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The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

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Wisconsin in hunt for MacNaughton Cup

There were no typos on the score sheets this weekend when the Wisconsin men's hockey team took on Michigan Tech.

It was the rookie Shane Connelly who notched his first career shutout Friday night with a resounding 5-0 win which saw the Badgers plaster the Husky net with 64 shots. And it was junior Brian Elliott, who had missed a month of action due to a left knee injury, that returned to his post in what turned out to be a 4-4 tie.

But despite the recent success of Connelly, UW head coach Mike Eaves said at his Monday news conference that there would be no goalie controversy between the freshman and Elliott, who leads the country in both save percentage and goals against average.

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"I think it's a very positive situation in the fact that we now know what Shane can do. He's a college goaltender as of now — bona fide," Eaves said. "It was a nice way to end this first chapter of his career by having a shutout. Going 3-5 and getting shutout in his last game we know what we have.

"But we also know what we have in Brian Elliott. Probably our main task is to get him back to where he was before he got injured and that will be a priority for us."

It is no secret that Elliott put the team on his back, carrying them to an 18-2-2 record before he went down in a practice the week before UW's series against Denver.

The Badgers will need him to return to that form over the next four games as they close out the regular season before entering the postseason. Despite its recent struggles, Wisconsin is still eyeing a Frozen Four appearance and national title opportunity in Milwaukee to end the year.

On the league front, UW finds itself in need of some help if it wants to challenge for the MacNaughton Cup, given to the WCHA's regular season champion. Though the Badgers had an eight-point lead in the standings when Elliott went down, they now sit two points behind Minnesota, which faces the league's two worst teams — as far as standings are concerned — in the final two weeks.

"The MacNaughton Cup is an intermediate goal on our way up to the top of the mountain. We've got to focus on the things we can control," Eaves said. "We're 3-1-1 in this month right now. We're getting back to where we want to be. It's still about pushing to the end of the year and playing our best hockey."

Though if Wisconsin can get that help from Alaska-Anchorage and Minnesota-Duluth, anything is possible.

"I think they're excited about getting Brian back," Eaves said. "They know what this team is capable of doing and we just want to end out this month on a high note."

Badgers face another injury: Fresh off getting Elliott back, Wisconsin will now have to deal with another injury as assistant captain Andrew Joudrey limped off the ice during the second period of Saturday's game and left the arena on crutches, according to The Capital Times.

Eaves said that the junior forward would undergo an MRI Monday afternoon, which would allow them to figure out a time frame on how long he would be out of the lineup. But he also said that if he were to make an analogy, he thought the injury might be similar to that of Elliott's, which sidelined the net-minder for a month.

Though Joudrey's offensive numbers aren't stellar this season — he has seven goals and eight assists in 31 games — Eaves acknowledged that he has perhaps been the most consistent forward for the Badgers this year.

"He's not going to give you fantastic offensive flare, but he's never going to let you down defensively," Eaves said. "I wish he gave us more offensive flare, but I don't think that's who he is."

Badgers move up in poll: Despite the three-point weekend against Michigan Tech last weekend, Wisconsin moved up to the No. 2 ranking in the latest USCHO.com poll, receiving two first-place votes.

The Gophers solidified their spot atop the national polls with a sweep of Denver. They snagged all but three first-place votes and hold a 45-point advantage over the Badgers.

Miami (Ohio) and Boston University are third and fourth, respectively, while Michigan State made the biggest jump of the week, leaping from the No. 10 spot all the way up to round out the top five.

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