Feb. 15, 2011
Ottawa, Ont. – Former Notre Dame All-American right wing Erik Condra `09 has been recalled by the Ottawa Senators and will be in the lineup on Tuesday night when the Senators play host to the New York Islanders at Scotiabank Place.
The 24-year old Condra has been playing for Ottawa’s top farm team, the Binghamton Senators of the American Hockey League, the past two seasons, and will be seeing his first action in the National Hockey League.
With Binghamton, the Livonia, Mich., native played in 54 games and was second on the team in scoring and 11th overall in the AHL with 17 goals and 29 assists for 46 points. He also is tops on the team with a +19 that ranked him among the top 10 among players in the AHL. As a rookie in 2009-10, Condra played in all 80 games, scoring 11 goals and 27 assists for 38 points and 61 minutes in penalties.
Selected in the seventh round, 211th overall, in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Condra is looking forward to his big night.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s what you dream of when you’re a little kid,” Condra told Rob Brodie of OttawaSenators.com.
“There are points in your life when you don’t think it can come about, but you just keep plugging along. Once it’s finally here, it’s exciting and words can’t describe it.”
Condra will play on a line with Zack Smith and Ryan Shannon versus the Islanders and his new coach, Cory Clouston, gave OttawaSenators.com a scouting report on his newest player.
“He’s had a very good season down there (Binghamton),” Clouston told Brodie following the team’s pre-game skate today.
“I thought when he played in a couple of exhibition games for us, he showed a level of intelligence that all the coaches liked. He played well. He’s gone down there (Binghamton) and done everything you could ask of him. (Condra) has contributed offensively; he’s been a leader in the dressing room; he’s done a good job on the penalty kill and a good job on the defensive end. Speaking to everyone down there, he’s been a real good player in all areas.”
At Notre Dame, Condra served as captain of the 2008-09 team that won the CCHA regular season and tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, finishing the year with a 31-6-3 record. A second team All-American that season, Condra led the Irish with 15 goals and 23 assists for 38 points and also was an ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-American on the At-Large team, becoming the first Irish hockey player to be named to both teams in a single season.
He also was a member of the first Irish team to win the CCHA titles, winning those championships as a sophomore in 2006-07.
For his career, the 6-0, 195-pound Condra led the Irish in scoring all for seasons and finished with 48 goals and 110 assists for 158 points. He ranks 13th on the all-time points list while his 110 assists are the seventh-highest mark in the program’s history. He is just one of 10 players in Notre Dame hockey history to have over 100 assists in his career.
He becomes the seventh former Notre Dame player to see action in the National Hockey League this year as he joins Mark Eaton (New York Islanders), Brett Lebda `04 (Toronto Maple Leafs), Christian Hanson `09 (Toronto Maple Leafs), Kyle Palmieri (Anaheim Ducks), Ian Cole (St. Louis Blues) and Tim Wallace `06 (Pittsburgh Penguins).