Life is good these days for Brett Connolly as he prepares to lead the Syracuse Crunch into the American Hockey League playoffs.
The former Prince George Cougars forward finished among the league's top 10 scorers in his rookie season in the AHL and notched his first professional career hat trick after a short stint with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL.
"Coming into this year I knew I wanted to get better and I had to get better, there's a lot of parts of my game that I knew I had to improve on," said Connolly. "Now I'm head and shoulders a better hockey player then I was when I went into training camp."
Connolly spent last season with the Lightning, picking up 15 points (four goals) in 68 games after playing three seasons with the Cougars in the Western Hockey League. He was unable to play in the AHL last season due to the CHL/NHL agreement that states 19-year-old players either played with their NHL team or had to return to their junior club.
After a topsy-turvy season with the Lightning last year, Connolly has re-ignited his confidence in the AHL.
The 20-year-old finished ninth in AHL scoring with 31 goals and 63 points in 71 games with the Crunch and was second in team scoring behind teammate Tyler Johnson.
Since wrapping up the regular season last Sunday when the Crunch (43-22-6-5) secured first place in the east division and third place in the conference the team has spent the week preparing for their first round playoff series against the sixth place Portland Pirates (41-30-3-2).
Connolly said there's been a lot of learning going on this week for the Crunch.
"We haven't played them this year which is kind of weird," said Connolly about the Phoenix Coyotes affiliate. "We're watching tape on them and learning their tendencies and figuring out what kind of team they are. If we do our part we know we can beat them."
The best-of-five series begins Saturday and Sunday in Syracuse with the series shifting to Portland for Game 3 on Thursday, Connolly's 21st birthday. If necessary, Game 4 would be Friday in Portland and Game 5 on Sunday in Syracuse.
Several players on the Crunch roster will be looking to defend the Calder Cup they won last season when Tampa Bay's affiliate was located in Norfolk, which puts added pressure on the team this year.
"We know that the teams that we play are going to want to beat us," said Connolly. "We've got to be ready. Obviously the tempo will be a lot higher and there will be a lot more on the line. It'll be a lot of fun. I think everyone is ready. We've got a good team so we're forward to making a long run."
Connolly said the transition from Jon Cooper to Rob Zettler as the Crunch's head coach was seamless after Prince George native Cooper received a promotion to lead the Lightning.
"He's preaching a lot of the same things," he said. "He's a very similar coach."
Not long after Cooper stepped behind the bench of the Lightning, he called up Connolly, the team's first round (sixth overall) pick in the 2011 NHL entry draft. Connolly played in five games with the Lightning, notching his fifth career NHL goal in a 6-3 loss April 11 to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"I was told before I went up that I'd be coming back down to play in the playoffs," said Connolly about the short stint. "I just felt more comfortable in the room and with the guys and the coaching staff and on the ice I just felt more comfortable making plays.
The comfort Connolly was feeling transferred into his return to the Crunch because in In his first game back he notched a hat trick in a 5-1 win April 13 over the Rochester Americans.
"It was nice in my first game back to help the team win - they were struggling at the time," said Connolly.
Now the former Cougar is looking forward to a long playoff run in Syracuse.
"For me I felt like I made huge strides this year," said Connolly. "Now I'm very excited with the playoffs here, hopefully we'll be celebrating a championship in about a month."
Sidebar --
When he's not preparing for the AHL playoffs Brett Connolly has kept a watchful eye on the Western Hockey League playoffs and how his younger brother Josh has fared with the Kamloops Blazers.
His 16-year-old sibling has been in and out of the lineup, as a healthy scratch, in Kamloops this season.
"I didn't go through that when I was in Prince George because I was put into a good situation and I played a lot," said Connolly. "He's got to be patient but he's getting valuable, valuable experience in Kamloops."
Josh has played in 13 playoff games on the Blazers' blueline picking up an assist. He had a goal and five assists in 53 regular season games.
