If and when Brett Connolly rejoins the Prince George Cougars for his third season in the WHL, whoever plays with him on the same forward unit will have a tough time living up to the qualities of his current linemates with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
One of the guys Connolly has been leaping the boards with in scrimmages is Steven Stamkos, the first-overall pick in the 2008 NHL draft. The other is Martin St. Louis, a Hart Trophy winner who led the NHL in scoring in 2003-04, the year the Lightning won the Stanley Cup.
Connolly got his first taste of NHL preseason action Wednesday night in Winnipeg, where Tampa Bay defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2. The Lightning picked Connolly in the first round, sixth overall, in the 2010 entry draft.
"I look at a player like Connolly, he's going to be a player and he basically didn't even play last year,'' said Lightning coach Guy Boucher, in the Tampa Tribune. "And it's not because he's a first-round pick, but I saw him in Traverse City (prospects tournament) and now to see him here, every day he's showing more. His mind thinks really fast and usually that has a tendency to carry you pretty far. So right now I'm pretty happy to see a player we drafted so high, do that well and improve so fast. I thought he would have a very hard time having not played much last year, so that says a lot about him."
The Lightning will be in Edmonton to face the Oilers tonight in a game televised on TSN (Cable 22) Game time is 6 p.m. PT.
See Thursday's Citizen for more
