Sophomore year

MONTREAL – After securing the backup role out of training camp last year, Mike Condon will likely find himself in a similar battle this time around, too.

Admittedly, the Canadiens’ signing of Al Montoya on July 1st didn’t catch him by surprise. Given the injury woes the club dealt with during the 2015-16 campaign, adding depth and experience at any position – including between the pipes – was to be expected.

In Montoya, general manager Marc Bergevin added a 31-year-old old goaltender with 136 NHL appearances to his credit, including 110 career starts, with four different teams. Condon, meanwhile, is coming off his first full NHL season, one in which he was thrust into being the Canadiens’ full-time starter when Carey Price suffered a season-ending knee injury last November.

The 26-year-old Needham, MA native could go head-to-head with Montoya at training camp for the right to back up the Vezina Trophy winner next year. Fighting for a job isn’t a foreign concept to Condon, though. He’s been doing it for years.

“Whether it was my competition in college with Sean Bonar, being in the ECHL competing with Eric Hartzell, competing with Joey MacDonald and Robert Mayer in Hamilton, or Dustin [Tokarski] and Ben Scrivens in Montreal, I’m used to it. There’s always going to be somebody. No one is ever going to pat you on the back and say – ‘Hey, here’s the job. It’s yours.’ You have to earn it,” said Condon, who compiled a 21-25-3 record, a 2.71 goals-against average, and a .903 save percentage in 55 outings last season.

When you find yourself in a position like that again and again, you essentially learn to embrace all that comes with it. That’s exactly what Condon has done at every stage of his career so far, and it’s the same approach he plans on sticking to when training camp opens five weeks from now on the South Shore.

“I was never “the guy” ever before. There was always a question mark coming into the year. There was always competition. The one thing I can take from it is that it was all positive,” said Condon, who is looking forward to meeting up with his goaltending counterparts in September. “I have so much to learn from every single goalie. I try to make the best of every situation, and competition brings out the best in everybody. It’s always going to be there.”

Back in his summer home of Sandwich, MA – located on Cape Cod some 60 miles southeast of Boston – Condon has been working with renowned trainer and former MMA fighter Scott Rehm at Pro-Elite Training Center & Fitness in …

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