Officially listed at 5 feet 8 inches and 160 pounds, forward Conor Garland of the Tucson Roadrunners knows that when he makes an NHL roster — and if you ask him, it’s when, not if — it won’t be because of his physical prowess.
But if nothing else, Garland is proof that one doesn’t have to be big to play big.
Garland leads the Roadrunners into a two-game road set with the Colorado Eagles as the American Hockey League’s reigning player of the week, following his two-goal, five-assist outburst in road wins over the Ontario Reign and San Diego Gulls last weekend.
Garland catapulted to the top of the Roadrunners’ scoring charts with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) while suiting up for seven of Tucson’s first eight games.
“The game can be easy when you have two good wingers,” Garland said Thursday, deflecting credit to linemates Mario Kempe and David Ullstrom, just minutes before the Roadrunners hopped on a plane from Tucson to Denver, where they’d then trek the 56 miles to Loveland.
Garland came as close as could be during training camp to earning that coveted first NHL promotion. He scored a pair of goals in the preseason with the Coyotes, and was one of the last remaining players to be sent to Tucson before hitting the Coyotes’ injured reserve list with an upper body injury.
“I felt good about my game, but (the injury) made me just kind of hit the brakes on it,” he said. “But coming down here and trying to help this team win is my goal right now — and getting ready again for when I do get that (NHL) chance.”
Once he recovered and got to Tucson early last month, Garland has seemingly turned back the clock to his days as the marquee scorer on Canada’s Major Junior Hockey circuit.
In the two seasons before he joined the Roadrunners at the start of the 2016-17 season, Garland starred for the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He led the QMJHL in scoring in 2014-15 (35 goals, 94 assists and 129 points in 67 games) and 2015-16 (39-89-128, in 62 games). He was named the league’s MVP during the 2013-14 campaign.
While Garland has been productive on offense in spurts with the Roadrunners, that kind of firepower hasn’t really been his calling card until recently. In his first AHL season, Garland spent significant time at the back of the Roadrunners’ offensive rotation. He wasn’t afforded the chance to contribute much on the power play, adding that his role was primarily “outside the top six” forwards.
In year two, Garland’s opportunities increased, and so did his scoring output as the Roadrunners became the AHL’s top Western Conference finisher. He improved from a five-goal, 14-point campaign in 55 games in 2016-17, to eight and 27 last year.
“Last year we had some guys who were some of the top players in the league,” he said. “I knew my role as an energy guy, and try to make plays when I can.”
This season, at this pace, he may just eclipse those numbers by the new year — that is, if he’s still in a Roadrunners jersey.
Garland’s size is likely to always be one factor that determines his viability as an NHL player. Case in point: If Garland were to, say, earn a call-up to the Arizona Coyotes tomorrow, he’d instantly be among the smallest players in the 31-team NHL. At 20-to-23 players per roster, that’s around 600 total players, with just nine at 5-8 or shorter, and even fewer around the 160-pound mark.
But those odds have never deterred the now-22-year-old before. Why would they now?
“The NHL is the best league in the world, the hardest league to make, so it takes a lot,” Garland said. “You have to show you can play every game, do it the right way. The details. The structure. Every night.”
The Roadrunners and Eagles hit the ice both Friday and Saturday at 6:05 p.m. The Eagles, who play at the Budweiser Events Center, are the AHL’s newest team, joining the AAA ranks after winning the AA ECHL title each of the past two seasons.
