- Craig Conn
-
Craig Conn Born November 16, 1983 ,
St. Catharines, Ontario, CAPosition Forward Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) WLA Team New Westminster Salmonbellies NLL Team
F. TeamsWashington Stealth
Calgary Roughnecks
Toronto Rock
Arizona Sting
Minnesota Swarm
Vancouver RavensNationality 
CanadaPro Career 2004–present Shoots Left Craig Conn (born November 16, 1983 in St. Catharines, Ontario) is a Canadian lacrosse player who plays for the Washington Stealth in the National Lacrosse League.
Contents
High school career
Conn was a four-year starter at Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School in St. Catharines from 1997 to 2001. During those years, he teamed up with fellow NLL players Matt Vinc, Billy Dee Smith and Sean Greenhalgh to win two OFSAA field lacrosse championships (1999, 2001). After Conn graduated, many St. Catharines lacrosse players would follow in Conn's footsteps and play for Holy Cross, which would help the school become a lacrosse powerhouse for years.
College career
Conn played for the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2002 and 2003. However, he would renounce his remaining two years of eligibility to enter the NLL entry draft.
NLL career
Conn was originally drafted by the Vancouver Ravens in the first round (4th overall) of the 2003 NLL Entry Draft. In the 2004 season, he was 4th in team scoring with 39 points and was named to 2004 NLL All-Rookie Team. When the Ravens were removed from the 2005 schedule, a dispersal draft was held, and Conn was taken 1st overall by the Minnesota Swarm.
After only playing half a season with Minnesota, Conn was dealt at the trade deadline to the Arizona Sting for their first round draft picks in 2006 & 2007. Conn led Arizona in scoring with 19 points during their playoff run to the 2005 Championship game. Conn also helped lead Arizona to the 2007 Championship game, before losing to the Rochester Knighthawks.
Prior to the 2008 season, the Sting announced that they would not play in 2008, and another dispersal draft was held. Conn was selected by the Buffalo Bandits despite suffering a major knee injury during the summer that sidelined him for the entire 2008 season.[1] The Sting would have retained Conn's rights if they returned in the 2009 season.[2] However, the Sting ceased operations and another dispersal draft was held. Conn, never having played a game in a Bandits uniform, was selected fourth overall by the Toronto Rock.[3]
After one season with the Rock, Conn was traded along with a second round draft pick to the Calgary Roughnecks in exchange for two draft picks.[4]
Canadian Box Career
Junior
Conn made headlines in 1998 when he played with the St. Catharines Jr. B Spartan Warriors at only the age of 14 (the team's head coach was his father, Morris Conn). Conn played 72 games for the St. Catharines Athletics in the OLA Junior A Lacrosse League from 1999 to 2003. In 1999, he was given the Joey Nieuwendyk Award for Rookie of the Year. From 2001 to 2003, Conn lead the Athletics to three straight League championships and two Minto Cup National championships (2001, 2003). He was also a member of the 2004 Minto Cup Champion Burnaby Lakers of the British Columbia Junior A Lacrosse League. He is one of the few players in CLA history to win 3 Minto Cups in 4 years, and is only one of two players (the other being Shawn Evans) to win a Minto Cup title in two consecutive years with two different teams.
Senior
In the WLA draft, Conn was selected 2nd overall by the New Westminster Salmonbellies.[5] During the 2007 season, Conn sufferered a major knee injury while playing with the Salmonbellies during the Western Lacrosse Association's playoffs.[1] This would cause Conn to miss the entire 2008 NLL season as well as the 2008 WLA season. Conn made his return to Senior lacrosse in 2009 with the Six Nations Chiefs of Major Series Lacrosse.
Statistics
National Lacrosse League
Regular Season Playoffs Season Team GP G A Pts LB PIM GP G A Pts LB PIM 2004 Vancouver 13 19 20 39 60 17 -- -- -- -- -- -- 2005 Minnesota 8 14 17 31 78 17 -- -- -- -- -- -- Arizona 5 6 5 11 33 6 3 12 7 19 13 4 2006 Arizona 15 44 23 67 91 42 2 6 5 11 15 4 2007 Arizona 16 21 55 76 106 35 3 7 12 19 21 4 2009 Toronto 11 14 18 32 68 52 -- -- -- -- -- -- NLL Totals 68 118 138 256 436 169 8 25 24 49 49 12 Canadian Lacrosse Association
Regular Season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1998 Spartan Warriors OLA Jr B 4 4 4 8 2 0 0 0 0 0 1999 St. Catharines Athletics OLA Jr A 17 33 21 54 50 8 8 15 23 39 2000 St. Catharines Athletics OLA Jr A 8 7 13 20 33 14 15 24 39 31 2001 St. Catharines Athletics OLA Jr A 15 26 30 56 61 13 22 24 46 51 Minto Cup St. Catharines Athletics CLA -- -- -- -- -- 6 8 7 15 27 2002 St. Catharines Athletics OLA Jr A 10 18 16 34 81 10 17 22 39 42 Minto Cup St. Catharines Athletics CLA -- -- -- -- -- 6 12 8 20 13 2003 St. Catharines Athletics OLA Jr A 4 1 4 5 74 12 29 23 52 54 Minto Cup St. Catharines Athletics CLA -- -- -- -- -- 6 13 16 29 -- 2004 Burnaby Lakers BC JR A 18 28 44 72 67 4 10 12 22 30 Minto Cup Burnaby Lakers CLA -- -- -- -- -- 5 12 9 21 22 2005 New Westminster Salmonbellies WLA 16 21 29 50 34 6 9 15 24 4 2006 New Westminster Salmonbellies WLA 16 29 32 61 20 10 11 13 24 30 2007 New Westminster Salmonbellies WLA 15 22 41 63 60 1 0 0 0 0 2009 Six Nations Chiefs MSL 14 8 13 21 18 5 8 9 17 2 Junior A Totals 72 113 128 241 366 61 101 120 221 247 Junior B Totals 4 4 4 8 2 0 0 0 0 0 Minto Cup Totals -- -- -- -- -- 18 18 30 48 0 Senior A Totals 61 80 115 195 132 22 28 37 65 36 References
- ^ a b "Sting Lose Craig Conn for the season". NLL.com. 2007-08-21. http://www.nll.com/article.php?id=3055. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
- ^ "Dawson selected first overall by Portland". NLL.com. November 5, 2007. http://www.nll.com/article.php?id=3142. Retrieved 2007-11-05.
- ^ "Dawson joins Boston Blazers". NLL.com. June 30, 2008. http://www.nll.com/article.php?id=3533. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
- ^ "Rock Trade Craig Conn to Roughnecks". TorontoRock.com. September 8, 2009. http://torontorock.com/index.php/article/conntrade. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
- ^ "Bible of Lacrosse Player Statistics - Craig Conn". Bible-of-Lacrosse.com. http://www.bible-of-lacrosse.com/newstats/players.txt. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
External links
Categories:- 1983 births
- Living people
- UMass Minutemen men's lacrosse players
- Arizona Sting players
- Calgary Roughnecks players
- Minnesota Swarm players
- Toronto Rock players
- National Lacrosse League All-Stars
- National Lacrosse League monthly award winners
- National Lacrosse League weekly award winners
- People from St. Catharines
- Lacrosse forwards
- Canadian expatriate lacrosse people in the United States
- Canadian lacrosse players
- Lacrosse people from Ontario
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