Erik Paul Condra[1] (born August 6, 1986) is an American former professional ice hockey forward who played in 372 National Hockey League (NHL) games with the Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Dallas Stars. He is currently a player development coach with the Chicago Blackhawks. Condra played for the University of Notre Dame in the CCHA. Condra was born in Trenton, Michigan, but grew up in Livonia, Michigan.

Erik Condra
Condra (right) with the Ottawa Senators during the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs
Born (1986-08-06) August 6, 1986 (age 38)
Trenton, Michigan, U.S.
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 188 lb (85 kg; 13 st 6 lb)
Position Right wing
Shot Right
Played for Ottawa Senators
SC Riessersee
Tampa Bay Lightning
Dallas Stars
NHL draft 211th overall, 2006
Ottawa Senators
Playing career 2009–2020

Playing career

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Amateur

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As a youth, Condra played in the 2000 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Detroit Honeybaked minor ice hockey team.[2]

Condra played junior hockey with the Texarkana Bandits of the NAHL in 2003–04, where in 56 games, he scored 20 goals and 44 points to lead the club in points. He moved to the Lincoln Stars of the USHL for the 2004–05 season. In 60 games with Lincoln, Condra tied for the team high with 30 goals, while finishing second on the club with 60 points, helping the Stars to a playoff berth. In four post-season games, Condra had two assists.[citation needed]

Condra joined the Notre Dame Fighting Irish of the CCHA for the 2005–06 season. As a freshman, Condra had six goals, and a team high 34 points in 36 games with Notre Dame, and placed him on the All-Rookie team of the CCHA. After the season, the Ottawa Senators drafted Condra with the 211th overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. While at Notre Dame, Condra studied pre-med in psychology.[3]

His offensive numbers improved in the 2006–07, as Condra once again led the Fighting Irish in points, as he scored 14 goals and 48 points in 42 games. In 2007–08, Condra led the team in scoring once again, scoring 15 goals and 38 points in 41 games played. Condra finished his collegiate career in 2008–09, leading Notre Dame in scoring for the fourth consecutive season, as he scored 13 goals and 38 points in 40 games.[citation needed]

Professional

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Ottawa Senators

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After a very successful college career, the Ottawa Senators assigned Condra to their AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Senators for the 2009–10 season. In his first professional season, Condra had 11 goals and 38 points while appearing in all 80 games for the Senators. However, Binghamton failed to reach the playoffs.[citation needed]

Condra began the 2010–11 season with Binghamton, scoring 17 goals and 47 points in 55 games before being called up by the Ottawa Senators. He made his NHL debut on February 15, 2011, recording an assist in a 4–3 shootout loss to the New York Islanders. Condra scored his first NHL goal on February 26, 2011, scoring twice against goaltender Brian Boucher in a 4–1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. He had another two goal game on March 8, 2011, against Martin Brodeur as Ottawa defeated the New Jersey Devils 2–1. In total, Condra registered six goals and 11 points in 26 games with Ottawa. After Ottawa's season concluded, Condra was sent back to Binghamton for their playoff run, where he scored five goals and 17 points in 23 games, as the Senators won the 2011 Calder Cup.[citation needed]

In his first full NHL season, Condra earned a regular roster spot in Ottawa. Though he struggled offensively at times, he established himself as a dependable defensive forward and recorded 8 goals and 25 points in 81 games.[citation needed]

During the 2012 NHL Lockout, Condra spent time with the Fussen Leopards, a third division club in Germany.[4] After dominating at that level, he moved up to the second-tier league Eishockey-Bundesliga, joining fellow NHLers Matt D'Agostini and Rick DiPietro with SC Riessersee.[5]

Tampa Bay Lightning

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On July 1, 2015, Condra signed a three-year deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning, which has a $1.25 million annual average. Condra has previous ties to Lightning head coach Jon Cooper, who he played for while Cooper was coach of Texarkana of the NAHL.[6] On October 8, 2015, Condra played in his 300th career NHL game in a 3–2 OT Lightning victory over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers. Condra also took part in the first ever 3 on 3 regular season overtime game under the new overtime format during that same game.[7]

On March 17, 2017, Condra was named the captain of the Syracuse Crunch. Condra became the 16th full-time captain in Crunch franchise history and the third since Syracuse became the affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2012.[8]

Dallas Stars

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After three seasons within the Lightning organization, Condra left as a free agent and agreed to a one-year, two-way contract with the Dallas Stars on July 1, 2018.[9] After attending Dallas' training camp, Condra was placed on waivers and reassigned to AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars to begin the 2018–19 season. As an alternate captain with Texas, Condra added a top-line veteran scoring presence. On January 4, 2019, Condra was recalled by Dallas and appeared in his first NHL game since 2017, in a 2–1 overtime victory over the Washington Capitals.[10] He notched his first goal, providing the Stars only goal in a 3–1 defeat to the St. Louis Blues on January 12, 2019.[11] After 6 games and with the Stars returning to health, Condra was returned for the remainder of the season to Texas. He led the team in regular season scoring with 20 goals and 54 points in 71 games.

Colorado Eagles

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As a free agent from the Stars, Condra agreed to continue his career in the AHL, signing a one-year contract with the Colorado Eagles, affiliate to the Colorado Avalanche, on July 22, 2019.[12] In his final professional season, Condra added a veteran presence to the Eagles while continued his scoring output in registering 16 goals and 35 points in 53 regular season games before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coaching career

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On November 23, 2020, Condra was hired by the Chicago Blackhawks as a player development coach.[13]

Personal life

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Condra spent three years at Detroit Catholic Central High School before graduating from Texas High School in Texarkana, Texas.[14]

Condra comes from a family of Notre Dame alumnus; his cousin Anders Bjork, along with his uncle Kirt, played hockey there.[15][16] Anders was drafted 146th overall by the Boston Bruins in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft and currently plays for the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL.

Career statistics

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2002–03 Honeybaked 18U AAA 18U AAA 74 20 64 84 56
2003–04 Texarkana Bandits NAHL 56 20 24 44 71
2004–05 Lincoln Stars USHL 60 30 30 60 56 4 0 2 2 4
2005–06 Notre Dame University CCHA 36 6 28 34 32
2006–07 Notre Dame University CCHA 42 14 34 48 18
2007–08 Notre Dame University CCHA 41 15 23 38 26
2008–09 Notre Dame University CCHA 40 13 25 38 34
2009–10 Binghamton Senators AHL 80 11 27 38 61
2010–11 Binghamton Senators AHL 55 17 30 47 28 23 5 12 17 8
2010–11 Ottawa Senators NHL 26 6 5 11 12
2011–12 Ottawa Senators NHL 81 8 17 25 30 7 1 0 1 0
2012–13 EV Füssen GER.3 7 8 11 19 2
2012–13 SC Riessersee GER.2 10 10 5 15 8
2012–13 Ottawa Senators NHL 48 4 8 12 34 10 1 6 7 2
2013–14 Ottawa Senators NHL 76 6 10 16 30
2014–15 Ottawa Senators NHL 68 9 14 23 30 6 1 0 1 0
2015–16 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 54 6 5 11 34 3 0 0 0 0
2016–17 Syracuse Crunch AHL 55 15 33 48 37 18 5 11 16 22
2016–17 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 13 0 0 0 4
2017–18 Syracuse Crunch AHL 48 9 16 25 57 7 0 5 5 6
2018–19 Texas Stars AHL 71 20 34 54 64
2018–19 Dallas Stars NHL 6 1 0 1 2
2019–20 Colorado Eagles AHL 53 16 19 35 56
NHL totals 372 40 59 99 176 26 3 6 9 2

Awards and honors

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Award Year
College
All-CCHA Rookie Team 2005–06
CCHA All-Tournament Team 2007 [17]
All-CCHA Second team 2008–09 [18]
AHCA West Second-Team All-American 2008–09
AHL
Calder Cup (Binghamton Senators) 2011

References

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  1. ^ "Ellen Reynolds engaged to Erik Condra". ncadvertiser.com. 2015-04-05. Archived from the original on 2015-07-02. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
  2. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  3. ^ "Getting to know ... Senators forward Erik Condra". Ottawa Senators. 2009-10-02. Retrieved 2011-04-15.
  4. ^ "Sens leaving on a jet plane". Ottawa Citizen. 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2012-10-20.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Condra moving up to SC Riessersee of Germany's second tier pro league". silversevensens.com. 2012-11-12. Archived from the original on 2014-08-21. Retrieved 2012-11-12.
  6. ^ Smith, Joe (July 1, 2015). "Erik Condra signs three-year deal with Lightning". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on July 29, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  7. ^ Long, Corey (October 8, 2015). "Lightning defeat Flyers in NHL's first 3-on-3 OT". NHL.com. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  8. ^ "Erik Condra named Syracuse Crunch captain". syracusecrunch.com. Syracuse Crunch. March 17, 2017. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  9. ^ "Stars sign Erik Condra to a one-year deal". Dallas Stars. 2018-07-01. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
  10. ^ "Seguin scores twice for Stars in OT victory over Capitals". National Hockey League. January 4, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  11. ^ "Binnington wins third straight". National Hockey League. January 12, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  12. ^ "Eagles add veteran forward Erik Condra". Colorado Eagles. July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  13. ^ "Blackhawks' front office hirings make Kendall Coyne Schofield team's first female development coach". Chicago Sun Times. November 23, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  14. ^ "ERIK CONDRA". und.com. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  15. ^ John Heisler (April 7, 2017). "The Bjorks: Hockey Is the Family Business". und.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2018. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  16. ^ Russo, Eric (July 31, 2018). "Impact is Lasting for Bjork, Notre Dame". NHL.com. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  17. ^ "2012–13 CCHA Media Guide". ISSUU.com. Retrieved 2014-04-23.
  18. ^ "All-CCHA Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved 2013-07-27.
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by Terry Flanagan Memorial Award
2008–09
Succeeded by
Aaron Lewicki