Conor O’Brien Inks Pro Deal With ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder

BEVERLY, Mass. — Endicott men's ice hockey goaltender Conor O'Brien (Pinellas Park, Fla.) has signed a professional contract with the Adirondack Thunder of the ECHL.

"I will be forever grateful for my relationship with Conor. He's a special young man that has had a profound impact on myself and our program," said Endicott men's ice hockey head coach R.J. Tolan. "I believe he has the ability to excel at any level of professional hockey and more importantly the self-belief and competitive spirit to be successful. I look forward to seeing how successful he is in professional hockey!"

O'Brien is the 10th student-athlete in program history to sign a professional contract, and the third to do so with an ECHL club.

O'Brien's pro deal comes on the heels of his award-winning senior campaign for the Gulls. 

This past season, O'Brien was named a CCM/AHCA All-America East First Team honoree and an All-USCHO First Team selection, a finalist for the CCM/AHCA Division II/III Player of the Year award, the Joe Concannon Award winner (best American-born NCAA DII/III college hockey student-athlete in New England), and the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Player of the Year and Goaltender of the Year, respectively.

His stats more than backed up the bounty of accolades he received as O'Brien posted a 19-6-1 record, a 1.41 goals against average (GAA), a .949 save percentage (665 saves), and four shutouts in 26 games played.

Among his NCAA Division III peers, O'Brien finished the year ranked No. 1 in save percentage, second in GAA, and No. 15 in winning percentage (.750).

O'Brien's career stat line includes a 53-18-3 record (.736), a 2.00 GAA, 2,041 saves (.934), and nine shutouts in 75 games played (all starts).

He is the program record holder for most wins, saves, save percentage, GAA (min. 2,000 minutes), and shutouts.

CONOR O'BRIEN RESUME

• 2x All-American
• 2x All-USCHO
• 1x Player of the Year finalist
• 1x Joe Concannon Award winner
• 3x Joe Concannon Award semifinalist
• 1x All-Region
• 1x CCC Player of the Year
• 2x CCC Goaltender of the Year
• 2x All-CCC First Team
• 3x CCC Academic All-Conference
• 1x All-American Scholar
• 1x NSCA All-American
• 16x CCC Weekly Award winner
• Only goaltender in program history to be named captain
• Program record holder for most wins, saves, save percentage, GAA (min. 2,000 minutes), and shutouts.

ABOUT THE ECHL

The ECHL is the Premier "AA" Hockey League with 27 teams in 20 states and two Canadian provinces for its 34th season in 2021-22. There have been more than 700 players who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League after starting their careers in the ECHL. The ECHL has affiliations with 27 of the 32 NHL teams in 2021-22, marking the 245h consecutive season that the league had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. For more information on the ECHL visit ECHL.com.

ABOUT ENDICOTT MEN'S ICE HOCKEY

• Endicott's first NCAA varsity season was in 2015-16
• The Gulls are 119-40-10 overall (.734) and 78-26-4 in conference play (.741), all under the guidance of Coach Tolan
• Two-time CCC Champions
• Four-time conference champion qualifier
• Endicott has produced 10 professional hockey players
• The highest professional level of hockey reached by an Endicott student-athlete is the American Hockey League (Logan Day, Bakersfield Condors/Lehigh Valley Phantoms; Ross Olsson, Bridgeport Islanders)

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(Photo Credit - Demetrius Kazanas '22)