‘In a way better place’: Oilers’ Connor Ingram ready for huge Game 1 vs. Ducks

EDMONTON — There is a school of thought that wonders if Connor Ingram, whose mental health journey took him through the NHL/NHLPA Players Assistance Program not long ago, can handle the pressure of being a starting goalie in a Canadian market with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations.

Then there’s this way of thinking, from a veteran teammate we’ll not name: “He’s been through a lot of s–t and he’s come through it just fine.”

That player suggests that walking out of the tunnel into a playoff madhouse in Edmonton Monday (Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, 8 p.m. MT / 10 p.m. ET) is nothing compared with to what Ingram has already managed in his life.

“I have OCD. It’s not something where you just take a pill and it goes away,” Ingram said on Sunday, one day before his first playoff start since 2022 with the Nashville Predators. “It’s manageable, for sure, I’m in a way better place than I was for 90 per cent of my life before this, and I have the tools to deal with. I know when it’s coming.”

There’s a tonne of pressure that comes with Ingram’s gig, of course. But what makes Ingram’s battle even more intriguing is, it’s the gig that keeps his obsessive-compulsive disorder in check.

You think he feels the pressure? Try living along in a hotel room through COVID, a scenario that was waaaay more difficult for Ingram than what he’s about to experience.

“I’ve had a lot of bad days in my life, but none of them were ever at the rink,” the 29-year-old said, standing in front of his dressing room stall. “I’ve always said, this is my safe space. This is where I get away from it. This is where you’re so focused on what you’re doing, the rest of it kind of shuts off.

“(This is) a healthy distraction for me for three, four hours a day. It’s where my mind is clear and where I can just be myself and just go do what I enjoy doing.”

Ingram was Plan B for Oilers general manager Stan Bowman back in October, when he learned the Utah Mammoth had rescinded Ingram’s training camp invite. Bowman made a deal with Utah GM Bill Armstrong where the Oilers gave up nothing to acquire Ingram, and the Mammoth retained $800,000 of his $1.95-million salary.

Bowman had been trying to move Stuart Skinner for some time, and had Calvin Pickard as a trusty backup. Ingram was dispatched to Bakersfield to start the season, and scuffled along until — just a few games after being acquired in a regretful Skinner trade — Tristan Jarry got hurt.

Ingram came up, played well, and when Jarry got healthy, it was Pickard hopping on a plane for Bakersfield. Fast forward four months and Ingram is the unquestioned starter, Jarry the undisputed backup, and Skinner started Game 1 of the playoffs for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Hockey’s Uber: Sometimes it picks you up, sometimes it drops you off.

“Hey — when I was in Nashville, they brought in Kevin Lankinen, who had played 100 games and was a starter in Chicago the year before. Like, I understand that. He was probably a better fit at the time. Hockey-wise, it happens,” Ingram said.

“I’m a big boy. I know there are guys out there that are better than I am, and you’re going to lose your job eventually. So at that point, it was just about whatever came next was what you were going to deal with.

“Luckily, it was here in Edmonton, and Stan gave me a chance. I mean, I’ll be forever grateful.”

Ingram’s game has improved steadily since he beat Vegas 4-3 in his first start as an Oiler back on Dec. 21. He’s had perhaps two substandard starts, and as the playoffs have approached and the ship sailed (for now at least) on Jarry as Plan A, Ingram’s consistent game has settled things in Edmonton.

“Rock-solid,” said Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl. “Timely saves. He looks very calm and really in a good space right now.”

It’s a chicken-and-egg thing, the relationship between team defence and goaltending. One can’t be optimum without the other, but we never know which one has to happen first.

As the Anaheim Ducks arrive in Edmonton for their first playoff series in eight springs, they’ll find an Oilers team that has both, fifth in the NHL in goals allowed per game (2.47) since March 15, seventh in team save percentage at .901.

What if Ingram gives the Oilers, say, 10 per cent better goaltending than they received in the past two playoff runs? What would 10 per cent more saves have meant, when you lost in Game 6 and Game 7 in consecutive Cup Finals?

“What if the team was a little tighter? Like, you can do a million things. What if this? What if that?” argued Oilers veteran Adam Henrique. “This is where we’re at, and we know from the past, once you’re in the dance, anything can happen.”

Like a Plan B goalie whose old team quit on him, making us forget (almost) about the worst trade in the National Hockey League this season, standing between the pipes when the puck drops on another Oilers Cup run, starting Monday night.

And how does Igram look at all this?

“It’s just another hockey game.”