Tim Connolly

Timothy L. Connolly (born May 7, 1981) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played eleven seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, and Toronto Maple Leafs.[1]

This article is about the ice hockey player. For the American football executive, see Tim Connolly (American football). For the basketball executive, see Tim Connelly.
Tim Connolly
Connolly with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2012
Born (1981-05-07) May 7, 1981
Baldwinsville, New York, U.S.
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Center
Shot Right
Played for New York Islanders
Buffalo Sabres
Toronto Maple Leafs
National team  United States
NHL Draft 5th overall, 1999
New York Islanders
Playing career 1999–2013

Playing career

As a youth, Connolly played in the 1993, 1994 and 1995 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from Syracuse, New York.[2]

Connolly played for the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for two seasons, beginning in 1997–98. After recording 68 points in 46 games in his second OHL season, he was drafted fifth overall by the New York Islanders in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. He joined the Islanders for the 1999-2000 season and recorded 31 points in 81 games. He recorded 41 points in 82 games the following season.

On June 24, 2001, at the NHL Entry Draft, Connolly and Taylor Pyatt were traded by the Islanders to the Buffalo Sabres for captain Michael Peca. After missing only three regular season games total in his first four seasons in the league, injuries began to plague Connolly's career beginning in 2003–04. He missed the entire season with post-concussion syndrome after suffering a concussion as a result of a hit by Scott Nichol in a preseason game versus the Chicago Blackhawks, a hit that teammate Daniel Briere claimed was dirty.[3] During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he played the second half of the season with SC Langnau in the Swiss Nationalliga A.

After two years away, Connolly returned for the 2005-06 season and experienced a breakout with 55 points in 63 games to help Buffalo to the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. In the 2006 playoffs, he recorded 11 points in 8 post-season games including the game-tying goal with 10.7 seconds left in game one of the second round series against the Ottawa Senators (which Buffalo won 7–6 in overtime). In game two, however, Connolly was injured after a hard hit by Peter Schaefer and missed the rest of the playoffs. The Sabres advanced to the Eastern Conference Final but suffered a slew of injuries on defense and fell to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes in seven games.

Connolly missed the first 80 games of the 2006–07 season with what was originally believed to be post-concussion syndrome. However, he revealed in 2020 that the injury had been misdiagnosed and was actually a herniated disc.[4] He returned to action on April 7, 2007, against the Washington Capitals, recording 13 minutes of ice time and scoring a goal; he was named second star for the game, which the Sabres won, 2–0.[5] He appeared in all 16 games for the Sabres in the 2007 playoffs, scoring nine assists. Buffalo fell in the Eastern Conference Final once again, this time to the Senators.

Connolly had bone spur problems with his hip all throughout the 2007–08 season and had season-ending surgery to have them removed on March 21, 2008 after he had recorded 40 points in 48 games. Though known for his puck-handling skills, however, he was also criticized for playing with his head down, something that was frequently linked to his injury problems.

The 2008–09 season saw the continuation of Connolly's injury problems. He began the season with two cracked vertebrae from a stick-butt to the back in a pre-season game, which forced him to miss the first 10 games of the regular season. After five games, in which he registered six points, he suffered a broken rib from a devastating hit by the St. Louis Blues' Keith Tkachuk. Despite playing through the pain in the next game, the injury subsequently pulled Connolly out of the lineup once again. On January 9, 2009, Connolly returned to the lineup to finish the season with 47 points in 48 games.

On March 4, 2009 at the NHL Trade Deadline, Connolly was re-signed by the Buffalo Sabres to a two-year, $9 million contract. In 2009–10, Connolly had a career-high 65 points in 73 regular season games.

On July 2, 2011, Connolly was signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Toronto Maple Leafs to a two-year, $9.5 million contract.[6]

On November 7, 2011, it was reported that Connolly was injured again, this time with an upper-body injury, and would miss between 10 days and two weeks.

On January 17, 2013, in the final year of his contract with the Maple Leafs and prior to the lockout shortened 2012–13 season, Connolly was placed on waivers. Upon clearing the following day it was announced that Connolly would start the season with the Leafs affiliate, the Toronto Marlies in the American Hockey League.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1996–97 Syracuse Jr. Crunch MetJHL 50 42 62 104 34 — — — — —
1997–98 Erie Otters OHL 59 30 32 62 32 7 1 6 7 6
1998–99 Erie Otters OHL 46 34 34 68 50 — — — — —
1999–2000 New York Islanders NHL 81 14 20 34 44 — — — — —
2000–01 New York Islanders NHL 82 10 31 41 42 — — — — —
2001–02 Buffalo Sabres NHL 82 10 35 45 34 — — — — —
2002–03 Buffalo Sabres NHL 80 12 13 25 32 — — — — —
2004–05 SC Langnau NLA 16 7 3 10 14 — — — — —
2005–06 Buffalo Sabres NHL 63 16 39 55 28 8 5 6 11 0
2006–07 Buffalo Sabres NHL 2 1 0 1 2 16 0 9 9 4
2007–08 Buffalo Sabres NHL 48 7 33 40 8 — — — — —
2008–09 Buffalo Sabres NHL 48 18 29 47 22 — — — — —
2009–10 Buffalo Sabres NHL 73 17 48 65 28 6 0 1 1 2
2010–11 Buffalo Sabres NHL 68 13 29 42 20 6 0 2 2 2
2011–12 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 70 13 23 36 40 — — — — —
2012–13 Toronto Marlies AHL 28 5 7 12 23 6 0 1 1 8
NHL totals 697 131 300 431 300 36 5 18 23 8

International
Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
1999 United States WJC 6 1 0 1 8
2001 United States WC 9 3 3 6 4
Junior totals 6 1 0 1 8
Senior totals 9 3 4 7 4

References
  1. Graham, Tim (2020-03-12). "What happened to Sabres star Tim Connolly? After 7 years,..." The Athletic. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  2. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  3. Graham, Tim. "What happened to Sabres star Tim Connolly? After 7 years, he's ready to explain". The Athletic. The Athletic. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  4. Graham, Tim. "What happened to Sabres star Tim Connolly? After 7 years, he's ready to explain". The Athletic. The Athletic. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  5. "Connolly scores as Sabres claim home ice". ESPN. 2007-04-07. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
  6. "Connolly agrees to two-year, $9.5M deal with Maple Leafs". The Sports Network. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
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