Connolly finally fit in with Capitals
Former first-round draft pick from Prince George found a home with third NHL team
Brett Connolly, Stanley Cup champion.
It’s hard to truly fathom what those five words together must mean to the 26-year-old forward from Prince George, considering the topsy-turvy ride that’s taken him to the top of the hockey world with the Washington Capitals.
“It would be nice if you got drafted by a team, and you went there and you played well, and you had a coach that liked you — but it doesn’t work out that way for a lot of players,” said Connolly, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s sixth overall choice in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft who made a brief stop with the Boston Bruins before finding a home with the Capitals.
“It’s just the right fit for me now. Tampa Bay wasn’t meant to be. Boston was a nightmare. It happens. It happens to so many players. It happens to so many people in their jobs,” he said.
“There were times that I doubted myself. There were a couple of years that it got really, really tough, but you just keep plugging away. I was lucky, too, because I’ve had a lot of great support.”
Connolly was born in Campbell River and grew up largely in Prince George. His hometown Prince George Cougars took him in the first round of the 2007 WHL bantam draft, and Connolly would go on to score 30 goals in his first full season with the club in 2008-09, becoming the first 16-year-old to accomplish that feat in the WHL since Patrick Marleau in 199596.
Prince George city council declared “Brett Connolly Day” in the city the following September.
Connolly was highly touted for the 2010 NHL draft, but a hip injury limited him to a mere 16 games with the Cougars in his draft year. The Lightning still took him sixth overall, ahead of Jeff Skinner and Cam Fowler.
But things didn’t work out in Tampa Bay. The Lightning traded him to the Boston Bruins in March 2015 for two second-round draft picks.
Things again didn’t work in Boston, where he broke a finger in his first practice with the team and it required surgery. The Bruins didn’t even qualify Connolly after the 2015-16 season.
In July 2016, Connolly signed a one-year, $850,000 contract with the Capitals, according to capfriendly.com. He was coming off a one-year, $1.025-million deal with the Bruins.
Connolly scored a careerhigh 15 goals for Washington in 2016-17, which earned him a two-year, $3-million deal with the Capitals last June.
He tallied 15 times again for Washington in league play this past season, then produced six goals and nine points in the Caps’ 24 playoff games.
He had pair of goals in their six-game Stanley Cup final series victory over the Vegas Golden Knights.
“Going through what I went through does make it a little bit sweeter,” said Connolly.
“I had to work for my breaks. I had to gain a lot of trust from the Washington Capitals and try to find a role on the team. I was fortunate to be able to do that. I just kept believing in myself.”
Connolly plans to bring the Stanley Cup to Prince George later this summer. Dates are still being confirmed.
“My parents are still there. I have other family there. It’s where I grew up. I got to play for my hometown junior team,” said Connolly, who now spends most of his summers in the Toronto area.
“Going there for me is the right thing to do.”