Mathieu Garon

Mathieu Garon

Garon with the Lightning in 2012.
Born (1978-01-09) January 9, 1978
Chandler, QC, CAN
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 193 lb (88 kg; 13 st 11 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Right
Played for Montreal Canadiens
Los Angeles Kings
Edmonton Oilers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Columbus Blue Jackets
Tampa Bay Lightning
Avangard Omsk (KHL)
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 44th overall, 1996
Montreal Canadiens
Playing career 1997–2014

Mathieu Carol Garon (born January 9, 1978) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey Goaltender who played for Avangard Omsk in the Kontinental Hockey League. Garon has played for the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets and Tampa Bay Lightning. Garon was a member of the 2009 Pittsburgh Stanley Cup championship squad. Garon was drafted 44th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Garon spent his junior career with the Victoriaville Tigres of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). In three seasons with the Tigres, Garon posted a 74-63-5 record. At the conclusion of the 1997-98 season, the last of his junior career, he won the Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy as the best goaltender in the QMJHL and was named to the QMJHL First All-Star Team. He was also named CHL Goaltender of the Year as the top goalie in Canadian major-junior hockey and to the CHL First All-Star team. Garon also played for Team Canada at the 1998 World Junior Championships in Finland when Canada finished eighth behind Kazakhstan.

After being drafted by the Canadiens in the second round in 1996, Garon spent the first five seasons of his professional career playing primarily with the Canadiens' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliates, which included the Fredericton Canadiens, the Quebec Citadelles, and the Hamilton Bulldogs. He was called up for brief stints with the Canadiens before he won the full-time back-up job with the team for the 2003–04 season. Garon played 19 games behind José Théodore that season, posting an 8-6-2 record, a 2.27 goals against average (GAA) and .921 save percentage.

In the summer of 2004 Garon was traded with a third-round draft pick to the Los Angeles Kings for Radek Bonk and Cristobal Huet. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout he played with the Kings' AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, posting an impressive 32-14-4 record, 2.12 GAA, .927 save percentage and 8 shutouts. This helped earn him the starting job with the Kings when NHL play resumed for the 2005–06 season. However, Garon struggled in the number one role and was relegated to the back-up position for the 2006–07 season.

Following the 2006–07 season, Garon became an unrestricted free agent and on July 3, 2007, signed a two-year, $2.2 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers.[1] Garon split time with incumbent starter Dwayne Roloson and his strong play earned him 47 appearances through which he posted a 2.66 GAA, .913 save percentage, and 4 shutouts. Despite his efforts, the Oilers failed to qualify for the playoffs. However, Garon earned praise for going a perfect 10-0 in shootouts that season, stopping a remarkable 30 of 32 shot attempts in the process.[2]

Garon was named to Canada's roster for the 2008 IIHF World Championship in Quebec City and Halifax, although he did not receive any playing time behind Cam Ward and Pascal Leclaire as Canada won the silver medal.[3]

Garon relieved Fleury in Game 5 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals.
Mathieu Garon with the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2008–09 season.

Roloson re-emerged as Edmonton's undisputed starter in 2008–09 and on January 17, 2009 Garon was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Ryan Stone, Dany Sabourin, and the Penguins' fourth-round pick in the 2011 NHL draft.[4] Garon saw limited action behind starter Marc-André Fleury, who backstopped the Penguins to their third Stanley Cup championship, defeating the Detroit Red Wings in a seven-game rematch of the previous year's final. Garon's only appearance in the playoffs came in game five of the finals in relief of Fleury.

Garon during the 2010–11 season, then a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

On July 1, 2009, Garon again became an unrestricted free agent and signed a two-year deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets, worth $1.2 million per season. In his first season with the Blue Jackets, Garon appeared in 35 games and posted a 12-9-6 record backing-up Steve Mason, the winner of the 2009 Calder Memorial Trophy.

Garon signed a two-year/$2.6 million contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning on July 1, 2011. This makes the second team in which both Garon and fellow goaltender Dwayne Roloson play for the same team (the first being Edmonton).[5]

Due to lack of interest from NHL teams in the offseason, Garon pursued a career in the KHL, signing with the Avangard Omsk.

Career statistics

Regular season

   
Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1995–96 Victoriaville Tigres QMJHL 51 18 27 0 2709 189 1 4.19 —
1996-97 Victoriaville Tigres QMJHL 53 29 18 3 3032 150 6 2.97 .909
1997–98 Victoriaville Tigres QMJHL 47 27 18 2 2802 125 5 2.68 .909
1998–99 Fredericton Canadiens AHL 40 14 22 2 2222 114 3 3.08 .904
1999–2000 Quebec Citadelles AHL 53 17 28 3 2884 149 2 3.10 .898
2000–01 Quebec Citadelles AHL 31 16 13 1 1768 86 1 2.92 .920
2000–01 Montreal Canadiens NHL 11 4 5 1 589 24 2 2.44 .897
2001–02 Quebec Citadelles AHL 50 21 15 12 2988 136 2 2.73 .918
2001–02 Montreal Canadiens NHL 5 1 4 0 261 19 0 4.37 .871
2002–03 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 20 15 2 2 1150 34 4 1.77 .937
2002–03 Montreal Canadiens NHL 8 3 5 0 482 16 2 1.99 .940
2003–04 Montreal Canadiens NHL 19 8 6 2 1003 38 0 2.27 .921
2004–05 Manchester Monarchs AHL 52 32 14 4 2969 105 8 2.12 .927
2005–06 Los Angeles Kings NHL 63 31 26 3 3446 185 4 3.22 .894
2006–07 Los Angeles Kings NHL 32 13 10 6 1779 79 2 2.66 .907
2007–08 Edmonton Oilers NHL 47 26 18 1 2658 118 4 2.66 .913
2008–09 Edmonton Oilers NHL 15 6 8 0 815 43 0 3.17 .895
2008–09 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 4 2 1 0 206 10 0 2.91 .894
2009–10 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 35 12 9 6 1771 83 2 2.81 .903
2010–11 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 36 10 14 6 1938 88 3 2.72 .901
2011–12 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 48 23 16 4 2484 118 1 2.85 .901
2012–13 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 18 5 9 2 910 44 0 2.90 .897
2013–14 Avangard Omsk KHL 18 5 9 4 1096 43 0 2.35 .900
NHL totals 341 144 131 31 18341 865 20 2.83 .903
AHL totals 246 115 94 24 13981 624 20 2.68 .915
QMJHL totals 151 74 63 5 8543 464 12 3.26 —

Playoffs

   
Season Team League GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1995–96 Victoriaville Tigres QMJHL 12 7 4 676 38 1 3.37 —
1996–97 Victoriaville Tigres QMJHL 6 2 4 330 23 0 4.18 —
1997–98 Victoriaville Tigres QMJHL 6 2 4 345 22 0 3.83 —
1998–99 Fredericton Canadiens AHL 6 1 1 208 12 0 3.46 .911
1999–2000 Quebec Citadelles AHL 1 0 0 20 3 0 9.00 .833
2000–01 Quebec Citadelles AHL 8 4 4 459 22 1 2.88 .933
2001–02 Quebec Citadelles AHL 3 0 3 198 12 0 3.64 .874
2003–04 Montreal Canadiens NHL 1 0 0 12 0 0 0.00 1.000
2004–05 Manchester Monarchs AHL 6 2 4 285 17 0 3.58 .893
2008–09 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 1 0 0 24 0 0 0.00 1.000
NHL totals 2 0 0 36 0 0 0.00 1.000
AHL totals 24 7 12 1170 66 1 3.38 .910
QMJHL totals 24 11 12 1351 83 1 3.69 —

Coaching Career

After Mathieu Garon retired, he began to coach is Son at Ice Sports Forum for the Brandon Jr. Bulls. He Coached the team for 2 years, his son moved to the Tampa Scorpions for the 2016-17 season.

References

  1. ↑ "Oilers sign free agent goaltender Mathieu Garon". Oilers.NHL.com. 2007-07-03. Retrieved 2009-01-17.
  2. ↑ "Oilers' Garon ties shootout record". TSN. 2008-03-03. Retrieved 2010-12-10.
  3. ↑ "Canadian roster takes shape for world championship". TSN. 2008-04-25. Retrieved 2010-12-15.
  4. ↑ "Oilers trade Garon to Penguins for Sabourin". CBC Sports. 2009-01-17. Retrieved 2009-01-17.
  5. ↑ "TSN Free Agent Tracker". The Sports Network. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
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