Scarlet Daily Digest: Friday Feature - Chris Connolly
November 27, 2010 | Men's Ice Hockey
Nov. 27, 2010
An Unlikely Story
Once Overlooked, Chris Connolly Assumes Leading Role
By Scott Weighart - Special to GoTerriers.com
As author Jorge Luis Borges once said, "Reality is not always probable, or likely."
The hockey career of Boston University co-captain Chris Connolly is definitely an unlikely story.
Growing up in the backyard of the University of Minnesota Duluth, Connolly dreamed the improbable dream of playing college hockey. Like many kids in his hometown, he imagined himself as a future Bulldog.
Remarkably enough, he came very close to giving up on the possibility of playing Division I hockey. Even more incredibly, he ultimately earned the chance to fulfill the dream of playing for his beloved Bulldogs--only to decide against it.
Connolly played two seasons for the Fargo-Moorhead Jets of the North American Hockey League, hoping that it would be a stepping stone to the United States Hockey League, a Midwestern league that draws considerable attention from Division I scouts. Connolly averaged over a point per game during his two years with the Jets and was drafted by two different USHL teams, but both teams decided against adding him to their teams after tryouts.
"After my second year [in Fargo], I had one more year of eligibility left," Connolly said. "That's where I had the option of trying out for Omaha, but I was also looking at some Division III schools back home. I was considering just getting school going and going that route. So I told myself that I'd give myself one more shot to go to Omaha and try out. I knew a lot of college scouts would be there and that it was my last opportunity to show what I had. It worked out really well."
It certainly did. Before too long, BU saw him play at the USHL Fall Classic--a.k.a. The Buc Bowl, as it was once played at the arena of the Des Moines Buccaneers--and instantly liked what they saw. They also never knew how close Connolly had come to giving up on the idea of playing D-1 hockey. "I didn't know that," BU coach Jack Parker said. "I knew that he hadn't played in the USHL the year before and was dying to play there. We saw him at the Buc Bowl, and he jumped out at everybody for the same reasons that he jumps out at people here: energy, quickness, smarts, good puck handler who will shoot the puck. He was obviously a hockey player."
The Terriers weren't the only team in attendance that liked what they saw. The University of Maine stepped up to express interest, and--lo and behold--so did his hometown Bulldogs. Within a very short time span, Connolly had gone from mulling D-III options to having three strong D-I programs wooing him--including the team he had dreamed of playing for as a kid. He also would have had the opportunity to play alongside his younger brother, Jack, who UMD also was recruiting. "Growing up with the Bulldogs in my backyard, I watched them play my whole life," Connolly said. "I remember thinking `Wow, if I could do that, it would be something great.'"
Instead, after visits to Boston and Maine, Connolly opted for something greater. "It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up," Connolly recalled of his decision to come to BU. "It was hard to turn down playing with my brother in the backyard, but going to school in such a great city with such a great program--plus the historic coaching staff and facilities--I felt like I would regret it if I passed it up."
With that, Connolly became a relative rarity--a Minnesotan who opted to leave his home state to play in Boston for the Terriers. Now he is poised to join former goalies John Curry and Derek Herlofsky as ranking among the best players from that state to play for the program.
The BU coaches knew that they had someone special from the get-go with Connolly. In the eyes of the average Terrier fan, however, Connolly was somewhat overlooked in comparison with his classmates. While he had been a late bloomer in the junior ranks, the same could not be said for Vinny Saponari and David Warsofsky--both highly-touted members of the U.S. National Development Team out in Ann Arbor. Corey Trivino was a prized recruit out of Toronto along with two talented goaltending prospects from western Canada in Kieran Millan and Grant Rollheiser.
Connolly may have been under the radar, but he stepped into the lineup and stayed there all year. He was one of only seven Terriers to play in every one of the team's 45 games. "I knew that the USHL was going to prepare me as much as I could to have every opportunity to play here as a freshman. All I wanted to do was come in and help the team in any way I could. As a freshman, sometimes you have to pay your dues--especially with the kind of team we had my freshman year. I just wanted to work hard and hope that the coaches would see that I was able to contribute, and it worked out really well."
As a freshman, Connolly scored 30 points in 45 games, and his points included three game-winning goals. He played on each of the top three forward lines before settling into the left-wing slot of an all-freshman line centered by Corey Trivino and with Vinny Saponari on the right wing. However, his personal highlight was scoring the first goal of the team's legendary national championship game win over Miami. He also picked up the secondary assist on Colby Cohen's pandemonium-inducing overtime goal.
Reflecting on it now, Connolly admitted that it felt a bit surreal to go from D-I wannabe to scoring on college hockey's biggest stage within the span of roughly 19 months. "Playing in a national championship game is something that you dream about, let alone contribute a little bit during my freshman year. It's something I'll never forget."
Last season was a major contrast from Connolly's freshman year and a down year individually for most of the Terriers. In fact, Connolly was the only BU player to increase his point-scoring totals from the previous season, and he was second on the team in plus/minus at +8. He scored the game-winning goal in what was perhaps the team's wildest win, a 6-5 overtime victory at Harvard two days before Thanksgiving. Playing in front of 18,200 fans at Madison Square Garden in the very next game, he scored the game-tying goal with just 51 seconds left in the third period.
Besides a big win over archrival Boston College at Fenway Park, however, the year was a major letdown following the 2009 championship. After the season, Connolly and senior Joe Pereira were named as the team's new co-captains, with junior David Warsofsky selected as assistant captain. As leaders, they faced the challenge of turning around the mentality as well as dealing with the departure of several key players as well as a huge influx of talent, both in quality and quantity.
Having seen things done right and then wrong, the leadership troika vowed that 2010-11 would be a return to form. "It all started last spring when they were elected captains," Parker said. "They let it be known that this was going to be their team, and they let it known to the coaches as well as the players that we're going to make sure that this goes right. And they held people responsible when the coaches can't--in dormitories, away from the rink, working out, etc. They've continued that all summer and all fall."
"Between myself, Joe, and Dave, it works well," said Connolly. "We feed off of each other. Joe is a high-energy, rah-rah type of guy, which is what you need in the locker room. Dave and I come in and say things when needed, and we all try to lead by example."
Parker recalled one such defining moment in particular. "He got in another player's face and told him `That's not the way we do it around here.' I'm not going to name the player, but he let it be known right off the bat, `Don't pull that stuff here.' I think it was a good tone to set."
Connolly and the Terriers have definitely set a great tone to start the season. Thanks to considerable hard work with strength and conditioning coach Mike Boyle, Connolly's smallish frame is now loaded with muscle. Through the first 10 games, Connolly holds or shares the team lead in points (12), goals (5), shots (36) and game-winning goals (2). The junior co-captain has a +6 rating and has spent just two minutes in the penalty box this season.
As of mid-November, BU had surprised the skeptics by getting off to a 6-0-4 start. This was particularly impressive for a team that has only one senior playing regularly; freshmen and sophomores comprise more than half of the regular lineup. Meanwhile, some other highly respected programs stumbled through some early losses, leaving the Terriers ranked No. 1 in the nation. Frankly, it couldn't get much better for the Connolly family than it was on Thanksgiving: Minnesota-Duluth (11-1-2) and the Terriers (7-1-4) are the top two teams in the country and brother Jack is tied for first on his team with 20 points in 14 games. Jack also leads the Bulldogs with 15 assists. Still, it's far too soon to see whether sibling rivalry might extend into the NCAA tournament.
"It's so early in the season, and the polls don't mean much," Connolly said. "It's a testament to how hard our team is working to be in that position right now, even though it doesn't mean a whole lot. We've won a lot of one-goal games, and we still have a long way to come."
Connolly has already come a long way from the days of Duluth and Fargo. "He's such a mature and focused kid," Parker said. "He's one of these guys who just does the next right thing, whether it's academically, socially, or hockey wise, he just wants to do everything the way you're supposed to do it, and that's an ideal hockey player.
"You couldn't meet a nicer gentleman. Really a good kid, a Midwesterner through and through," Parker said. "We're proud to have him wearing our uniform."
Unfortunately, Connolly won't be sporting the scarlet and white for a few weeks. On November 20, the junior broke a finger on his left hand when he caught it in the netting during an otherwise satisfying 4-2 win over New Hampshire. Connolly is expected to be out for four to six weeks. However, the timing is better than it might have been, as the Terriers are coming up on a three-week break in action due to exams and the holiday break. The team is hopeful that he'll be able to play in the Shillelagh Tournament out in Illinois on January 1-2.
Returning to action any sooner would be another unlikely story, but one is always reluctant to rule out the improbable when it comes to Chris Connolly.
