Conboy signs with Canadiens after Michigan State suspension

Rick Stephens
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Conboy signs with Canadiens after Michigan State suspension
The Canadian Press
3/2/2009 4:28:00 PM

MONTREAL – Forward Andrew Conboy, suspended by Michigan State University this season for an attack on a Michigan player, has signed a three-year contract with the Montreal Canadiens.

Conboy opted to turn pro with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL, Montreal’s top farm team, after he was suspended. The six-foot-four 200-pound left-winger has one assist and four penalty minutes in seven AHL games.

The 20-year-old Conboy and teammate Corey Tropp, a Buffalo Sabres prospect, were suspended for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs by the Spartans on Jan. 26 after an incident with less than one minute to play in a 5-3 Michigan win.

After Michigan’s Steve Kampfer knocked Tropp down with an open ice hit, he was punched to the ice from behind by Conboy and Tropp then swung his stick at the Anaheim prospect’s neck or head. Kampfer was taken to hospital with a sprained neck, but there was no concussion.

Conboy, a Burnsville, Minn., native who was considered the Spartans enforcer, was selected 142nd overall by Montreal in the 2007 draft. He had three goals, two assists and 76 penalty minutes in 21 games as a freshman at MSU.

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Rick Stephens
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Rick is the Editor-in-Chief, lead contributor, and owner of the All Habs network of websites. His mission is to build a community of Canadiens fans who are informed, engaged and connected. He is the vision behind all four sites within the network - All Habs, Habs Tweetup, We Are Canadiens, and The Montreal Forum - and is responsible for the design and layout of each. In concert with the strong belief that "Habs fans are everywhere!", Rick is pleased that people use All Habs as a conduit to find and connect with other Habs fans worldwide. He is also proud that Habs Tweetups have allowed fans to meet in person and develop long lasting friendships.

2 COMMENTS

  1. A real head scratcher this one. Conboy is nearly 21 years old, and managed a grand total of 5 points at the NCAA level this past season. Even for a goon, those numbers don’t cut it. He hardly got off the bench in Hamilton so far, even though the team is decimated by injuries and callups.

    Plus the incident at Ann Arbor was serious enough to get him suspended for the season. What kind of message are the Habs sending by rewarding the guy with a professional contract while he is still under suspension by his college team?

    I find the whole thing bizarre and a bit distastful. He Bertuzzied Steven Kampfer who was just in back in the lineup after a long recupperation from head and neck injuries from an off ice attack.

    Hopefully this goof will drift off into the mediocrity he deserves as a “hockey player”. It smacks of a favor to Tiny Timmins who is grasping at straws now that his much ballyhooed “genius” is unraveling with the obvious mistakes he made on Fischer and McDonagh. Not to mention Chipchura, A. Kostitsyn, and a host of others.

  2. The signing of Conboy is odd to me too. However his play in Hamilton is probably not a factor. My information is that the contract was signed prior to Conboy coming to the Bulldogs. I am told that the Canadiens asked for a one month delay in announcing the signing so minimize the connection with the incident in Michigan.

    That may make it more distasteful.

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