Kyle Connor, who was given an A rating on NHL Central Scouting's preliminary players to watch list for October, enters his third season with the Youngstown Phantoms of the United States Hockey League in 2014-15. Committed to the University of Michigan in 2015-16, the 6-foot-1, 182-pound center has five goals and 15 points in 10 games with the Phantoms this season. Connor, who had one assist and three shots on goal in the CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game on Sept. 25, has offered to maintain a blog for NHL.com leading up to the 2015 NHL Draft in Sunrise, Fla.
Hello hockey fans!
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| (Courtesy: Youngstown Phantoms, USHL) |
The first full month of the season has gone well. We have a really strong team this year. Most importantly we are improving every day in practice and coming closer together as a group.
This year I have been playing with Ryan Lomberg and Bryan Lemos, who are both extremely skilled players and compete hard in both zones. We are just now starting to build a lot of chemistry and hope that we can only improve on that from week to week.
The USHL has such a high caliber of talent, so to be named forward of the week [for games ending Oct. 25] was something special and a great honor. (Connor had one goal and five points in two games.) The coaching staff has been preaching for us as a team to just keep getting better every day and that's what I'm trying to do.
The Eastern Conference in the USHL is extremely tough and every game is as tough as the next one. The race for the playoffs will come down to the last games of the year. (The Phantoms are fourth in the Eastern Conference with six wins, 13 points.)
I found myself maybe occasionally thinking about the draft, but I try not to worry about it too much and focus on what I can control.
Thanks for reading! Until next month.
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