Brian Elliott's name is still on many Hobey Baker'hockey's version of the Heisman'watch lists, but today he is fighting to earn the starting job for this weekend's games against St. Cloud State.
Before going down with a knee injury six weeks ago, Elliott was considered the best goaltender in the nation by many, and his stats were on pace to be the best in Badger history. But in his two and a half games since returning, he has given up a total of 15 goals.
'I don't know yet [who I'll start in goal Friday night] to be real honest with you,' head coach Mike Eaves said. 'I thought Shane looked very good today, and at times Brian looked very good, so I think we're gonna give them another day here.'
Elliott is fighting for the job with freshman goalkeeper Shane Connelly, who filled in for Elliott during the injury and compiled a record of 3-5 as a starter, including a shut out in his last start against Michigan Tech.
'We all have full confidence in Shane. He's proved that he's a good goaltender and we make each other fight for the spot,' Elliott said.
No matter who starts in goal Friday night, the Badgers hope to gain back the goaltender Elliott was before his injury.
'Obviously seeing what Brian did in the first half of the year, we'd like more than anything to see him get back to that same form,' senior forward Adam Burish said. 'So I'd like to see him get in there and get back to his old form.'
Elliott's performance in his past three games has raised questions about whether his knee is fully healed, but Elliott said his knee is not affecting the way he plays.
'It takes a while with that type of injury. The doctors say you're gonna feel it for a couple months afterwards,' Elliott said. 'It's been feeling the same for a while now, and it feels pretty good, so that's good.'
With the knee healthy, Elliott is working on regaining the groove he had before the injury.
'I mean, when you're off for five weeks it's going to be hard to come back to your form and that's what I'm working at right now,' Elliott said. 'Getting into games is the first step and then just trying to play the way I want to every game from here on out.'
Six weeks ago, when Elliott went down and Connelly took over, the rest of the team adjusted its style of play to provide more support for the youngster.
Today, with Elliott healthy, the team in front of him is caught between the aggressive style of play it embodied as an 18-2-2 team with the nation's best goaltender, and the style it took on as a team sliding out of first place in front of a rookie goaltender.
'We can't play tentative,' Burish said. 'You've got to make your decision and you gotta go with it, and whether Brian's having a day where he's awesome or where he's not, that shouldn't affect the way we play, neither should having Shane in goal.'
Traditionally a defense-oriented team under Eaves, the Badgers will work on getting back to their defensive roots this weekend no matter who is in goal.
'We're a defensively minded team and we kind of got away from that as you look at our scoring chances against in the past few weeks. It hasn't been very good at all,' Elliott said.
'It's not so much taking chances offensively, its just getting back to our system and playing the way we want to in front of our net.'
With just one day of practice left before Friday's game, Eaves will look for which of his goalies steps up and readies himself to perform at a high level and earn his team a victory.
'This is about playing the best guy right now, not trying to get the best guy going again; we need to get two points,' Eaves said.
