Contents
* 1 Playing career
* 2 Career statistics
o 2.1 Regular season
o 2.2 Playoffs
* 3 References
* 4 External links
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 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.
After being drafted by the Canadiens in the second round in 1996, Garon spent the next five seasons 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. He played 19 games behind José Théodore that season, posting an 8-6 record, a 2.27 goals against average (GAA) and .921 save percentage.
In the summer of 2004 Garon was traded with a 3rd 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 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] He split time with incumbent starter Dwayne Roloson and Garon's strong play earned him 47 starts through which he posted 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]
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' 4th round pick in the 2011 NHL draft.[3] 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 7-game rematch of the previous year's final. Garon's only appearance in the playoffs came in Game 5 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.
Career statistics
Regular season
Season Team League GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1995-96 Victoriaville Tigres QMJHL 51 18 27 — 2709 189 1 4.19 —
1996-97 Victoriaville Tigres QMJHL 53 29 18 — 3032 150 6 2.97 .909
1997–98 Victoriaville Tigres QMJHL 47 27 18 — 2802 125 5 2.68 .909
1998-99 Fredericton Canadiens AHL 40 14 22 — 2222 114 3 3.08 .904
1999-00 Quebec Citadelles AHL 53 17 28 — 2884 149 2 3.10 .898
2000–01 Quebec Citadelles AHL 31 16 13 — 1768 86 1 2.92 .920
2000–01 Montreal Canadiens NHL 11 4 5 — 589 24 2 2.44 .897
2001–02 Quebec Citadelles AHL 50 21 15 — 2988 136 2 2.73 .918
2001–02 Montreal Canadiens NHL 5 1 4 — 261 19 0 4.37 .871
2002–03 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 20 15 2 — 1150 34 4 1.77 .937
2002–03 Montreal Canadiens NHL 8 3 5 — 482 16 2 1.99 .940
2003–04 Montreal Canadiens NHL 19 8 6 — 1003 38 0 2.27 .921
2004–05 Manchester Monarchs AHL 52 32 14 — 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
NHL totals 239 106 92 16 13010 615 16 2.84 .904
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