[media-credit name=’AJ Maclean’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]A year ago as a freshman, Wisconsin goaltender Brian Elliott began his collegiate career with three victories, holding Quinnipiac, Michigan State and Union all to a single goal.

Despite his play, Elliott would earn only three more starts on the year — the pitfalls of backing up a goaltender of Bernd Bruckler’s All-American caliber.

“It gets frustrating at times, but I knew my role coming in, and I knew my role at the beginning of each season,” Elliott said. “Knowing that, and you’ve got to stay on your toes. It’s not really frustrating if you know and then you know how to deal with it. Plus, I know my time is going to come when he leaves next year, and I’m really excited for that.”

This season, Elliott has again started off hot, recording shutouts in his two starts against Mercyhurst and Michigan Tech. While the sophomore hasn’t been bombarded with shots, needing only a combined 31 saves in the two wins, he has gotten the job done. Elliott, however, is still behind Bruckler, the WCHA Preseason Player of the Year.

“Bernd’s the No. 1 goaltender; he’s our go-to guy,” goaltending coach Bill Howard said. “We’re trying to get Brian as much experience as we can this year, as is warranted. But, we’ll take it game by game, and Brian has proven that obviously he’s capable of stepping in if we need him to.”

Playing behind Bruckler has given Elliott the chance to slowly cut his teeth at the college level while watching one of the best in the nation.

“We get along really well,” Elliott said. “Just seeing [Bernd] in goalie practice gives me a visual of what Coach Howard’s trying to teach. I think I’m getting the system down quite well right now. It’s just getting a visual and just seeing him play well game in and game out is just inspiration for making me when I get in there really want to play well.”

Wisconsin was an easy choice for Elliott, coming out of Newmarket, Ontario, with the Badgers’ rich goaltending tradition.

“Just seeing the Kohl Center, seeing the town, I think it was just one of the best campuses in the country,” Elliott said. “Just knowing that Curtis Joseph, Mike Richter, Jim Carey, just some of the goalies that came through here are just amazing. And Curtis Joseph being from my hometown, I just kind of wanted to follow in the footsteps, pretty cool.”

Elliott, oddly enough, failed to make his first junior team, but after a season with the Ajax Axeman (Ontario Provincial Junior “A” League) he was ready for the next level.

“I got cut from my hometown team at the last minute, and had to go find a team and found one in Ajax,” Elliott said. “I wound up earning the starter’s spot right away and played a lot of games. We weren’t a very good team, bottom of the league, but that means I got 40, 50 shots a game. It just prepared me so well. That’s why it makes it so hard facing like 13, 18 shots in a game when I’m used to facing 30, 40.”

Prior to matriculating to Wisconsin, Elliott received arguably the biggest surprise of his life when he was selected by his home-province Ottawa Senators in the ninth round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

“I wasn’t expecting to be drafted at all,” Elliott said. “I just got some advice from a family friend. He said, ‘Throw your name in the hat and see what comes up.’ I was at work actually in the summer, and I got home and had no idea. My dad just put his hand out to shake my hand and he was like, ‘Congratulations, you were drafted.’ I was blown away.”

This summer Elliott worked on his game at the Senators’ developmental camp, and the sophomore is hoping his hard work in the off-season and stellar play in the season’s first two weekends will earn him additional opportunities.

“I’ve played well; I’ve tried to show what I can provide for the team and try to get the confidence of the team behind me,” Elliott said. “I don’t know, I hope I get more playing time. I think with the way we’re going right now … we’ve got a lot of tough games coming up. Coaches go with experience, but we’ll see.”

The Wisconsin coaching staff believes its patience with Elliott will pay dividends next season, when the No. 1 goaltending spot will be his to lose.

“He’s got every bit of capability of taking over when Bernd graduates, and we have all the confidence in the world that he’ll be able to do that,” Howard said.

While Elliott is excited to secure the starting spot in the future, he is taking a team-first approach.

“Personally I want to be a national champion, and that’s our main goal right now,” Elliott said. “We have a good chance now; I think we have a really good chance next year with the guys coming in and the guys returning. The future is what we make it, and that’s why we work hard every day at practice.”