Some think being a professional athlete is glamorous, especially in the big leagues. They think everyone is pampered and taken care of, getting paid to play a simple game.

Yet, they seem to forget that these athletes are human, too.

Edmonton Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram is a prime example of how, sometimes, even someone who’s living out their dream deals with problems just like everyone else.

While a member of the Arizona Coyotes in 2021, Ingram entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, helping with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. He returned to the team, and eventually went on to be awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to the game.

However, the Saskatoon native’s battles didn’t stop. Last season, dealt with depression after the passing of his mother, Joni, to breast cancer in December. It led to Ingram re-entering the program in March, with the netminder being cleared to return to the NHL this past August.

In an interview with Joe Smith of The Athletic, Ingram was blunt on how the player assistance program was necessary in not only returning the game he loved, but also keeping him alive.

“I probably wasn’t going to make it unless I did it,” Ingram said. “I definitely wouldn’t be playing hockey anymore.”

Ingram was receiving therapy three times a week while in Utah last year. There was a time when his wife, Sarah, feared for her husband’s well-being, insisting that she ride along with him to and from and the rink.

“Genuine fear that he might crash his car,” Sarah said. “Very dark, but very real things. There were genuine concerns, and when it’s the person you love the most in the world, I would do anything to keep him safe.”

Connor noted how Sarah’s awareness helped push him to receive the help he needed to get better once again.

“There’s dark days and, especially with depression, there’s days where you don’t feel like doing anything, and you’re definitely a little bit of danger to yourself,” Ingram said. “She has been around me enough to know when that was happening.”

It looked like Ingram was going to start the 2025-26 campaign with the Utah Mammoth’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, after he was put on waivers in mid-September. Even though he was unclaimed, Ingram was later acquired by the Oilers for future considerations.

Ingram wasn’t sure if he’d ever get a chance to play in the NHL again, let alone succeed. His numbers with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors weren’t anything to tout, a 4-5-2 record, with a 4.04 goals-against average and a .856 save percentage. Yet, when Tristan Jarry went down last month, and placed on injured reserve, Ingram was called up to Edmonton.

The 28-year-old’s first game with the Oilers came against the Vegas Golden Knights on Dec. 21. When facing a barrage of shots, including a key save on Golden Knights forward Pavel Dorofeyev on the penalty kill,  Ingram realized he could still keep up with the best in the NHL.