June 25, 2006
Vancouver, B.C. – Notre Dame freshman hockey standout Erik Condra (Livonia, Mich.) closed out his outstanding rookie season on Saturday evening by being selected in the seventh round, 211th overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 2006 National Hockey League’s Entry Draft at GM Place.
Condra, who led Notre Dame in scoring last season from his right wing spot, was the lone Irish player selected in the draft and one of 15 players with ties to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association to be selected in this year’s draft. He joins 2004 selections Wes O’Neill (Sr., Essex, Ont.), a fourth-round pick of the New York Islanders and David Brown (Sr., Stoney Creek, Ont.), a seventh-round selection by Pittsburgh and incoming freshman defenseman Kyle Lawson (New Hudson, Mich.) who was selected in the seventh round by Carolina in 2005.
Born August 6, 1986, Condra became the first Notre Dame freshman to lead the Irish in scoring since Jamie Ling `97 did it in 1992 with 40 points. This past season, Condra scored six goals and had a team best 28 assists on the way to a 34-point campaign. Three of Condra’s goals came on the power play and one was a game winner. He finished second on the squad with 19 points (3g, 16a) via the power play. The 5-11, 184-pound right wing was selected Notre Dame’s rookie of the year for his first season and was a finalist for CCHA rookie-of-the-year honors. He was selected to the conference’s all-rookie team as his 34-points led all CCHA rookies in scoring and tied for the eighth-best total in the nation among freshmen.
Condra came to Notre Dame after playing for the USHL’s Lincoln Stars in 2004-05 where he scored 30 goals and added 30 assists for 60 points to finish second on the team in scoring and eighth in the league’s scoring race. He committed to the Irish in March of 2004 while playing for the Texarkana Bandits of the North American Hockey League and is a product of the Honeybaked junior program in Detroit.
Condra is the nephew of 1983 Notre Dame hockey All-American Kirt Bjork `83 and is the second Irish hockey player drafted by the Ottawa Senators, following defenseman Neil Komadoski `04 who was selected by Ottawa in the third round, 81st overall in the 2001 Entry Draft. He has played the last two seasons for Ottawa’s top farm team, the Binghamton Senators.