groove quickly."

Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson doesn't want the hero of Team Canada's world juniors tournament overexerting himself and risking another injury.

Goaltending is a position of strength for the Jackets, and Mason is expected to challenge Pascal Leclaire in coming seasons. But he most likely will start the season with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League.

"We're not going to put him in a situation he or we are uncomfortable with," Howson said regarding the injury. "Caution is going to be the overriding theme."

These days, uncomfortable is watching all his other hockey buddies playing pickup games in one of Oakville's six rinks.

Mason drives around the Toronto mega-suburb in his black Ford truck with his satellite radio tuned to NHL Home Ice. He even admits to dreaming about playing hockey the past several weeks.

"I think it's my body telling me it's time to get ready," Mason said.

Impatience aside, he knows things could be much worse.

In June, his father, Bill, nearly died from blood clots in his lungs. His father spent a month hospitalized with pneumonia and several weeks recuperating at home.

Bill is back to work, though, and many of Mason's friends are headed back to college. Boredom is becoming an unwanted houseguest.

The good news is the left knee Mason injured during the Ontario Hockey League playoffs continues to improve. There is no swelling and Mason's physical therapy workouts are becoming more hockey specific.

On Thursday, therapist Dana Clark had Mason hopping side to side, turning the knee as he landed to simulate motions he would use in goal. Perhaps the most encouraging sign is that Mason can now drop into his butterfly position -- knees down on the floor, toes pointed outward.

He practices the routine in his best friend's pool.

"(Wednesday) night, I was in the basement and I wanted to put on the pads and get down in the butterfly to see how it felt," Mason said. "But I thought I better not."

Clark gave him the go-ahead.

"He's making progress," said Clark, who keeps in touch with the Jackets' medical staff. "We're putting more torque and impact into the workouts and we're seeing results."

The past five months have taught Mason how fickle fate can be. As if to reinforce the lesson, he walked out of the therapist's office and heard an alarming snap.

A limb broke loose from a tree and landed with a thud on the hood of a maroon Saturn like something straight out a Nationwide Auto Insurance commercial.

Life can come at you fast -- all the more reason to keep the reflexes sharp."