Brendan Connolly

Brendan Connolly  (born on September 15, 1985 in Canmore, Canada) is a British-Canadian professional ice hockey center who is currently playing with the Sheffield Steelers of the EIHL Series.

Club career
Connolly began his junior career with the Airdrie Xtreme U15 AAA of the AMBHL. In 2001, he moved to the Canmore Eagles of the AJHL and spent there the 2001-02 season. He began there the next season but after 35 games played, Connolly moved to the Brooks Bandits of the AJHL where he finished the season with 17 games played. Connolly then continued with the Brooks Bandits of the AJHL for the next two seasons.

In 2005 - 2009, Connolly played with the Ferris State Univ. of the NCAA. After 35 games played in his final season with the Ferris State Univ., Connolly moved to the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL where he finished the 2008-09 season with 12 regular season games and 8 play-off games played. Connolly then continued with the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL in the next season.

In 2010, Connolly moved to the Greenville Road Warriors of the ECHL. In his first season with the Greenville Road Warriors, Connolly played 45 regular season games and 10 play-off games and was selected to be a starter at the 2011 ECHL All-Star Game but was replaced. In this season, he was also the ECHL Plus Performer of the Month in November 2010 with +12 in plus/minus, the ECHL Player of the Month in the same month and the ECHL Plus Performer of the Year with +28. In the same season, he was also loaned to the Adirondack Phantoms of the AHL for 3 games.

In the 2011-12 season, Connolly played 40 regular season games and 3 play-off games with the Greenville Road Warriors of the ECHL and 12 games on loan with the Texas Stars of the AHL. He continued with the Greenville Road Warriors of the ECHL in the 2012-13 season.

Connolly then began the 2013-14 season with the Abbotsford Heat of the AHL but after just 6 games played, he moved to the Alaska Aces of the ECHL where he finished the season with 51 regular season games and 19 play-off games played and became there the ECHL Kelly Cup champion.

Connolly captained the Alaska Aces of the ECHL in the 2014-15 season. In this season, Connolly was selected the ECHL Player of the Month in March 2015 and made it into the ECHL Second All-Star Team.

In 2015, Connolly moved to Europe and signed with the Fehérvár AV19 of the EBEL. After 36 games played there, he moved to the SC Riessersee of the DEL2 where he finished the season with 15 regular season games and 3 play-off games played.

Connoly then played the 2016-17 season with the Rungsted Seier Capital of the Metal Ligaen. He helped the team to become the Danish Cup champion while he also became the Metal Ligaen's most penalized player (186 PIM).

In 2017, Connoly moved to Great Britain and spent the 2017-18 season with the Belfast Giants of the EIHL. In this season, Connolly became the EIHL Cup champion while he was the most scoring player in the EIHL Cup with 16 points recorded. In the same season, he was also named the EIHL Player of the Week on November 6, 2017.

In the 2018-19 season played Connolly with the Glasgow Clan of the EIHL. In this season, Connolly became the EIHL Gardiner Conference champion.

In the next season, Connolly played with the Sheffield Steelers of the EIHL. In this season, he became the EIHL Cup champion for the second time and made it into the EIHL All-Star Second Team.

In the beginning of the 2020-21 season, Connolly played with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (formerly Greenville Roas Warriors) of the ECHL due to the delayed start of the British season. He played there 18 games before heading back to Great Britain. In Great Britain, Connolly played 10 games with the Sheffield Steelers of the EIHL Series (shortened substitute of the EIHL). Connolly is currently signed with the Sheffield Steelers until the end of the 2020-21 season.