Pascal Leclaire’s season began like all NHL goaltenders wished their season would begin. Leclaire posted shutouts in five of his first nine games, and his record was 7-2-0. Could his play turn the Columbus Blue Jackets into contenders?

Leclaire’s strong start to the season began on October 5th when he stopped 28 shots to shutout the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Anaheim Ducks. Five days later, Leclaire recorded his second shutout of the season in as many games when he stopped 32 shots by the Phoenix Coyotes as the Blue Jackets defeated Phoenix 3-0.

After a bump in the road when Leclaire gave up five goals to the Avalanche on October 13th, Leclaire rebounded in his next game to post his third shutout in four starts when Columbus defeated Buffalo 3-0 in Buffalo. Leclaire lost his next start to Vancouver 4-1, but he rebounded nicely once again in his next four starts beginning on October 25th against St. Louis. In that game against St. Louis, Leclaire stopped 36 shots and led the Blue Jackets to a 3-0 victory and his league leading third shutout on the season.

In his next two games against San Jose on October 27th and Los Angeles on October 31st, Leclaire allowed only one goal in each game and helped lead the Blue Jackets to victory. Leclaire finished the month of October on fire finishing with an amazing 6-2-0 record with a 1.25 goals-against-average. The play of Leclaire helped get the Blue Jackets off to a torrid start at 7-3-1.

But are the Blue Jackets finally contenders? The month of November began well; in his first game, Leclaire stopped 21 St. Louis shots for his fourth shutout of the season. Leclaire’s record stood at 8-3-1 with a 1.11 GAA. Both his record and GAA were tops in the league.

The rest of November was a bumpy road for Leclaire and the Columbus Blue Jackets. After posting the shutout against St. Louis on November 4th, he lost his next two starts against Detroit and Nashville; he allowed seven goals over those two games.
On November 14th, Leclaire seemed to get back on track when he allowed only two goals against the Chicago Blackhawks. Leclaire’s next two games were rocky when he allowed five goals in a shootout loss to the Red Wings on November 18th, and again allowed five goals in a loss to the Panthers on November 21st.

After missing some time at the end of November because of a hamstring injury, Leclaire returned on December 3rd, but dropped a 2-1 shootout to the Dallas Stars. The good news was Leclaire allowed just one regulation goals in his return. On December 5th against Colorado, Leclaire was pulled for the first time when he allowed three goals through the first 40 minutes. He returned on December 8th against Edmonton, but gave up two goals in the loss.

Leclaire went on to lose his next two starts, allowing four goals against Anaheim and three against Calgary. It appeared the Blue Jackets were slipping out of the playoff picture. After serving as backup for the next two games, Leclaire returned on December 26th in style. After a few rocky starts, Leclaire posted his league-leading seventh shutout when the Blue Jackets defeated the Atlanta Thrashers. Leclaire went on to win his next two starts against Carolina and Edmonton before losing to Anaheim on January 2nd. After allowing two goals through two periods against San Jose on January 5th, Leclaire was pulled in favor of Frederick Norrena.

Through 28 games, Leclaire has posted a 13-8-3 record with an amazing 1.97 goals-against-average. His GAA ranks third in the league, his .928 save percentage ranks fourth, and his seven shutouts leads the league.

In 43 games this season, the Blue Jackets have gone 19-18-6 and are three points out of a playoff spot. After finishing the 2007-07 season with a 33-42-7 record, the Blue Jackets are on the verge of improving that record and are on pace to set franchise records for wins and points. It does indeed seem that the Blue Jackets are contenders after all.