Condon’s stock continues to rise
Former Belmont Hill and Princeton star goaltender Mike Condon, who grew up in Holliston and Needham, got his first small taste of playoff action with one period of work for the Ottawa Senators in Game 4 of their second-round series against the New York Rangers.
The Senators, who deserve immense credit for the terrific brand of two-way play hockey they’re playing, opened the Eastern Conference final against heavily favored Pittsburgh last night.
The 27-year-old Condon might not face another puck this season, but he is pleased with the year he’s had and with his career path. He was a savior for the Sens, who got him from Montreal on Nov. 2 for a fifth-round pick. Starter Craig Anderson left the team for an extended period to be with his wife, who was fighting cancer, and backup Andrew Hammond was hurt.
So Condon came in and played 40 games, going 19-14-6 with a 2.50 goals-against average and .914 save percentage. He still believes he’ll be a No. 1 NHL goalie.
“That’s the goal,” the personable Condon said. “I don’t think any goalie should strive for mediocrity or strive for anything that’s lower than their potential. I think I can definitely play that role in this league, whether it’s one year from now or five.
“The way my game has grown and the amount of games I’ve played the last two years, I know what the grind is like and what it takes to win. It’s just a matter for me of bearing down that tiny bit extra, making those extra 1015 saves per year.”
He’s amazed by the intense focus required by goalies in the playoffs, where one mistake can ruin a season.
“The focus that you need, that I see in (Anderson), the focus that he has on every single shot, that’s very hard to do,” Condon said. “Talk about mental toughness. To go deep in the playoffs, I can only imagine what that takes.”
Condon can be an unrestricted free agent July 1 and should be on the Bruins’ radar as a potential backup for Tuukka Rask if they’re ready to move on from Anton Khudobin. He also might be an expansion draft target for Las Vegas.
“Try to get 1 percent better every day,” Condon said of his philosophy. “Everyone can do 1 percent more. For me as a backup, it’s about fighting complacency. You can’t ever really relax because at any moment something could go wrong and you’ve got to go in and play. So I try to find little things that motivate me.
“It’s about keeping that upward trajectory. It’s always about climbing, getting better.”