Brett Connolly

Internationally, Connolly has represented Canada at the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships, 2009 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, 2011 IIHF U20 Championships and 2012 IIHF U20 Championships.\n', ' Raised in Prince George, British Columbia, Connolly was selected by his hometown Prince George Cougars as their first selection, tenth overall, in the 2007 WHL Bantam Draft. As a 15-year-old, he played major midget for the Caribou Cougars in Prince George, while also appearing in four WHL games. He joined the WHL\'s Cougars full-time in 2008–09, scoring 30 goals and 30 assists in 65 games. In doing so, he became the first 16-year-old to score 30 goals in the WHL since Patrick Marleau performed the feat in 1995–96. He was named the winner of the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as WHL rookie of the year. The recognition made him one of three nominees for the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Rookie of the Year; he beat-out the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)\'s Dmitri Kulikov and the Ontario Hockey League (OHL)\'s Evgeny Grachyov for the national distinction.\n', ' Conolly\'s second full WHL season was marred with hip problems. He played in just 12 of the Cougars\' first 46 games and was sidelined from December 2009 before returning for the last four contests of the regular season. He was named to play in the 2010 CHL Top Prospects Game, but did not participate. He recorded 19 points over 16 games.\n', '