Mike Condon

Mike Condon was doing Princeton University homework on the buses of the ECHL when his professional career was just getting started — a detail that speaks to the unconventional path the Holliston, Massachusetts native traveled on his way to the NHL. Born April 27, 1990, Condon is a left-catching goaltender who stands 6'2" and weighs 196 pounds.

Condon's NHL career opened with the Montreal Canadiens, where he appeared in 55 games during the 2015-16 season, going 21-25 with a 2.71 goals-against average, a .903 save percentage, and one shutout. He moved to the Ottawa Senators for the 2016-17 season and posted his most productive NHL campaign: 40 games played, 19 wins, 14 losses, a 2.50 GAA, a .914 save percentage, and five shutouts. The following season he appeared in 31 games for Ottawa, going 5-17 with a 3.25 GAA and a .902 save percentage. His final NHL appearances came during the 2018-19 season — two games with the Senators, going 0-2. Across 129 NHL regular-season games, Condon finished with 45 wins, 58 losses, 17 overtime losses, a career GAA of 2.79, a career save percentage of .905, and six shutouts.

Among the games that marked Condon's NHL tenure was his appearance in the 2016 Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough — close to where he grew up in Holliston — where he made a penalty-kill save during the Montreal Canadiens' game against the Boston Bruins that has since circulated on highlight reels. InGoal Magazine broke down that sequence in detail in its Pro Reads series ^[1], examining how Condon tracked the play and influenced the shooter's decision in what looked to outside observers like desperation but involved a precise sequence of reads.

InGoal Magazine has covered Mike Condon in four podcast appearances and six Pro Reads.

Those Pro Reads, available to InGoal subscribers, span several sequences from his time with the Ottawa Senators: a 2-on-1 overtime situation against Sidney Crosby ^[2], a backdoor save against the Winnipeg Jets power play that Condon described as involving "a lot of moving parts" ^[3], a powerplay sequence against Columbus that touches on system responsibilities and pre-scout preparation ^[4], a partial breakaway from an angle coming off a rush against the Chicago Blackhawks ^[5], and a deteriorating 2-on-0 situation against the Tampa Bay Lightning in which Condon described reading a player's hand position as the decisive cue — "As soon as I see his hand go up, I know he wants to try to take it the other way," he said ^[6].

After his playing career, Condon moved into mental performance coaching for goaltenders. On episode 360 of the InGoal Radio podcast, Condon spoke with Kevin Woodley about his work with goaltenders on the mental side of the game, including a visit to Montreal — ten years to the date, he noted, from when the Canadiens placed him on waivers ^[7]. He described the experience as "cathartic, nostalgic," and spoke about working with goaltenders on defining and understanding the components of the mental game before building individual processes from them. "As soon as I see his hand go up, I know he wants to try to take it the other way" gives a sense of how precisely Condon processed information as a player — episode 360 offers a detailed look at how he now helps others develop that same kind of clarity of thought ^[7].

Condon appeared on InGoal Radio episode 152 in January 2022 ^[8] and episode 32 in August 2019 ^[9], the latter of which documented his rehabilitation process following injuries that kept him out of NHL action in his final seasons. InGoal Radio episode 312 also features Condon ^[10].