Mathieu Garon

Mathieu Garon
Garon with the Lightning in 2012.
Born	(1978-01-09) January 9, 1978 Chandler, Quebec, Canada
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 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 with the Penguins in 2009.

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. 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.

Garon with Columbus in 2010.

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.

Garon relieved Fleury in Game 5 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals.

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. 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.

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).

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	—

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database, or TSN.ca