ASHWAUBENON, Wis. — Simply put, it was a historic day for the University of Wisconsin hockey programs.
Late in the second period in the game between Wisconsin and Cornell here at the Resch Center Sunday, the UW women's team was, meanwhile, busy winning its first NCAA title with a 3-0 win in Minneapolis. Hours — yes, it turned out to be hours — later, the men's team capped off what turned out to be one of the most epic games in NCAA tournament history.
"I think that's a college game that everybody who was in the building will be talking about for a long time," UW head coach Mike Eaves said.
It was particularly historic for the Burish family, which saw its son, Adam, advance to the Frozen Four, and its daughter, Nikki, win a national title.
"Once Coach got done addressing us, I went and got my cell phone and called my sister," Adam Burish said. "What a special day for us."
As important as Jack Skille's goal in the third overtime was, it was yet another magnificent performance on defense that stole the show. Wisconsin spent the early part of its regular season proving to the country that it was not simply a defense-first team. But that defense certainly has come in handy in recent weeks.
The Badgers came into this weekend riding back-to-back shutouts against Minnesota and Bemidji State, and junior goalie Brian Elliott had recorded four blankings in his last seven starts.
"He's making every save that we need," UW defenseman Tom Gilbert said. "He's given us all the confidence in the world."
It didn't seem like it could get any better … until Sunday.
All Elliott did was post yet another shutout, and this time in a little more than 111 minutes between the pipes. He made 40 saves over that time, and especially came up huge in the third overtime period, making a couple of highlight-reel stops.
"What's different for me [this year] is looking into the seniors' eyes and seeing that excitement and that joy of moving on and their career not ending," Elliott said. "The young guys on our team, we just want to do that for the [seniors]."
The Hobey Baker Award finalist is making quite the campaign pitch down the stretch. The three finalists for the award will be announced Wednesday, and it can't hurt that he hasn't surrendered a goal in his last 252 minutes of work. To save you some quick division, that's nearly 13-straight periods without relinquishing a goal.
"As far as having three shutouts in a row, I don't think that I would have ever thought that could happen," Eaves said. "It's just one of those moments when Brian is playing terrific and the people in front of him are playing well, too."
It isn't all Elliott, and he will be the first to tell you that. His teammates in front of him did their fair share of sacrificing their bodies to block shots and making sure he didn't have to make even more stops.
"The guys in front of me have been unreal lately," Elliott said. "Everybody's all out, and you can't say enough about the guys in front of me."
And perhaps the clincher in showing just how impressive the Badger defense is playing came from sophomore blue liner Josh Engel.
He played in just eight games this season before classmate Joe Piskula went down with an injury. Engel stepped in admirably, playing alongside the defensive corps' leader, Gilbert, and his hard work paid off Sunday when he manufactured the game-ending goal.
McKee played the puck off the boards and, for a brief moment, it looked like Engel would step back into defensive position. But in a split second, he changed his mind, moved up to play the puck and made a perfect pass.
The result was his fourth point of his UW career — the second of this season, and the biggest of his life.
"I was really lucky. I just threw it over there," Engel said. "It's exciting."
But as historic as Sunday was for Wisconsin, Burish knows there is much work to be done.
"The one thing my dad said was, 'You can't let your sister win a national championship and you guys not do it,'" he said. "I've got some work left to do."
