Mike Condon used to ups and downs of NHL career

EL SEGUNDO. Calif. -- There were two professional hockey teams willing to take a look at the Princeton goaltender who was still in school, working on his senior thesis.
One was the Idaho Steelheads. The other team was in Ontario.

Mike Condon liked the idea of Ontario, Canada.
"I told the coach [Jason Christie] I could drive up there at any minute from New Jersey," Mike Condon said. "He said, 'You can't drive from New Jersey.'"
Well, just not very quickly.
"I didn't think there were many East Coast teams in Ontario, California," Condon said.

Southern California and the ECHL was where Condon's professional career launched. He put aside his senior thesis and joined the Ontario Reign in 2012-13, appearing in four games, and hasn't looked back.
Since then, Condon has played for two American Hockey League teams, another ECHL team and the Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators.
"I travel light and move fast," Condon said.
This season has been a test of his coping, and his packing skills. Montreal waived Condon on Oct. 10; the Penguins claimed him the next day. His Pittsburgh career consisted of one period and didn't even last a month, ending when goaltender Matt Murray got healthy. The Senators acquired Condon on Nov. 2 for a fifth-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft.
He only recently moved out of a hotel near Canadian Tire Centre and into his own place. The hotel is the same one that often houses visiting teams, and Condon joked about riding in the elevator with the opposition.
"You need a lot of data to find out where I am," he said. "These days, you have to keep refreshing the internet to see where I am. You wake up sometimes and you look at the walls for the first five seconds.
"What time zone am I in? Where am I? Then it hits you. Oh yeah, I've got to play a game tonight. It's just about keeping my focus as narrow as possible, taking care of it minute by minute."
A year ago, Condon was the starting goaltender for the Canadiens, stepping into the vacancy created by Carey Price's knee injury. He experienced a special career moment in helping the Canadiens to a 5-1 win against the Boston Bruins in the 2016 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on New Year's Day at Gillette Stadium, about 15 miles from his childhood home in Holliston, Mass.
The spotlight also landed on his family, including his father, Ted, a Massachusetts State police sergeant who, according to Mike, is trying to retire.
"He's had numerous physical injuries, so it's time," Condon said.
Retirement could give his father more time for trips to Ottawa, especially now that Mike has been able to unpack his bags for an extended period.

"It's been crazy, pretty daunting when you look at an 82-game season," Condon said. "You look at back-to-backs. It's not a practical approach to the game for your mental health. Just one shot at a time.
"That's the only thing you can control. The past is dead."
At the time of the trade, backup goaltender Andrew Hammond was injured and starter Craig Anderson had taken a leave of absence to be with his wife Nicholle, who was diagnosed with a rare form of throat cancer.
"When we made the trade, we didn't know what [Anderson's] availability would be and we knew this situation would be very fluid and we saw that Pittsburgh, at that point in time, had three goalies," Ottawa general manager Pierre Dorion said on Friday. "So we just felt [getting Condon] was the right thing, to improve our depth at that position. We weren't sure what was going to happen. Having Mike and Andrew reaffirms we're in good standing at that position."
Condon gave the Senators an immediate boost, just as he did early in his rookie season in Montreal. After Ottawa's 4-2 win at San Jose on Dec. 7, he was 4-1-1 with a goals-against average of 1.68 and a .945 save percentage with the Senators.
A lost weekend in Southern California blunted those strong initial numbers. The Senators lost 4-1 to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday and 5-1 to the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Ottawa gave up six power-play goals, three to the Kings and three more to the Ducks. The Senators penalty-killing had been tied for fifth in the NHL on Friday; by Monday it was tied for 22nd.
Condon was pulled after one period in Anaheim, having allowed three goals on 13 shots. The back-to-back losses resulted in his goals-against average going from 1.68 to 2.28 and his save percentage dropping from .945 to .923.
But Condon is used to the numerous ups and down of an NHL career. The way he looks at it, many of his college buddies are commuting to Wall Street every day, wearing a suit and working at a desk. That could have easily been him, too.
"I talk to a lot of my friends," Condon said, "and I'm thankful I get to play a game every day."