Mike Connolly

Mike Connolly
Date of birth	3rd July 1989
place of birth	Calgary , Alberta , Canada
size	176 cm
Weight	82 kg
position	Left wing
number	# 22
Shot hand	Left
Career stations
2006-2008	Camrose Kodiaks
2008-2011	University of Minnesota Duluth
2011–2012	Worcester Sharks
2012-2013	Lake Erie Monsters
2013-2015	Augsburg panther
since 2015	Straubing Tigers

Mike Connolly (born July 3, 1989 in Calgary , Alberta ) is a Canadian ice hockey player who has been playing for the Straubing Tigers in the German Ice Hockey League since 2015 .

Career

Mike Connolly played for the Camrose Kodiaks in the Alberta Junior Hockey League between 2006 and 2008 . The player was in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft eligible for selection, however, was by no franchise of the National Hockey League selected (NHL). Starting in 2008, the offensive player attended the University of Minnesota Duluth for three years and was active in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) for their Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs ice hockey team .

With the Bulldogs he won the WCHA championship in the 2008/09 season after the team won the final game against the Denver Pioneers 4-0. Mike Connolly achieved 42 scorer points in 43 games this season and was elected to the WCHA All- Rookie Team. In the 2010/11 season, the Bulldogs won a participation in the "Frozen Four", the final tournament for the national championship of the university and college sports league National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs won the tournament after beating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Michigan Wolverines . Connolly was also elected to the WCHA First All-Star Team and the NCAA West Second All-American Team this season.

A few days after the NCAA success, Mike Connolly signed an entry-level contract with the San Jose Sharks on April 15, 2011 . The Canadian was then sent to San Jose's farm team Worcester Sharks in the American Hockey League , where he became a regular with the start of the 2011/12 AHL season .

Shortly before the end of the transfer window in February 2012, Connolly was transferred from the San Jose Sharks to the Colorado Avalanche along with Jamie McGinn and Michael Sgarbossa . In return, San Jose received the players Daniel Winnik , TJ Galiardi and a seven-round vote for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft . As a result, Connolly played two games for Colorado's farm team Lake Erie Monsters in the American Hockey League before he was called to the Avalanche squad and played his first game in the National Hockey League on March 4, 2012. After another NHL assignment, he was sent back to the Monsters, where he spent the rest of the game. After a knee operation while preparing for the 2012/13 season , the Canadian started the season badly, but was able to improve over the course of it. Nevertheless, his expiring contract was not extended.

On July 18, 2013, the Augsburg Panthers announced the attacker's commitment, for which he was active in the German Ice Hockey League until 2015 . In the 2013/14 season he quickly established himself as the center of the first row of attacks and, with 42 scorer points, was the second-best scorer within the team. Therefore, in February 2014, he received a one-year contract extension. In the following season, due to a torn cruciate ligament, he only made 22 appearances in the DEL and left the club at the end of the season for Straubing Tigers .

Achievements and Awards

• 2009 Broadmoor Trophy win with the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
• 2009 WCHA all rookie team
• 2011 NCAA Championship with the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
• 2011 WCHA First All-Star Team
• 2011 NCAA West Second All-American Team

Career statistics

				Regular season							Play-offs
season	team	league		GP	G	A.	Pts	+/-	PIM		GP	G	A.	Pts	+/-	PIM
2006-07	Camrose Kodiaks	AJHL		47	18th	30th	48		79		17th	7th	13	20th		28
2007-08	Camrose Kodiaks	AJHL		37	25th	41	66		39		12	3	5	8th		38
2008-09	University of Minnesota Duluth	WCHA		43	13	29	42	+11	53
2009-10	University of Minnesota Duluth	WCHA		38	14th	26th	40	± 0	24
2010-11	University of Minnesota Duluth	WCHA		42	28	26th	54	+22	59
2011-12	Worcester Sharks	AHL		40	10	20th	30th	+4	26th		-	-	-	-	-	-
	Lake Erie Monsters	AHL		13	3	4th	7th	+4	4th		-	-	-	-	-	-
2011-12	Colorado Avalanche	NHL		2	0	0	0	± 0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
2012–13	Lake Erie Monsters	AHL		65	9	14th	23	−3	21st		-	-	-	-	-	-
2013-14	Augsburg panther	DEL		52	14th	28	42	−15	76		-	-	-	-	-	-
2014–15	Augsburg panther	DEL		22nd	4th	7th	11	−3	30th		-	-	-	-	-	-
2015–16	Straubing Tigers	DEL		49	8th	27	35	−1	48		7th	0	0	0	−4	6th
2016–17	Straubing Tigers	DEL		52	9	39	48	−8	53		2	0	1	1	−1	0
AJHL total				84	43	71	114		118		29	10	18th	28		66
WCHA overall				123	55	81	136	+33	136
AHL total				118	22nd	38	60	+5	51		-	-	-	-	-	-
DEL total				175	35	101	136	−27	207		9	0	1	1	−5	6th

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; ¹  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

• Mike Connolly at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Mike Connolly at eurohockey.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ sharks.nhl.com, Sharks Sign Free Agent Forward Mike Connolly. San Jose Sharks , April 15, 2011, accessed March 12, 2012 . 
2. ^ Avalanche.nhl.com , Avalanche acquires McGinn, Connolly, Sgarbossa from San Jose. Colorado Avalanche , February 27, 2012, accessed March 12, 2012 . 
3. ↑ avalanche.nhl.com, Avalanche 2, Wild 0. (No longer available online.) Associated Press , March 4, 2012, archived from the original on July 29, 2012 ; accessed on March 12, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ aev-panther.de Panthers are complete: Mike Connolly moves to Augsburg
5. ↑ Next important contract extension: Panther also keep Connolly ( German ) aev-panther.de. February 23, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
6. ↑ Tigers bring attackers Connolly and Bayda as well as defender Jobke from Augsburg . straubing-tigers.de. March 26, 2015. Archived from the original on March 28, 2015. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved June 4, 2015.