WiSioux Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 UW men's hockey: Elliott hurt in practice Though nothing was certain, Eaves and his players left the Bob Johnson Hockey Facility assuming Elliott will not play Friday and Saturday when the top-ranked and first-place Badgers face second-place Denver in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series at the Kohl Center "We knew we were going to hit some storms on this journey, and we've hit a storm," Eaves said. Freshman Shane Connelly, whose only college experience was an exhibition game against the U.S. National Under-18 team in mid-December, would start in place of Elliott. After seeing Elliott go down, bellowing in pain, his teammates screamed profanities and fired slap shots into the side boards in anger. The practice rink then turned eerily quiet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siouxnami Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 UW men's hockey: Elliott hurt in practice Though nothing was certain, Eaves and his players left the Bob Johnson Hockey Facility assuming Elliott will not play Friday and Saturday when the top-ranked and first-place Badgers face second-place Denver in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series at the Kohl Center "We knew we were going to hit some storms on this journey, and we've hit a storm," Eaves said. Freshman Shane Connelly, whose only college experience was an exhibition game against the U.S. National Under-18 team in mid-December, would start in place of Elliott. After seeing Elliott go down, bellowing in pain, his teammates screamed profanities and fired slap shots into the side boards in anger. The practice rink then turned eerily quiet. Great teams will overcome the loss of any one player. I really think UW is a great team. If you look at his average shots faced. Insert someone with mearly a .9 save percentage, Wisconsin still wins almost every game. We'll see, but I think like Ryan Miller, Elliot benefits from the system he is in. I'm not saying this isn't a big loss, but I think Wisconsin CAN overcome this, especially if this is for a short time only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux_Hab-it Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 Great teams will overcome the loss of any one player. I really think UW is a great team. If you look at his average shots faced. Insert someone with mearly a .9 save percentage, Wisconsin still wins almost every game. We'll see, but I think like Ryan Miller, Elliot benefits from the system he is in. I'm not saying this isn't a big loss, but I think Wisconsin CAN overcome this, especially if this is for a short time only. Normally, I would agree. However, you have to have depth at the position for this to be the case which seems to be a risk that Bucky didn't address properly. The alternate did not look too sharp against the U-18s and could be shelled by Gauthier, Stastny and Carle this weekend. Perhaps the Bucky meltdown has begun, just not the way we envisioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 I don't think anyone in the league is going to feel sorry for them, that being said. You still have to get to the front of the net to score on Wisconsin. Tough thing to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 Bad timing. Whether or not I feel sorry for Wisconsin, I do feel sorry for UND. It could be extremely helpful if Bucky sweeps Denver this weekend in the WCHA standings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 A lot of Bucky's success this year is "system". Losing Elliot might mean that they may go through a stretch where their winning percentage may dip as low as (gasp!) 0.750. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 Wisconsin has always been able to recruit and develop great goaltending talent because the Badgers have great goalie coaching. I'll be surprised if this is more than a little bump in the road for Wisconsin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teamsioux Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 Bad timing. Whether or not I feel sorry for Wisconsin, I do feel sorry for UND. It could be extremely helpful if Bucky sweeps Denver this weekend in the WCHA standings. Exactly, this could hurt UND as much or more than UW, especially being the Sioux do not play them the rest of the regular season. Also especially the games that include teams like Denver who might be on the bubble with the Sioux come tourney time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tnt Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 Hopefully he'll be ready to go against Minnesota next weekend. Now that Wisconsin is a virtual lock to win the WCHA, I wouldn't mind them winning all the games against teams that the Sioux are in competition for playoff position with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavedurtis Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 Looks like he will be out 3-4 weeks. http://www.uscho.com/news/id,11639/UWNetmi...Out34Weeks.html I have never done a cut and paste so I hope this works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skate_For_State Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 This is a big loss for the Badgers. Elliott has been very solid between the pipes for them this year, I believe he is the #1 goalie in D1 hockey. With that being said these next few weeks for the badgers could be tough. This weekend vs. Denver then the next week vs. Minnesota. It would have helped the Sioux if they could have swept both weekends, being that Dever and Minnesota are tied for second in the WCHA behind the Badgers, but now that Elliott's out that may not happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teamsioux Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 I read where it was a player driving to the net that caused Elliot's injury. I wonder if Eaves went "Holiday Inn" on whomever that player was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 I don't think Elliot's injury is that concerning on the short run. If this injury puts him out for a lengthy period of time, then yeah, I'd be worried. However, UW is solid in every facet of the game with Elliot and if Connelly is on the ice, that makes only one facet that is questionable. I highly doubt the rest of the team would go to pot with Connelly as the goalie. They're simply too deep and experienced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 I think Devner loses against Wisconsin wether they play Elliot or who ever is their other goalie is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 I think Devner loses against Wisconsin wether they play Elliot or who ever is their other goalie is. Agreed. Heh, there are teams in DI hockey that Wisconsin could beat even if they played the entire game with an extra attacker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavedurtis Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Agreed. Heh, there are teams in DI hockey that Wisconsin could beat even if they played the entire game with an extra attacker RW77, I know you are joking here but the theme of your post brings up a peeve of mine. I think Wisconsin is a fundamentally sound team. They are well coached, and are excellent defensively. They probably won't have anyone challenge them for 1st in the WCHA regardless of when Elliot returns. That being said (written), they have not proven anything in the post-season with Eaves at the helm. He has had other top 3 WCHA teams that have failed in the post-season. IMHO Minny, UND and CC are just as threatening in the tournament. Win something Bucky, then I will care. For this weekend Eaves is dressing both of his backups against Denver, not exactly a vote-of-confidence for Connelly. Of course, Shane "five-hole" Connelly did give up five against the USA 18 team, pretty shaky. For the short-term having Elliot out gives both Denver and Minny a better chance to get points out of Madison which could really help both teams pairwise. Finally, there may be a run paint-thinner in Madison if Connelly were to be injured while Elliot is out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farce poobah Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 I'd be happier if Denver wins a game or two off bucky, it will help UND's chances of getting into the NCAAs. (We play Denver 4 games and UW just 2.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 RW77, I know you are joking here but the theme of your post brings up a peeve of mine. I think Wisconsin is a fundamentally sound team. They are well coached, and are excellent defensively. They probably won't have anyone challenge them for 1st in the WCHA regardless of when Elliot returns. That being said (written), they have not proven anything in the post-season with Eaves at the helm. He has had other top 3 WCHA teams that have failed in the post-season. IMHO Minny, UND and CC are just as threatening in the tournament. Win something Bucky, then I will care. For this weekend Eaves is dressing both of his backups against Denver, not exactly a vote-of-confidence for Connelly. Of course, Shane "five-hole" Connelly did give up five against the USA 18 team, pretty shaky. For the short-term having Elliot out gives both Denver and Minny a better chance to get points out of Madison which could really help both teams pairwise. Finally, there may be a run paint-thinner in Madison if Connelly were to be injured while Elliot is out. So you are saying that, if UW were to play a game vs. a team like AIC or Bentley tommorrow and they played the entire game without a goalie, they would lose? AIC would probably hit the crossbar 15 times You know... if AIC committed a penalty, would UW be allowed to put 7 men on the ice until AIC gets possession of the puck? Ok seriously, no, they haven't proven much with Eaves at the helm. However, you never know what is going to happen. They COULD go undefeated the rest of the season, tourney included. They could be one and done in the playoffs. They could be any combination of what was listed above. All we have is what we see now. And right now, UW isn't losing 1st place any time soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 I'd be happier if Denver wins a game or two off bucky, it will help UND's chances of getting into the NCAAs. (We play Denver 4 games and UW just 2.) I haven't looked closely at the #'s, but I get the feally the final WCHA spot will come between us and DU. So I'd like to see them lose as much as possible. We just need to beat them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skate_For_State Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 Wisconsin lost 1-0 tonight vs. Denver. Denver's lone goal game in the second period when Paukovich recieved a pass right infront of then net and put it up top. Although Connelly didn't get tested very much tonight he played well and I'm sure that put some confidence in his players up front going into tomorrow nights game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprig Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 Wisco looked like they took a step back to last year. Played sound defensively but didn't generate any offense at all. Maybe they lost a little confidence without Elliot backing them up. Tomorrow night should be telling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 I thought it was very interesting that the BADgers number one goalie goes down and they lose their next home game 1-0. There's a couple ways to take that. A) Sconnie is a fundamentally sound team that had their confidence shaken when there was uncertainty (in their minds) between the pipes. B) Their offensive output this year has been a byproduct of a confidence that they could take chances with Elliot in net. OR... C) We are getting close to February/March and the BADgers feel the end is near. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagard Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 It's hard to blame Connelly for tonight's loss. This won't be the last time their offensive depth is called into question this season. At least I hope not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 It's hard to blame Connelly for tonight's loss. This won't be the last time their offensive depth is called into question this season. At least I hope not. Though it is interesting to look at USCHO at all the DU fans gloating about it. 1-0 sounds like a really good game. IMO if you lose 1-0, it isn't defense that lost you the game. It isn't goaltending either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 I haven't looked closely at the #'s, but I get the feally the final WCHA spot will come between us and DU. So I'd like to see them lose as much as possible. We just need to beat them. I realize it's only one game, but DU now holds the comparison on us. They are quite a ways down in the PWR, but if they keep beating good teams I'd expect them to start climbing in a hurry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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