Mason has learned the hard way that there's no such thing as a guarantee.

Although Kitchener is hosting the Canadian junior championship and opens the tournament today against Quebec champion Gatineau, Mason will be watching from the stands.

Mason, last year's Ontario Hockey League goaltender of the year, had surgery on April 18 to repair a torn ligament in his left knee. The original timeline for recovery was four to six weeks. The opening game of the 10-day tournament is exactly four weeks from the day of his surgery.

Mason has skated since the injury, but not in full equipment. Kitchener coach Peter DeBoer hasn't ruled out a return by the goalie who led Canada to world junior gold.

"We're hoping he'll be available," DeBoer told Kitchener newspaper The Record Thursday. "We've got (11 days) until the Memorial Cup final. That's still a lot of time from an injury point of view."

Eighteen-year-old rookie Josh Unice has been playing in Mason's place. Unice went 11-3 with a 2.41 average and .915 save percentage as Kitchener edged Belleville in seven games to win the Ontario Hockey League championship. Mason, two weeks shy of his 20th birthday, was 5-0 with a 1.92 average and a .946 save percentage prior to the injury in the second round of the playoffs against Sault Ste. Marie.

Both Mason and Unice are third-round NHL draft picks (Mason by Columbus, 69th overall in 2006, Unice by Chicago, 86th overall in 2007). Unice had been Kitchener's number one goalie until the Rangers acquired Mason and posted a 30-6-1 record in the regular season.