Eighteen months ago, Connor Ingram was claimed off the scrap heap known as the NHL waiver wire by the Arizona Coyotes. He had already overcome the obsessive-compulsive disorder that almost derailed his NHL career and life, but to that point, he had played all of three NHL games.
And now, he’s the Coyotes’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which goes to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to the game.
He’s also established himself as a legitimate – no, make that very good – NHL goalie. And at the age of 27, he still has good days ahead of him.
Here’s my conversation with Ingram at the Coyotes’ practice facility on Friday (lightly edited for clarity):
Ken Campbell: Congratulations, first of all, on the honor. I mean, it’s very well deserved, obviously.
Connor Ingram: I don’t know if you can say that. I spent six weeks in rehab, and this is what you get for it, so, well, it’s exciting. It’s an honor. We’ll see where it goes.
Ken Campbell: I mean to come back, to be able to get your life back on track, but to come back and accomplish what you’ve accomplished, it proves that once your head is clear and you can concentrate on hockey, you’re capable of doing some pretty good things.
Connor Ingram: Yeah, exactly. I think once you get away, get out of your own head, it makes it easier. I mean now, it’s just back to playing hockey, which is huge. That’s all you can really ask for, I guess, is just, “Clear mind, full heart, can’t lose.” Isn’t that what they say? Friday Night Lights?
Ken Campbell: Something like that. You’ve been very public sharing your story, and obviously, the goal there is to help people that might be in the same boat. Have you noticed an impact from the fact that you’ve gone public? Has there been any sort of response from people saying, “Yeah, you helped me out,” or anything?
Connor Ingram: Yeah, you get the odd message of somebody saying, “Hey, this is what it took for me to get help,” or you get a parent that says, “I showed my child this, and now, they want to talk to somebody, too.” So, I mean, that’s all you can really ask for. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I’m a perfect human being who’s got it figured out. But if somebody else can get help because of me, why not?
Ken Campbell: Back to on the ice, I mean, you’re 27. That’s not old by goaltending standards, right? Like most guys spend a few years in the minors, you know, 24, 25 by the time they break in. You’re a couple years behind that. So I would think that there’s some – on the ice, at least – there’s some pretty hopeful days ahead here.
Connor Ingram: Yeah, I don’t think we’ve hit a ceiling yet. If you can keep working at it, get one percent better every day until you can’t. So we’ll hang on as long as we can.
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News Summary:
- Q&A: Coyotes Ingram's 'Clear Mind' Since OCD Diagnosis Leads to Masterton Nomination
- Check all news and articles from the latest NHL updates.