Congratulations to Jack Connolly on an award winning season.  He gets to continue playing the game he loves after signing with what they call 'the Detroit Red Wings of the Swedish Elite League'.   That opportunity has lead to NHL opportunities for some players, but either way I'm sure it will be a great experience for him.

UMD senior captain Jack Connolly has agreed to a two-year deal with Färjestad BK of the Swedish Elite League (SEL), the team announced on Friday morning.

The SEL, known in Swedish as the Elitserien, is the top professional hockey league in Sweden and consists of 12 teams.

Based in Karlstad, Färjestad BK won the 2011 postseason championship, which was the team's league-leading ninth overall title.

Connolly had been on the team's radar since late in his junior season, said manager Thomas Rundqvist, and his development over the 2011-12 season continued in the right direction.

He became the fifth Bulldog to win the Hobey Baker award earlier this month, an award given annually to the best player in men's college hockey.

Connolly finished his senior season as the second-leading scorer in the country with 60 points, falling short to only the 62 points of Maine's Spencer Abbott.

The Duluth native played in 166 consecutive games during his four years with the Bulldogs, scoring 197 career points to put him eighth on the program's all-time scoring list.

via UMD's Connolly Agrees to Deal in Swedish Elite League | Northland's NewsCenter: News, Weather, Sports | NBC, CBS, MyNetworkTV, and The CW for Duluth MN / Superior WI | Sports.

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