Montreal Canadiens goalie Mike Condon currently leads the NHL with a 1.50 goals-against-average.Sergei Belski
Three springs ago, the man who is now NHL's early season leader in goals-against average and owner of the second-best save percentage, was sitting in New Jersey, in the midst of confusing travel arrangements.
Michael Condon's Princeton Tigers had just been eliminated from the college playoffs.
His college career over, he hired an agent and was waiting to hear from a pro team that needed a goalie (teams in the minors almost always need extra goalies in the postseason).
Finally, the call came from a place his call-display identified as Ontario.
"I told them I was ready to go, I even had a passport," said the 25-year-old Massachusetts native. "The coach said, 'Uh, you are American, right? You don't need a passport to fly to California.'"
He quickly reported to the ECHL's Ontario Reign – the club plays in the San Bernardino Valley east of Los Angeles – for a four-game stint that constituted his first taste of pro hockey (he went 3-1).
The road to the Pacific has led Condon, improbably, to The Show.
Not only that, to a (temporary) starting post with the Montreal Canadiens as Carey Price recovers from an unspecified leg injury.
Conventional wisdom holds the Habs are more or less totally sunk without their world-conquering goalie.
"I think I've heard that one before," centre Tomas Plekanec said with a smile. "It's true, right?"
So far, it isn't.
In Price's absence this week the Canadiens have taken five of six possible points. An overtime loss to Ottawa, the best road team of the early going, was the only blemish.
They've allowed four goals in three games – all of them started by Condon, who has stopped 60 of the 64 shots directed his way.
The undrafted free agent played for four minor-league teams (he's been a Reign, an Aero, a Nailer and a Bulldog) before wrestling the Habs' backup job from veteran Dustin Tokarski in training camp last month.
Condon's been aided by solid offensive support. The Canadiens have scored 11 goals in the past three games while largely winning the puck-possession battle at even strength and limiting the Winnipeg Jets and New York Islanders – a couple of pretty good teams – to fewer than 20 shots.
"We've definitely been trying to cut the shots against, but that's not really anything different than what we were trying to do last year," Plekanec said. "I just think we're probably more on the same page now."
The Habs have had their share of luck – how long can Dale Weise, he of the team-leading eight goals, continue to score on 22 per cent of his shots? – but they can't be explained away as a mediocre team with a great goalie.
Not that Condon (5-0-1) has been terrible in the backup role. Far from it.
Shortly after yielding on Thursday night on a Kyle Okposo shot that squeezed through his arm ("not a great goal," he said), he stoned Islander captain John Tavares on a glorious scoring chance.
He robbed Tavares of another chance later (the Team Canada forward also missed on a wide-open net) and when the opportunistic Habs used a fortunate carom off linesman Michel Cormier to grab a third-period lead, there was no sense the Isles would have an easy time scoring on the rookie.
Condon has waited patiently for his chance and listened carefully to goalie coach Stéphane Waite – whom Price credits with his imperious form – in limited exposure as a spare body in the playoffs the past two seasons ("I was living with the motto, 'Seldom seen and never heard,'" Condon said).
The Habs are plainly a team that has a high panic threshold, even with a first-year netminder on the ice.
Rolling four lines has its benefits. Montreal has eight players with at least 10 points, far more than any other team , and in Price's absence the Habs have shown they still remember how to put the pedal down in the third period.
The Habs have scored a league-high 20 times in the final period of games and allowed just eight.
As the Boston Bruins roll in for a Saturday night tilt, Montreal sits atop the overall standing having racked up 25 points from its first 15 games.
Condon, the son of a Massachusetts state cop, is taking nothing for granted.
In fact, he still has yet to invite his folks or any friends to see him play – not even against his hometown Bruins.
"I'm going to try and take care of business before I start inviting people from home," he said.
It's not that Condon is superstitious, exactly. Just that he isn't presumptuous about his status.
"Every day I wake up and know I could be in St. John's [home to the Habs' AHL affiliate]. Every day I've got to earn it. Some people might say it's putting a lot of pressure on yourself, but there's no better way to motivate yourself in the morning," he said.
"I haven't really stopped to smell the roses yet … maybe after the Boston game. If we get two points."