A Hockey Life
Garland was born in Scituate, Mass., and the sport was always in his blood. His father played football and hockey at Westfield State University in Massachusetts before embarking on a short pro career with stints in the ECHL and IHL.
From a young age, Conor wanted to follow in his footsteps, and his father was more than happy to start him on that journey. Garry built a backyard rink when Conor was 5, and no stones were unturned – literally – when it came to his development. As Conor was always a bit undersized – he's now 5-10, 165 – it became clear that he’d have to find any way to maximize his skills, so the Garlands started working with 1980 figure skating Olympian Michael Botticelli to make sure Conor's skating could get him to the highest level.
To this day, Garry still encourages his son, even checking up on his workouts during the recent Olympic break. Not that Conor has needed the push.
“I was just singularly focused,” Garland said. “I guess everybody’s parents have sayings or stuff, but one thing that always stuck out was just no distractions. I wasn’t really distracted as a kid. I’m undersized, so it’s hard to make it as it is. I understood how challenging it would be, but I was fortunate to have parents direct me, and I was just always from a young age singularly focused on making it in the NHL.”
There are stories galore about the dedication Garland had to the game from a young age, but one stands out above the others as being unique. One summer when he was a teenager, he’d head to the beach near his home on the shore south of Boston and rake the rocks across the sand. It made a nice spot for his mother, Bridget, to enjoy the beach, but it also was a workout Garland thought might help his burgeoning hockey career.
“You’re just thinking, that would help me maybe have a harder shot or a harder grip or whatever,” Garland said. “I would just do it. We were fortunate enough to live on the beach and we had a beautiful house growing up. It’s just something I would do. I didn’t think much of it at the time.”
Even now, the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree. Garland and his wife, Meghan, have a young son named Quinton, who already has his father’s love of everything hockey.
“From a young age, I loved the game,” Garland said. “I love it to this day. There’s nothing like it. I got my boy, he’s like 15 months. He’s the same way already. He walks around all day with a hockey stick and a ball. I loved it from a young age, and I take every day as grateful as I can just to be able to play it for a living.”
A Long Journey
Garland spent a year growing up playing at Minnesota boarding school powerhouse Shattuck St. Mary’s, the legendary program that has produced such NHL stars as Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon.
Garland put up 65 goals and 116 points in 52 games, but his size kept him from being a highly touted prospect, and he returned to Boston to play a year for the junior Bruins with a young standout named Jack Eichel. After a short stint in the USHL with Muskegon, he found a home in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, arriving in Moncton and quickly becoming one of the best players in the league.
A hand injury limited him at the start, but Garland went on to lead the QMJHL in scoring two years in a row, posting 129 points in 67 games in 2014-15 and 128 points in 62 games a year later.
Despite the lofty point totals, he wasn’t drafted until the fifth round in 2015 by Arizona, and when Garland turned pro, he spent the first two seasons with Tucson of the AHL. He finally made his debut late in 2018 and quickly found a home with the Coyotes, scoring 13 goals in 47 games.
After three years with Arizona, he was dealt to Vancouver as part of a trade that included defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and he became a mainstay with the Canucks over four-plus seasons. At the time of his trade to Columbus, he had played in 535 NHL games, averaging 20 goals and 49 points per 82 games.
His game is marked by a competitive streak that belies – or is perhaps because of – his size, as Garland isn’t afraid to get under bigger defensemen, win battles and then get the puck or himself to the net.
“I've coached against him when I was in Winnipeg and Dallas enough to know that he's a pain in the butt when he's on top of his game,” CBJ head coach Rick Bowness said. “He's a real puck hound. He's going to chase it down. He’s not the biggest guy, but if you look at his legs, there's lots of power in those legs, and he uses it. He's got good skills.”
Those are the same traits that caught Olivier’s eye when the two played together in 2014 and ‘15 in Moncton.
“I had no doubt in my mind that his game was going to translate well to the pros because being an undersized player, he wasn’t a perimeter guy at all,” Olivier said. “He was willing to go to the hard areas. When you’re willing to do that, it’s half the battle won already. It’s fun to see it translate obviously with the career he’s had, and I’m really happy for him to be with us. He’s going to help us a ton.”
So far in three games, Garland has proved to be the perfect acquisition while settling in on a line with Kent Johnson and Sean Monahan. He’s posted consecutive two-goal performances and has produced a historic start to his CBJ career, but the only thing on his mind is helping the Blue Jackets make it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“Just winning is what matters,” he said after Tuesday’s two-goal performance vs. Tampa Bay. “It’s the best time of year to play in, and you’re going to be in tight games the whole out. They’re stressful, but that’s what makes it so fun.”
Settling In
For Garland compared to some other NHL players, the transition to a new city might not be that tough. He’s a big believer in getting out and experiencing what places have to offer while on the road, and he and former Canucks teammates Bo Horvat and Tyler Myers used to have a group trip to local coffeehouses when they were traveling across the league.
Stauf’s at the North Market was a previous stop, and Garland got a bit lost leaving Nationwide Arena after his CBJ debut but knew he was in the right place when he saw the Columbus landmark.
“I’ve played here a bunch,” Garland said. “I always walk around the cities. I played in the Pacific Division in the American League in the one thing I would always do is walk around San Diego, walk around (the cities), and that became just a routine to me – walk around the city. I always walked around here. I’ve been to more restaurants than maybe people who live here. Just try coffee spots or whatever. I’ll be living downtown for the next little bit, so I’m very used to it.”
One benefit as well is that Garland is much closer to his Massachusetts home, which is particularly important because he and Meghan have a daughter on the way. The cross-continent flight from the Boston area to Vancouver became arduous as Meghan’s pregnancy came along, and the grandparents are excited too that Columbus is a much closer journey.
“I think she’s excited we’re closer to home,” Garland said. “It’s an hour and a half flight. My mother came out I think five times this year. They came out zero times the five years before in Vancouver. The grandchild will do that. She’s very excited that the flight is an hour and a half, but not a full day in the airport.”
Garland will have more clothes on the way shortly, as second-year Canucks forward Max Sasson was living with him in Vancouver and is now tasked with boxing up some of his belongings and sending them to Columbus. The living situation will get sorted out, too, and Meghan is expected to make a trip out for the team’s next homestand.
But again, to Garland, the trade gives him the chance to battle for the postseason, and his career has included just two cracks at the Stanley Cup thus far. For someone who has dedicated a life to the game, that more than makes up for a little upheaval in his life.
"I just want to win hockey games, and this team's been doing that,” he said. “I just want to come in and help any way I can, and that's really only my main focus.”
