Goodbye Tim Connolly

Saw this on the official Sabres facebook page. I thought the video was nicely done and the bio said what needed to be said about a guy that many of us bashed a little too much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIauE5XrMsk

"Tim Connolly was touted as the best puck handler in the 1999 NHL draft and was picked 5th overall by the Islanders. At just 18, Tim was immediately considered the most skilled player in the organization, and had a solid rookie campaign with the Islanders, posting several highlight reel goals. His 14 goals and 34 points exceeded the totals of fellow top-ten picks Patrik Stefan, Joe Thornton, Vincent Lecavalier, and Patrick Marleau. In a game against the Penguins on March 21, 2000, Connolly made the record books by becoming the youngest player in NHL history (at the time) to score on a penalty shot.

In 2001, Connolly was traded to the Buffalo Sabres. Although he had missed only 3 games in his first 4 years in the NHL, his problems with injuries began with a concussion in a preseason game against Chicago in '03/'04, which would cause him to miss the entire season. Connolly would bounce back with his second best season during the legendary '05/'06 Sabres campaign, recording 55 points and the finest highlight reel goals of his career (see first half of this video).

The defining moment of Tim Connolly's career was serving as perhaps the most important player during the Sabres dominating push to the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals. He scored three goals against the Flyers in the first round (including one of the finest coast-to-coast puck handling clinics in playoff history in Game 3) and two during the wild 7-6 Sabres victory over the Senators in Game 1 of the second round. His first goal in that game was yet another coast-to-coast puck handling clinic right from the face-off; he picked up the puck deep in the Sabres end, humiliated Daniel Alfredsson of the Senators with a lightning-fast deke (causing him to fall flat on his back), then rushed the entire length of the ice before sliding a nifty backhander past the goalie. His second goal of the night came at the very end of regulation. With just seconds left on the clock and the Sabres down 6-5, the OLN announcer prophetically asked "can Connolly weave his magic one more time?" The answer was YES. With players scrambling in front of the Ottawa net, Connolly picked up the puck and backhanded it top shelf, tying the game with just 10.7 seconds left. The Sabres would go on to win 7-6 in OT.

However, Connolly would receive his second career concussion via a goon hit in Game 2, and would miss the rest of the playoffs. The Sabres would end up falling just 18 minutes short of the '06 Cup Finals, and many attribute the loss of Connolly (and 4 defenders) as the sole reason. He would end up missing almost the entire '06/'07 season due to the concussion, but would return for the playoffs recording 9 assists. At one point vs the Islanders in the first round, Connolly weaved around the opposing team playing an impressive game of "keep away", killing off at least 15 seconds of a penalty and received a standing ovation (also in the video).

Tim would continue to have a weird mix of injuries and on ice success over the next few seasons. He was a non-factor in '07/'08, but recorded 47 points in 48 games in '08/'09, and would have his best season in '09/'10, posting an impressive 16 point streak (third longest in the NHL that season and third longest in Sabres history), and led the team in points until the very last week of the season, when he sacrificed his foot to block a shot. Although Connolly would have a "bad" season in '10/'11, he still finished in the Top 5 on the team for the third year in row. However, Tim Connolly was not resigned by the Sabres at the end of the season and was instead signed by the Leafs on June 2, 2011.

Tim Connolly will go down as one of the most talented puck handlers and highlight reel goal scorers in NHL history, but he will also go down as one of the sad examples of what is wrong with the NHL, where skilled players are victim to talentless goon players who do nothing more than dish out career altering/ending hits."