Four months ago, Connor Ingram had some of the worst numbers in the AHL. As much as he wanted to return to the NHL, it just didn’t seem plausible.
But if there’s one thing the 28-year-old has learned thus far in his pro hockey career, it’s that the odds don’t apply to him.
It took a trade and a subsequent injury to land him back in the NHL. And on Tuesday, as one of the most important players on the Edmonton Oilers, he prepares to face his former Utah Mammoth for the first time.
“It’s been good,” he told the Deseret News after Tuesday’s morning skate at the Delta Center. “I mean, it’s a good hockey team, it’s just a good place to play. Get to play a lot.
“You look at the success they’ve had over the last couple of years. I mean, the last three years, I’ve played on a team that was openly losing hockey games. So it’s nice to play somewhere competitive.”
The Utah chapter of Ingram’s life didn’t go as smoothly as he’d hoped.
A month and a half into the team’s inaugural season, he took a leave of absence to be with his mother, who was nearing the end of her battle with terminal breast cancer. He returned to the team when he was ready, but would soon take another leave — this time to reenter the player assistance program.
It was a challenging situation for both Ingram and the then-Utah Hockey Club. If it had been a forward or a defenseman who needed time off, they could have easily replaced him. But losing your starting goalie can derail an entire season.
That was the main reason Karel Vejmelka started 23 consecutive games in the final weeks of the season.
When the season ended, management had a tough call to make.
The team placed him on waivers as soon as he was eligible. Shortly after he cleared, they traded him to the Edmonton Oilers for future considerations, and retained $800,000 of his salary.
But he doesn’t resent the fans, who showed him support when they congregated during the intermission of a game to write him more than 150 letters of support after he entered the player assistance program.
Life in Edmonton
Connor and his wife, Sarah, have lived in six different houses in the last year. They’re glad to finally be settled in Edmonton, which happens to be the closest NHL city to his hometown of Imperial, Saskatchewan (though he didn’t cheer for the Oilers growing up — he was simply a José Théodore fan).
He doesn’t get to go home during the season, but he gets plenty of visitors who make the seven-hour drive to see him play.
After several years of facing Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on a regular basis, he loves being their teammate.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “I mean, yeah, it’s something that will be cool forever, you know, you played with two of the top — what do you want to say, top-three, top-five (hockey players in the world) — however you slot them in there. It’s pretty cool.”
Lots of players struggle with the pressure of a big market, and although Ingram prefers to fly under the radar, he hasn’t minded the attention.
“I’ve had a lot less problems there than I have here, for sure,” he said. “I’ve found it easier.
“... It’s different, obviously. Obviously, Rogers (Place) is such a nice place. It’s loud and people are into it,” he said. “People know what’s going on. It’s a lot of fun. It’s a cool place to play.”
Ingram will back up Tristan Jarry on Tuesday in Salt Lake City.
