BURLINGTON, Vt. – Former Vermont men's hockey forward Connor Brickley '14 made his National Hockey League debut last night for the Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center against the Philadelphia Flyers. Brickley skated on a line with Shawn Thornton and Derek MacKenzie (pictured above). He saw 9:12 minutes of ice time in 15 shifts and threw a team-high seven hits in a 7-1 Panthers win.
 
"On behalf of the men's hockey program, we'd like to congratulate Connor on his remarkable accomplishment," said head coach Kevin Sneddon. "He's worked extremely hard to achieve this goal and we couldn't be happier for Connor and his family. We look forward to tracking what we hope is a lengthy NHL career."
 
Brickley became the 17th former men's hockey player to skate for an NHL team in school history and is one of five Catamounts in the NHL this season. He is Sneddon's seventh former player to suit up for an NHL franchise, and joins Mike Paliotta '15 as the second to make his debut this year.
 
The Everett, Massachusetts native earned a spot on the Florida roster out of training camp. Last season, he ranked third in the American Hockey League (AHL) in rookie goal scoring with 22 tallies. The forward added 25 assists for 47 points in 73 games for the AHL's San Antonio Rampage.
 
Brickley joins Kevan Miller '11 (Boston Bruins), Torrey Mitchell '07 (Montreal Canadiens), Patrick Sharp '02 (Dallas Stars), and Viktor Stalberg '09 (New York Rangers) as former Catamounts who appeared on opening night NHL rosters.