It was announced this morning that the franchise of the Montreal Canadiens, goaltender Carey Price, is out with a lower body injury. Coach Michel Therrien confirmed he would be out for at least the upcoming week. The Canadiens have recalled Dustin Tokarski from the St. John’s Ice Caps in his stead.
Carey Price was injured during the game vs Oilers on Thursday. #canadiens
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) November 1, 2015
Price is just coming off the best goaltender performance since Dominik Hasek’s back to back Vezina/Hart winning years in 1997 and 1998. The Canadiens themselves are trying to regroup after an incredible 9-0 start to the regular season, the best in team history. That said, Price wasn’t involved in all nine wins. Backup goaltender Mike Condon was victorious in two of them, as well as the win against Calgary on Friday.
Condon, 25, has been less of a Cinderella story for the Habs and more of a story of resilience. The Needham, Massachusetts native worked his way up from goaltending in college to playing a few games in the ECHL and AHL before getting signed by the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs liked his poise in net and his confidence, a calm and confidence not so different from Carey himself. Condon proved to be one of the best goaltenders in the ECHL for the Wheeling Nailers before earning 48 starts with the Hamilton Bulldogs in their final year in the AHL last season. It looked like he would be returning to the AHL with Dustin Tokarski as the Habs backup but Tokarski was noticeably shaky in his exhibition starts. Condon earned more starts and confidence of the coaching staff before the Habs made the official switch. On October 5th, Tokarski found himself on waivers. 10 days later, Condon was raising the torch in front of the Bell Centre.
There will be a new torch for Condon to hold high, and that’s as the temporary starter of the Montreal Canadiens with Carey Price injured. This story is not unlike the team the Canadiens played against in their home opener in the New York Rangers. In 2013-14, an undrafted goalie named Cam Talbot replaced backup Martin Biron in early October to become Henrik Lundqvist’s backup. He impressed last season by recording three shutouts in his first eight starts. In February, Lundqvist suffered a ruptured blood vessel in his neck, meaning Talbot would get the chance to be the New York Rangers starter. Talbot impressed with a 17-4-3 record in Lundqvist’s absence, and finishing the season with 21 wins in 36 games. Lundqvist was always going to return to take back his position as the starter, but Talbot now had serious value on the trade market. On June 27 during the off-season, the Rangers traded Cam Talbot to the Edmonton Oilers for three draft picks in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, including a second and a third. Despite a .897 save percentage on the Oilers so far this season, nobody is blaming Cam Talbot.
This is the kind of opportunity Mike Condon could earn if he impresses in the week Price is gone. Price is not going to return until he’s 100%, and the Habs have a strong start to the season to be patient with him. Condon has allowed only five goals in 89 shots in his first three starts. If Price is gone for the week, Condon will see action tonight against the Winnipeg Jets, Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators (one of three teams he earned a win against), Thursday versus the New York Islanders and Saturday at home against the Boston Bruins. Montreal won’t play again until Wednesday, November 11th following the Saturday, November 7th game against Boston. If Carey Price is out for a week, he should be ready to return by then. After going 9-0, the Habs have been 2-2. The next four games could mean at best a record of 14-2, or at worst a record of 10-6. Condon needs to win at least two of these games if he wants to impress some of the other general managers around the league.
While seeing your franchise player go down is never a good thing, the timing is of the least possible pain to the Canadiens. Montreal has a seven point lead on the Bruins for first in the Atlantic division and the only club in the league with 10 wins. Condon has been solid in his three starts, not great, but certainly exceeding expectations and outperforming Tokarski from last season. By holding down the fort this week, he could earn himself more starts, and possibly push the Canadiens to play him 25-30 games. If he can break the 30 mark, it should be more than enough games to entice a general manager to take a shot on Condon in the summer. The Canadiens could also hold onto Condon for another year, seeing as he has another year on his deal making only $575,000. Finding a backup just as reliable as Condon could be tough at that price. Either way, Condon’s long term future is not with the Canadiens, but with whatever club feels he could be their starter.
Mike Condon went from the former college goalie with a funny name to the back-up to the Montreal Canadiens to now their designated starter with the 2015 Hart Trophy winner on the shelf. If he wants to call himself a full-time starter like Cam Talbot does now, that journey begins tonight.
