 Kitchener won the OHL championship without Mason, but lost 4–1 in the Memorial Cup final against the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League (WHL).Before his first professional season, Mason underwent an additional knee surgery in September, causing him to miss the first month of play in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Blue Jackets' minor league affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.Shortly after recovering and joining the Crunch's line-up, Mason was called up by the Blue Jackets on November 4, 2008, in the absence of injured starter Pascal Leclaire.